a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) 56 (MED) Voyding the Chaf..Enlumynyng þe trewe piked [v.r. pyken] greyn Be crafty writinge of his sawes swete.

?a1475 (a1396) W. Hilton Scale of Perfection (Harl. 6579) ii. xliii. f. 134 (MED) Him nediþ for to han white teþe & scharpe & wel piked þat schulde biten on þis gostly brede.

1526 Grete Herball cclxii. sig. Viv^v/1 Take hony and sethe it wel and scomme it clene, and put clene pyked roses therin small chopped without barbes or knoppes.

1637 T. Heywood Dial. ii, in Wks. (1874) VI. 120 Thin his haire,..his crowne Picked.

1778 W. Pryce Mineralogia Cornubiensis 234 The picked Ore..is put to a number of girls..who break it..to the size of a chestnut and less.

1827 G. Thompson Trav. S. Afr. App. ii. 467 Both the lion and saddle had disappeared, and nothing could be found but the horse's clean picked bones.

1840 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 3 30/1 This work consisted of stones with picked fronts and chisel-draughts round the edges.

1877 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 250 The highest assay made from picked rock yielded $1,560.41 per ton.

1900 C. Murray Hamewith 4 The miller sets a new picked stane, An' dreams o' a swellin moulter.

1941 W. A. Percy Lanterns on Levee 80 Mother visited us a few days before the event and, on seeing me, burst into tears, explaining that I looked like a ‘picked chicken’.

1984 J. Frame Angel at my Table (1987) vii. 60 The War was suddenly over, having pursued me through all the years of my official adolescence,..leaving its trace everywhere, even in my (picked or bitten) fingernails.

1790 A. Shirrefs Poems 358 Nae doubt his hoose is thacket, But..I think it unco poor and picket, And far frae bonny.

1866 W. Gregor Dial. Banffshire (Philol. Soc.) 125 The dainner wiz a meeserable, pickit concern.

1928 J. L. R. Baxter A' Ae 'Oo' 27 Hungry howes in pickit neck.

c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Katherine (Arun. 396) (1893) v. 106 (MED) Of alle the est-syde Of al this world, to seke ferre and wyde, Shulde þou not fynde soo pyked a company In gramer, rethorike, and tho artes alle.

1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI f. lxxxix^v For feare of hym, or his picked armie.

1565–73 T. Cooper Thesaurus at Corpus Delecta Corpora,..chosen and pyked men.

1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) I. 157/1 The best & pikedst thyngs chosen out of many churches.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) v. i. 250 At pickt leisure..I'le resolue you,..of euery These happend accidents. View more context for this quotation

1626 G. Hakewill Comparison 27 The pict choice men of the land.

1682 J. Bunyan Holy War 223 These captains..are pickt men, pickt out of abundance, as men that..will most faithfully serve. View more context for this quotation

1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 538 Picked ewes from the Ochill flocks.

1824 W. Irving Tales of Traveller (1849) iv. iv. 415 A picked crew of daring fellows set off for her in a whale-boat.

1873 M. Arnold Lit. & Dogma Introd. 8 Only a few picked craftsmen can manage it.

1940 Amer. Boy Feb. 11/2 All police cars, state, county, village, and New York City's picked patrol, kept in touch with headquarters and with each other by radio.

1970 C. Hill God's Englishman iii. 64 All accounts agree that Oliver's troops were carefully picked men.

1991 T. Pakenham Scramble for Afr. xiii. 231 Wolseley's relief expedition..was to be led by a flying column, a picked force of 1,600 officers.

1759 Sussex Weekly Advertiser 21 May A great Match at Cricket..between Henfield and Arundell, with some picked Men from other Parishes.

1773 Kentish Gaz. 10 July The gentlemen of that place with one picked man, against the Wingham club.

1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Pycked head, whiche is sharpe about lyke a suger lofe, argutum caput.

c1617 J. Jourdain Jrnl. (1905) App. 362 On the toppe of a picked mountaine, standeth a strong fort.

1665 R. Hooke Micrographia 156 Sorrel has a..three-square seed, which is picked at both ends.

a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1683 (1955) IV. 354 Dragoons..habited after the polish manner with long picked Caps.

1707 E. Ward Hudibras Redivivus II. ix. 5 Those People, which the picked Beard shall mark out to be the Wicked.

1762 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting I. iv. 90 The head of a man, with a hat and picked beard.

1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 63 Yellow or red slip-shooes, picked at the toe.

1623 W. Loe King's Shoe 40 Penall Statutes in Parliament against excessiue pride in Apparell, especially against long picked shoes,..which grew to such an extreme, that the pikes in the toes were turned vpward, and with siluer chaines, or silke laces tyed to the knee.

1741 T. C. Paget Misc. 323 Solitaire, and Bag, and Cue, With milk-white Hose, and picked Shoe, As ill his native Stiffness fit, As Birth-day Suit some clumsy Cit.

1754 T. Gardner Hist. Acct. Dunwich 47 A Stone-Coffin, wherein lay the Corpse of a Man..upon his Legs were a Pair of Boots picked like Crakows.

1832 Mirror of Lit. 29 Dec. 439/2 Sumptuary laws were made in England, in former times, against picked shoes, short doublets, and long coats.