Flashcards based on "Idioms with 'peek' to learn" set
Prev Next
1 of 10
[pick off] {v.}
1. To pull off; remove with the fingers.
He picked off the burs that had stuck to his overcoat.
2. To shoot, one at a time; knock down one by one.
The sniper picked off the slower soldiers as they came out into the road.
3. To catch a base runner off base by throwing the ball quickly to a fielder who tags him out.
The pitcher turned around suddenly and threw to the second baseman to pick the runner off second base.
Compare: [OFF BASE].
4. To catch and, especially in football, to intercept.
Alert defenders picked off three of Jack's passes.
A Dictionary of American Idioms
2 of 10
[pick up] {v.}
1. To take up; lift.
During the morning Mrs. Carter picked up sticks in the yard.
2. {informal}
To pay for someone else.
After lunch, in the restaurant, Uncle Bob picked up the check.
3. To take on or away; receive; get.
At the next corner the bus stopped and picked up three people.
4. To get from different places at different times; a little at a time; collect.
He had picked up rare coins in seaports all over the world.
5. To get without trying; get accidentally.
He picked up knowledge of radio just by staying around the radio station.
Billy picked up a cold at school.
6a. To gather together; collect.
When the carpenter finished making the cabinet, he began picking up his tools.
6b. To make neat and tidy; tidy up; put in order.
Pick up your room before Mother sees it.
6c. To gather things together; tidy a place up.
It's almost dinner time, children. Time to pick up and get ready.
7. To catch the sound of.
He picked up Chicago on the radio.
8. To get acquainted with (someone) without an introduction; make friends with (a person of the other sex).
Mother told Mary not to walk home by herself from the party because some stranger might try to pick her up.
9. {informal}
To take to the police station or jail; arrest.
Police picked the man up for burglary.
10. To recognize the trail of a hunted person or animal; find.
State police picked up the bandit's trail.
The dogs picked up the fox's smell.
11. To make (someone) feel better; refresh.
A little food will pick you up.
12a. To increase (the speed); make (the speed) faster.
The teacher told her singing class to pick up the tempo.
The car picked up speed.
12b. To become faster; become livelier.
The speed of the train began to pick up.
After the band practiced for a while, the music began to pick up.
13. To start again after interruption; go on with.
The class picked up the story where they had left it before the holiday.
They met after five years, and picked up their friendship as if there had been no interruption.
14. {informal}
To become better; recover; gain.
She picked up in her schoolwork.
He picked up gradually after a long illness.
His spirits picked up as he came near home.
A Dictionary of American Idioms
3 of 10
[pick on] {v.}
1. {informal}
To make a habit of annoying or bothering (someone); do or say bad things to (someone).
Other boys picked on him until he decided to fight them.
Syn.: [PICK AT] (3).
2. To single out; choose; select.
He visited a lot of colleges, and finally picked on Stanford.
A Dictionary of American Idioms
5 of 10
[pick and choose] {v.}
To select with much care; choose in a fussy way; take a long time before choosing.
He was never one to pick and choose.
Some people pick and choose to get something perfect, and some just because they can't make up their minds.
A Dictionary of American Idioms
6 of 10
[pick out] {v.}
1. To choose.
It took Mary a long time to pick out a dress at the store.
2. To see among others; recognize; tell from others.
We could pick out different places in the city from the airplane.
We could not pick Bob out in the big crowd.
Syn.: [MAKE OUT] (2).
3. To find by examining or trying; tell the meaning.
The box was so dirty we couldn't pick out the directions on the label.
Compare: [FIND OUT].
A Dictionary of American Idioms
7 of 10
[pick at] {v.}
1. To reach or grasp for repeatedly.
The baby kept picking at the coverlet.
2. To eat without appetite; choose a small piece every little while to eat.
He picked at his food.
3. To annoy or bother continually; find fault with.
They showed their displeasure by continually picking at her.
Syn.: [PICK ON].
A Dictionary of American Idioms
9 of 10
[pick a hole in] or [pick holes in] {v. phr.}, {informal}
To find a mistake in or things wrong with; criticize; blame.
The witness said he had been walking in the moonlight last Sunday, but the lawyer picked a hole in what he said by proving that there was no moon and that it rained Sunday night.
Mary is always picking holes in what the other girls do.
Compare: [FIND FAULT].
A Dictionary of American Idioms