hand-pickv.
/ˌhan(d)ˈpɪk/, U.S. /ˈhæn(d)ˈpɪk/ 1. transitive. To pick by hand (in various senses of pick v.1).With reference to the gathering of a crop, etc., frequently with implication that a hand-picked crop is of better quality than one harvested mechanically; cf. sense 2a.
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the mind > will > free will > choice or choosing > types of choice > choose in specific way [verb (transitive)] > select from a number or for a purpose > carefully
picka1393
to choose and pickc1450
to pick and choose (also cull)c1450
to pick out1530
to pick and choose1577
hand-picka1699
a1699 T. Nourse Campania Fœlix (1700) ix. 127 If the Kernels were hand-pick'd out of the Pulse of the Crabbs [i.e. crab apples] after Grinding..it would be the surest way of succeeding.
1774 E. Long Hist. Jamaica III. vii. 693 The wool thus discharged from the seeds, comes afterwards to be hand-picked.
1799 D. Clark Let. 12 Nov. in T. Jefferson Papers (2004) XXXI. 238 As this Country produces excellent Oranges, I have presumed to send..a barrel hand picked & well put.
1840 P. Sellar Sutherland Farm Rep. 72 in Brit. Husbandry (Libr. Useful Knowl.) III A few boys and girls hand-pick the whole [field]. The sowing machine follows.
1878 24th Ann. Rep. Iowa State Agric. Soc. 1877 557 In sowing seed it is always best to hand pick the first pods that are ripe.
1914 Trans. Indiana Hort. Soc. 1913 122 If you take the trouble to hand pick your fruit it must be good or you would not bother with it.
1959 Home Encycl. 177 Hand pick the young caterpillars and crush the egg clusters.
1984 E. Romer Tuscan Year (1989) 164 The best quality olive oil comes from olives that are hand-picked before they are completely ripe.
2007 Olive May 22/1 Local crabber, Graham Lynn from Dartmouth, brings the crab to the door where it's cooked, hand-picked and dressed.
2. In extended use: to select carefully for a particular purpose. Cf. cherry-pick v.
a. transitive. With actual use of the hand or a hand-held tool in selecting a particular type or quality of object.
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1789 W. Marshall Rural Econ. Glocestershire I. 35 The practice of riddling and hand-picking the lime as it is drawn; to take out the ashes, cinders, and rubbish which may have been thrown into the kiln.
1876 Rep. Royal Commissioners Spontaneous Combustion Coal 174/1 I have seen two boys..hand-picking the coals, and still I know there was a difficulty..in keeping out the sulphurous coals.
1916 Iron Age 30 Mar. 777/1 Men hand-pick the higher grades of ore.
1977 New Scientist 1 Sept. 528/1 Handpicking the tartaric acid crystals of particular shape from the sludge remaining at the bottom of wine barrels.
1994 Micropaleontology 40 101 The specimens were hand picked with a moist red sable brush from a standard extraction tray.
b. transitive. In more abstract contexts, esp. with a person or group of people as object.
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1898 Advance (Chicago) 3 Mar. 282/1 [Loyola] face to face with individuals, hand-picking souls from the fire.
1918 Times 23 Jan. 6/3 There has been a widespread feeling that the Irish Convention was handpicked.
1949 I. Deutscher Stalin 353 Its members, though they had all been hand-picked by Stalin..differed on means and methods.
1967 Boston Sunday Herald 7 May iii. 3/3 (advt.) The recent weakness in prices in the fur market enabled us to hand pick choice..Mink Jackets.
2004 New Yorker 26 July 65/2 By the time they're ten, the best athletes have been handpicked from peewee leagues and sent to sport clinics.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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