pick out
Britishverb
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to select for use or special consideration, illustration, etc, as from a group
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to distinguish (an object from its surroundings), as in painting
she picked out the woodwork in white
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to perceive or recognize (a person or thing previously obscured)
we picked out his face among the crowd
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to distinguish (sense or meaning) from or as if from a mass of detail or complication
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to play (a tune) tentatively, by or as if by ear
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Choose, select, as in She picked out the best piece of fabric . [Early 1500s]
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Distinguish, discern from one's surroundings, as in They managed to pick out their mother from the crowd . [Mid-1500s]
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Identify the notes of a tune and play it on an instrument, as in When she was four she could pick out folk songs on the piano . [Late 1800s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
We can pick out four decisions - three were goals, and one was disallowed – though all three involving Spurs went against them.
From BBC
“Jay Berry,” Daisy said, “what kind of pony are you going to pick out? What color will it be?”
From Literature
I picked out some of Frederick and Bruno’s present.
From Literature
Tandy, meanwhile, said he was "disappointed" with the result but preferred to pick out the positives in a performance which was head and shoulders above anything Wales have produced in recent years.
From Barron's
It only took the rapid forward two minutes to open the scoring after he beat the offside trap to latch on to Dan Burn's through ball before coolly picking out the bottom corner.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
