# picking

Pronunciation: US say "PIK-ing" /ˈpɪkɪŋ/; UK

## Verb

1. Present participle of pick. — present participle and gerund of pick
   - Simple: Present participle of pick. Use this form for an action happening right now.
   - _He stood in the orchard, picking ripe pears one by one._
   - _Picking carefully through the rubble, the rescuers searched for survivors._

## Noun

2. The act of making a choice; the selecting of one thing from among others.
   - Simple: The act of choosing one thing from a group.
   - _The committee's picking of a finalist sparked weeks of debate._
   - _His picking of the winning horse was sheer luck._
3. An item that has been picked out or removed from something larger.
   - Simple: A thing that has been picked or pulled out of something.
   - _The finest picking from the vineyard was set aside for the owner._
   - _He inspected every picking before it was packed for shipping._
4. Income or other gains, especially when obtained through dishonest or objectionable means.
   - Simple: Money or things you get, especially in a dishonest or unfair way.
   - _The smugglers counted their pickings by candlelight in the back room._
   - _Officials grew fat on the easy pickings of an unregulated port._
5. The items left behind after others have taken the best; scraps, as of food.
   - Simple: The small bits left over after others have taken the best parts.
   - _After the auction's main lots sold, dealers fought over the meager pickings._
   - _The late shoppers found slim pickings on the bare market shelves._
6. A gathering at which people come together to harvest fruit.
   - Simple: An event where people come together to gather fruit.
   - _The orchard's annual picking drew hundreds of families each fall._
   - _Volunteers arrived at dawn for the village picking._
7. The final stage of finishing woven fabric, in which burs and other bits are removed from the surface.
   - Simple: The last step in making cloth, when prickly bits and loose threads are removed.
   - _Once the loom's work was done, the fabric passed to the picking for a final cleaning._
   - _The mill's picking removed the burs that weaving had trapped in the cloth._
8. The removal of small defects from electrotype printing plates.
   - Simple: Fixing tiny flaws on metal printing plates before they are used.
   - _The platemaker gave the electrotype a final picking before the run._
   - _Any spot missed in the picking would mar every printed page._
9. The dressing of a stone surface by dabbing it with a tool, a technique used in stoneworking.
   - Simple: A way of finishing stone by tapping its surface with a tool.
   - _The wall's even picking gave the stone a pitted, textured face._
   - _He learned picking from an old stonemason in the village._

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/picking (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).