pick
pɪk
One Fingertip Explains All of PICK
The picture A hand reaches over things spread out below and lifts one of them with the fingertips. Out of many, one comes up with your hand. DROP is letting it fall out of your hand; PICK is lifting one thing up with your fingertips.
Where the picture shows up in pick
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lift it up
Please pick up the papers on the floor.
pliːz pɪk ʌp ðə ˈpeɪpərz ɒn ðə flɔːr
Could you get those papers off the floor?
Fingertips lifting a sheet of paper off the floor.
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lift one out of several
Pick a color and I'll order it today.
pɪk ə ˈkʌlər ənd aɪl ˈɔːrdər ɪt təˈdeɪ
Just choose a color and I'll order it today.
One swatch taken from a row of colors laid out.
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collect a person
I'll pick you up at the station at seven.
aɪl pɪk juː ʌp æt ðə ˈsteɪʃən æt ˈsevən
I'll come get you at the station at seven.
Someone waiting at the curb, scooped up into the car.
pick up = go and collect a person or thing.
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fetch what's waiting
Can you pick up my prescription on the way home?
kæn juː pɪk ʌp maɪ prɪˈskrɪpʃən ɒn ðə weɪ hoʊm
Could you grab my prescription on your way home?
A paper bag lifted off the pharmacy counter.
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gather what floats by
She picked up Korean just by watching dramas.
ʃiː pɪkt ʌp kəˈriːən dʒʌst baɪ ˈwɒtʃɪŋ ˈdrɑːməz
She learned Korean just from watching dramas.
Words drifting in the air, taken one by one and pocketed.
pick up = absorb a skill without studying it.
All of it in one picture
PICK is a fingertip lifting one thing. Lift something off the floor and it is picking it up; lift one of several and it is choosing; lift a person from a station and it is collecting them; lift a package from a counter and it is fetching it; lift words out of the air around you and it is learning. Wherever pick appears, one thing out of many has come up with your hand.