pick at a. nibble, Inf. peck at, eat like a bird, push one's food around the plate, show no appetite; eat lightly, Inf. snack, Inf. nosh. b. nag, nag at, hassle, bother, pester, harass.
5. pick on Informal, criticize, blame, find fault; ride, needle, tease, badger, hector.
6. pick off Informal, shoot, shoot down, fire on or at; strike, hit, SI. plug, SI. drill; gun down, fell, drop.
7. pick out a. choose, select. See pick (def. 1). b. distinguish, perceive, notice, recognize, sight; discern, discriminate, make a distinction, distinguish between; tell apart, tell one thing from another, know which is which,
c. excise, exclude, except, eliminate, get rid of, dispose of, remove.
8. pick up a. lift, take up, raise, raise up, elevate, hoist, heft, heave, b. recover, recoup, get better, improve, mend, perk up, Inf shape up; advance, progress, make progress, make headway, gain, gain ground; recover, rally, make a comeback,
c. Slang. find, purchase, obtain, buy; locate by chance, come across, stumble over, dig up. d. obtain casually, earn, make, Inf. pull down, win, net, bag, come by, Inf. glom.
e. accelerate, speed up, liven up, move along,
f. take [s.o.] along, give [s.o.] a ride or lift; get, go to get, go for or after, call for. g. strike up an acquaintance with, introduce oneself to, meet casually; encounter, run across, fall in with, take up with, h. Slang, take into custody, arrest, apprehend, nab, Inf. collar, Inf. net, SI. bust, SI. pinch,
i. tidy, tidy up, clean up, neaten, straighten up or out, put in order, Inf. spruce up.
-n. 9. choice, selection; option, preference, pleasure, Dial, druthers, dibs.
10. best, choice, prize, nonpareil, nonesuch, pick of the crop or litter, cream of the crop; the best, the cream, Fr. crime de la crime; prime, flower; Inf. humdinger, Inf. jimdandy, Inf dilly; elect, chosen, winner, champion, Inf. the tops.
pick2, n. 1. pickax, mattock, grub ax, adz, hewer, chopper, cutter, cutting tool, chopping tool, entrenching tool; trowel.
2. icepick, toothpick.
3. plectrum.
picket, n. 1. stake, pale, paling, post; upright, stanchion, pile; peg, tether.
2. picketer, demonstrator, protestor, protestant, resister, objector, rebel, agitator, dissenter, dissident, marcher, Inf. sit-in.
3. forward observer, lookout, spotter, scout; sentinel, guard, sentry, vedette, watch, watchkeeper; patrol, patroller, patrolman; warder, watchman, night-watchman.
-v. 4. enclose, fence, fence in, pen or rail in, palisade, pale, hedge or wall in, bound, hem in, corral, box in.
5. tie, tie up, tether, secure, fasten, make fast, leash, string, attach, moor, anchor.
6. demonstrate, protest, do or go on picket duty, man the picket line, sit in, sit down, strike for or against, strike, walk out, go out; rebel, dissent, object, Inf. beef, Inf kick, Inf. squawk; challenge, remonstrate, rally, march, demonstrate for or against, take a stand on, make a stand, stand up and be counted, mount the barricades or ramparts, don one's cockade hat; importune, pressure, bring pressure to bear upon, Inf put up a squawk, cry out against, Inf. buck, Inf. buck the establishment, make waves.
picking, n. 1. intake, harvest, gleaning, crop, fruit; gathering, winnowing, winnows, fall, drops, windfall.
2. pickings scraps, remains, leavings, leftovers, dregs; orts, remainder, residue, residuum; sweepings, debris, fragments; remnants, fag ends, bits and pieces, odds and ends; castoffs, castaways, rejects, discards.