pick

Definition

A tool used for digging; a pickaxe.

Etymology

From Middle English piken, picken, pikken, from Old English *piccian, *pīcian (attested in pīcung (“a pricking”)), and pīcan, pȳcan (“to pick, prick, pluck”), both from Proto-West Germanic *pikkōn, from Proto-Germanic *pikkōną (“to pick, peck, prick, knock”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew-, *bu- (“to make a dull, hollow sound”). Doublet of pitch and peck. Cognate with Dutch pikken (“to pick”), German picken (“to pick, peck”), Old Norse pikka, pjakka (whence Icelandic pikka (“to pick, prick”), Swedish picka (“to pick, peck”)).

Example Sentences

• "It's better to amble around, drop the "pick" for a lunchtime swim or beachcomb, then find a nice anchorage for the night."
• "Take down my buckler […] and grind the pick on 't."
• "France and Russia have the pick of our stables."