picnic
Americannoun
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an excursion or outing in which the participants carry food with them and share a meal in the open air.
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the food eaten on such an excursion.
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Also called picnic ham,. Also called picnic shoulder. a section of pork shoulder, usually boned, smoked, and weighing 4–6 pounds.
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Informal. an enjoyable experience or time, easy task, etc..
Being laid up in a hospital is no picnic.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a trip or excursion to the country, seaside, etc, on which people bring food to be eaten in the open air
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any informal meal eaten outside
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( as modifier )
a picnic lunch
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informal a troublesome situation or experience
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informal a hard or disagreeable task
verb
Other Word Forms
- picnicker noun
Etymology
Origin of picnic
1740–50; < German Pic-nic (now Picknick ) < French pique-nique, rhyming compound < ?
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.
Camp activities included séances, hymn singing, boating, archery, and picnics.
From Literature
Battle scenes — including Bull Run, where picnicking tourists are accurately shown in attendance — are convincingly rendered.
From Los Angeles Times
Another day, we enjoyed a day of hiking and a picnic at Placerita Canyon Nature Center near my son’s home.
From Los Angeles Times
Some are wrapped up in scarves and woolly hats, while others are sat in deckchairs, eating picnic lunches and playing music as they get ready to watch the chart-topping singer Raye in action.
From BBC
We had a picnic at Barnsdall Art Park days after the Fourth of July.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
