Phrasal verbs with pick in English
Phrasal verbs with pick in English
Pick [pɪk] – this word is most often used in English as a verb and it can also be used as a noun.
Consider the verb pick as a phrasal verb and examples of the most frequent uses:
- pick at
- Stop picking at me!
- I was so nervous I could only pick at my lunch
- He tried to undo the knot by picking at it with his fingers
- pick apart
- I’ve had it with you trying to pick apart my happiness
- pick off
- Snipers were picking off innocent civilians
- Pick off all the dead leaves
- pick on
- Greg, stop picking on your sister!
- She started criticizing my work in front of my colleagues. Everything that I did, she picked on, no matter how trivial
- pick out
- She was able to pick out her attacker from a police lineup
- Here are six rings. Pick out the one you like best
- He picked out the tune on the piano with one finger
- Read the play again and pick out the major themes
- pick over
- Now, toss that pick over here, nice and slow
- pick up
- He picked up the child and carried him into the house
- I’ll pick up my stuff around six, okay?
- If you go to live in another country you’ll soon pick up the language
- She’s picked up a cold from a child at school
- Trade usually picks up in the spring
- Let’s pick up where we left off yesterday
- The phone rang and rang and nobody picked up
- He goes to clubs to pick up girls
- pick up on
- She failed to pick up on the humour in his remark
- If I could just pick up on a question you raised earlier
- I knew he would pick me up on that slip sooner or later
- pick through
- You’ve got to pick through the rubble and find value where others aren’t seeing it
What should be remembered with the verb pick
The verbs pick at and pick on have a similar meaning to cling to, cling to someone:
- Stop picking at me! Why should I get the blame for everything?
- School bullies picked on her for wearing glasses
The phrasal verb pick up has the most literal and figurative meanings here, which should be paid special attention to.