1. (

• pick

) select carefully from a group; "She finally picked her successor"; "He picked his way carefully" ;

2. (

• pick ,
• pluck ,
• cull

) look for and gather; "pick mushrooms"; "pick flowers" ;

3. (

• blame ,
• find_fault ,
• pick ,

) harass with constant criticism; "Don't always pick on your little brother" ;

4. (

• pick

) provoke; "pick a fight or a quarrel" ;

5. (

• pick

) remove in small bits; "pick meat from a bone" ;

6. (

• clean ,
• pick ,

) remove unwanted substances from, such as feathers or pits; "Clean the turkey" ;

7. (

• pick ,

) pilfer or rob; "pick pockets" ;

8. (

• foot ,
• pick

) pay for something; "pick up the tab"; "pick up the burden of high-interest mortgages"; "foot the bill" ;

9. (

• pluck ,
• plunk ,
• pick ,

) pull lightly but sharply with a plucking motion; "he plucked the strings of his mandolin" ;

10. (

• pick ,
• break_up ,

) attack with or as if with a pickaxe of ice or rocky ground, for example; "Pick open the ice" ;

11. (

• peck ,
• pick ,
• beak

) hit lightly with a picking motion ;

12. (

• nibble ,
• pick ,
• piece

) eat intermittently; take small bites of; "He pieced at the sandwich all morning"; "She never eats a full meal;