Verb

(en verb)

To grasp and pull with the fingers or fingernails.

Don't pick at that scab.

He picked his nose.

To harvest a fruit or vegetable for consumption by removing it from the plant to which it is attached; to harvest an entire plant by removing it from the ground.

It's time to pick the tomatoes.

To pull apart or away, especially with the fingers; to pluck.

She picked flowers in the meadow.

to pick feathers from a fowl

To take up; especially, to gather from here and there; to collect; to bring together.

to pick rags

To remove something from with a pointed instrument, with the fingers, or with the teeth.

to pick''' the teeth; to '''pick''' a bone; to '''pick''' a goose; to '''pick a pocket

* Shakespeare

Did you pick Master Slender's purse?

* Cowper

He picks clean teeth, and, busy as he seems / With an old tavern quill, is hungry yet.

To decide upon, from a set of options; to select.

I'll pick the one with the nicest name.

(cricket) To recognise the type of ball being bowled by a bowler by studying the position of the hand and arm as the ball is released.

He didn't pick the googly, and was bowled.

(music) To pluck the individual strings of a musical instrument or to play such an instrument.

He picked a tune on his banjo.

To open (a lock) with a wire, lock pick, etc.

To eat slowly, sparingly, or by morsels; to nibble.

* Dryden

Why stand'st thou picking ? Is thy palate sore?

To do anything nicely or carefully, or by attending to small things; to select something with care.

To steal; to pilfer.

* Book of Common Prayer

to keep my hands from picking and stealing

(obsolete) To throw; to pitch.

* Shakespeare

as high as I could pick my lance

(dated) To peck at, as a bird with its beak; to strike at with anything pointed; to act upon with a pointed instrument; to pierce; to prick, as with a pin.

To separate or open by means of a sharp point or points.

to pick matted wool, cotton, oakum, etc.

Verb

To encounter or discover by accident; to happen upon.

* Shakespeare

Searching the window for a flint, I found / This paper, thus sealed up.

* Cowley

In woods and forests thou art found .

To encounter or discover something being searched for; to locate.

*

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2 , passage=I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town.}}

* , chapter=10

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant.}}

* {{quote-news, year=2011, date=January 25, author=Paul Fletcher, work=BBC

, title= Arsenal 3-0 Ipswich (agg. 3-1) , passage=Van Persie scored a hat-trick against Wigan on Saturday and should have found' the net again after Bendtner ' found him at the far post but the Dutchman's header rebounded to safety off the crossbar.}}

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= Welcome to the plastisphere , passage=Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field. Dr Mincer and Dr Amaral-Zettler found evidence of them on their marine plastic, too.}}

To point out.

To decide that, to discover that, to form the opinion that.

* Shakespeare

I find you passing gentle.

* Cowley

The torrid zone is now found habitable.

* {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)

, chapter=1 citation , passage=“[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes

To determine or judge.

To arrive at, as a conclusion; to determine as true; to establish.

to find''' a verdict; to '''find a true bill (of indictment) against an accused person

* Shakespeare

to find his title with some shows of truth

To discover by study or experiment direct to an object or end.

Water is found to be a compound substance.

To gain, as the object of desire or effort.

to find''' leisure; to '''find means

To attain to; to arrive at; to acquire.

Looks like he found himself a new vehicle!

After a long flight, I now find myself in San Francisco.

(archaic) To provide for; to supply; to furnish.

to find food for workmen

He finds his nephew in money.

* London Times

Wages £14 and all found .

* Charles Dickens

Nothing a day and find yourself.