pickingn.1
/ˈpɪkɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈpɪkɪŋ/ I. The action of pick v.1 (in various senses); (also) the process of picking something.
1. gen.Frequently as a second element in compounds, with the first element denoting the thing or things picked, as cotton-, hop-, nose-, purse-, rag-picking, etc. For established compounds see the first element.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > clearing of refuse matter > [noun]
picking1272
winnowinga1400
garbling1446
comb-out1919
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > picking or gathering > [noun]
picking1272
pullinga1382
food gathering1895
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > treating or processing textile materials > [noun] > separating or cleaning
picking1548
blowing1844
teasing1851
α.
β. ?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 273 Þou has for þi pikyng mykille ilk likyng. Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 397 Pykynge, or clensynge, purgacio.c1450 (c1405) Mum & Sothsegger (BL Add. 41666) (1936) 565 (MED) And nad þe gutte groned þere þay gurde were, Thay had bee sike of swete mete..For piking of prouendre passing þassise.1463 in Manners & Househ. Expenses Eng. (1841) 235 (MED) Item, payd ffor pesynge off bowys and ovyrdrawynge off bowis and ffor pykynge off bowys.1531 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxf. (1880) 100 Conspiryces.., and pykyn of quarells day by day.1683 in W. R. Scott Rec. Sc. Cloth Manufactory New Mills (1905) 55 For piking scriblling and oyll.1881 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1880–1 9 162 Piking. See Cobbing.1272–3 in F. G. Davenport Econ. Devel. of Norfolk Manor (1906) p. xxxix (MED) In blestis frangendis et in pikking tempore seminationis ordei.
1548 T. Cooper Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.) Carminatio..the pickyng or cardynge of woull.
1578 T. Lupton All for Money sig. Bijv No picking of purses can be at market or fayer, No thefte or robberie, no murther or killing Can be without me.
1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey ii. 100 A little bird called Troculus, doth feede her selfe by the picking of his teeth.
1672 Bp. J. Wilkins Of Princ. Nat. Relig. 234 Without any such picking and chusing amongst them, as may bend the laws to make them suitable to our own interests.
1676 R. Wiseman Severall Chirurg. Treat. ii. x. 193 An Herpes exedens..being heated by scratching or picking with their Nails will terminate corrosive.
1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 323 Except meer Picking of Pockets, there was little worth meddling with.
1760 G. G. Beekman Let. 14 Feb. in Beekman Mercantile Papers (1956) I. 353 Mr. Pintard heard that Captain McKinzie had the picking of them at Newport.
1833 T. Hook Parson's Daughter I. i. 11 Daisy-picking and violet-plucking [were now] the only pursuits she really loved.
1844 G. Dodd Textile Manuf. Great Brit. i. 25 This opening of the matted cotton is first partially effected by the process of ‘picking’... Women and children partially disentangle the cotton.
1875 Sat. Rev. 40 553/1 For green tea the leaf is ‘fired’ within two hours of picking.
1928 Cent. Mag. Aug. 444/1 During the planting season in the spring and the chilli-picking in the fall.
1973 Guardian 27 Oct. 13/5 The picking of names at random from the electoral register.
2000 Daily Tel. 2 Oct. 32/1 The picking of organic Red Pippin apples at Aspall Farm, near Debenham, Suffolk.
2. spec.
a. Stealing, theft; (in later use) petty theft; pilfering; an instance of this. Esp. in picking and stealing (frequently with allusion to the Catechism: see quot. 1549 at α. ). Now rare (archaic).
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the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > petty theft or pilfering > [noun]
micherya1393
mitchinga1393
picking1402
purloining1417
pilferc1425
pickery1460
pilfering1548
filching1567
lurching1570
pilfery1573
petty larceny1578
filching-tradea1592
prigging1591
filchery1607
nimming1607
sneaking-budge1699
pilferage1732
cabbaging1774
weeding1819
pilferment1823
crib1855
filch1877
souveniring1919
α.
β. 1402 Reply Friar Daw Topias in T. Wright Polit. Poems & Songs (1861) II. 66 That almes is pykyng, y fynde it in thi boke.1535 Bible (Coverdale) Ded. His pestilent pykynge of Peter pens out of youre realme.1590 in D. Beveridge Culross & Tulliallan (1885) I. 130 Guilty of pyking.1646 in J. I. Smith Sel. Justiciary Cases (1974) III. 722 It is ane grit unconsequence to argue frome privat and clandastene thiftis and pykingis in tyme of peace..to oppin raps and hostileteis and plunderingis in tyme of warr.1795 J. Sinclair Statist. Acct. Scotl. XV. 379 Engaging to pay for all sheep which were carried away, if above the number seven, which he styled lifting; if below seven, he only considered it as a piking.1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Cathechisme f. xi To kepe my handes from picking and stealing.
1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique ii. sig. t4v Those have that under the colour of hearyng, gave themselves to privie pickyng and so bryng other mennes purses home in their bosomes.
1598 Mucedorus sig. B2v I can keepe my tongue from picking and stealing, and my handes from lying and slaundering.
1673 F. Kirkman Unlucky Citizen 168 A covetous Priest that would put me to my wits end to compass the picking of his Loaves to get Bread.
1678 G. Mackenzie Laws & Customes Scotl. i. 216 Picking, or petty Theft, is not an atrocious crime.
1753 Scots Mag. May 260/2 He had been in a continual practice of picking and stealing.
1806 R. Forsyth Beauties Scotl. III. 437 Sheep..carried away, if above the number seven..[M'Gregor] styled lifting; if below seven, he only considered it as a picking.
1885 Overland Monthly Jan. 55/2 His hands were free from picking and stealing, and unstained with blood.
1956 Eng. Hist. Rev. 71 176 Tammany [Hall] was prepared for a time to keep its hands from picking and stealing for Alfred Emmanuel Smith, but felt no need..for Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
1990 A. Maidment I remember, I Remember (BNC) 61 It was an unwritten law which was drummed into us at school ‘to keep your hands from picking and stealing’ and this was obeyed by most youngsters.
b. = burling n.2 1a.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > treating or processing textile fabric > [noun] > removing imperfections
burling1530
picking1632
knotting1875
1632 Minute 13 Sept. in Minutes Norwich Court Mayoralty 1632–5 (Norfolk Rec. Soc.) (1967) 31 [The jurati] finde one worsted mixt paropus..for want of length & pickinge... For the which fault they fine yt vi s viii d.
1733 P. Lindsay Interest Scotl. 109 We understand the picking of Cloth, and the thickning of it at the Mill, pretty well; but we are not so adroit at the tasselling it on the dubbing Boards.
1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 641/2 Picking, the operation of removing from the face of a cloth extraneous matters such as hairs, slubs, kemps, etc., by means of burling irons.
c. Originally U.S. The plucking of a stringed instrument.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > playing instruments > playing stringed instrument > [noun] > plucking
picking1883
1883 Overland Monthly Aug. 121/2 The sadness of many a twilight in Honolulu has been intensified by the melancholy picking of the banjo.
1934 S. R. Nelson All about Jazz vi. 126 The modern method of picking and slapping on the bass was found to be much more rhythmic.
1973 Time Out 2 Mar. 21/1 The audience whoop away like madmen, and there's some marvellous pickin' and fiddlin'.
2004 fRoots Apr. 113/2 Hot picking, with Alan Bibey on mandolin being particularly stunning.
d. Printing. The removal of picks (pick n.3 3) from type; (also) the blots in printing caused by these.
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1890 Cent. Dict. Picking... 6. Removing picks..in electrotype plates with the tools of an electrotype-finisher.
1967 R. R. Karch & E. J. Buber Offset Processes (gloss.) Picking, spots in printed matter that result from tacky ink.
e. The dressing of stone with a pick or similar steel-tipped tool.
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society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with metal > [noun] > other metalworking processes
limation1617
matting1688
sheeting1776
blooming1812
steeling1816
ungraining1839
tarnishing1858
ironing1868
shimming1872
beating1875
siliconizing1880
shearing1881
inoxidizing1883
rustproofing1892
picking1895
rifting1903
Bayer process1910
autofrettage1919
prefinishing1935
panel beating1953
splatting1976
1895 I. K. Funk et al. Standard Dict. Eng. Lang. II. at Scotch To dress, as stone, with a pick or picking-tool.
1964 J. S. Scott Dict. Building 225 Picking,..surfacing a stone in rubble walling with a steel point stuck at right angles to the surface to make many small, closely spaced pits.
1988 R. McMullan Macmillan Dict. Building 157/2 Picking, the marking of a stone surface with many small holes made by striking it with a steel point.
f. Basket-making. The trimming of the projecting ends of rods on a piece of basketwork.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > manufacture of fabric from specific materials > manufacture of articles made from twigs, etc. > basket-making > processes
slewing1902
picking1912
pricking-up1912
rib-randing1912
scallom1912
listing1953
slyping1960
1912 T. Okey Introd. Art of Basket-making 153 Picking, cutting off the projecting ends of rods when the work is partially or wholly finished.
1960 E. Legg Country Baskets 57 The last operation is the trimming off of all ends of canes and rods, ‘picking the basket’ as the craftsman calls it, for which he uses a special picking knife.
II. As a count noun.† 4. Brickmaking. A yellowish, fine-quality brick originally made from malm. Obsolete.† 5. In plural. Small broken pieces of oyster shell, formerly used as an alternative to gravel in laying paths. Obsolete.
3.
a. Something which is or may be picked or picked up; the amount picked; a scrap. In plural: gleanings of fruit, remaining scraps of food, or portions of anything worth picking up or appropriating. Frequently with modifying word, as fine, slim, small, etc.
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the mind > possession > taking > taking possession > [noun] > appropriation
appropriation1393
propriation1602
appropriating1611
impatronization1611
impropriation1614
propriatinga1631
pocketing1638
picking1642
self-assumptiona1658
assumption1754
conscription1814
mopping-up1909
1642 J. Milton Apol. Smectymnuus 54 The Vulturs had then but small pickings.
1751 R. Paltock Life Peter Wilkins II. ix. 102 I had by this time, out of these two and some other Pickings, made up a very good Meal.
a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. iv. 81 Then reason began to open, and we gathered by little pickings the ideas of good and mischievous, of right and wrong.
1808 H. Holland Gen. View Agric. Cheshire 62 These pickings [from salt pans] were analysed... He found 480 parts..to contain 40 of muriate of soda, 60 of carbonate, and 380 of sulphate of lime.
1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre I. xi. 192 The scanty pickings I had now and then been able to glean at Lowood.
1892 J. M. Walsh Tea 115 At 4 o'clock each evening the day's ‘picking’ is carried to the factory.
1937 S. F. Armstrong Brit. Grasses (ed. 3) x. 207 These grasses do not merely provide ‘pickings’ for stock, but can make fields of pasture which compare very favourably with our dry-land pastures.
1990 Cat Fancy Feb. 47/1 In his search he found, as strays often do, slim pickings.
2004 Trop. Fish Jan. 57/1 The soup of plankton provides very rich pickings for animals..such as krill.
b. A benefit or advantage, esp. financial, that is or may be derived from a situation; (sometimes) a perquisite. In later use chiefly in plural. Frequently with modifying adjective, as easy, pretty, etc.Often with the implication of dishonesty or sharp practice.
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the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > stolen goods > [noun] > property acquired by theft or fraud
picking1749
plunder1790
weeding dues1819
loot1839
take1888
knock-off1963
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. xi. ix. 177 He would have got a good Picking out of it; but I have no Relation now who is a Lawyer, and why should I go to Law for the Benefit of Strangers? View more context for this quotation
1761 J. Reed Register-office ii. 36 There are pretty Pickings, very comfortable Pickings now and then to be had in that Way.
1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas II. v. i. 257 The pretty pickings to be made out of this juggle.
1866 ‘G. Eliot’ Felix Holt I. Introd. 14 But heir or no heir, Lawyer Jermyn had had his picking out of the estate.
1893 W. P. Courtney in Academy 13 May 413/1 It must be confessed that the pickings of the office [of Paymaster-General] were enormous.
1966 H. Davies New London Spy (1967) 218 The clubs..became big money. It was too much to expect that English insularity would stand out against such easy pickings.
1979 J. Cooper Class (1980) ii. 67 The fat pickings culled by the Horner family during the dissolution of the monasteries.
2004 R. Hudson in Slightly Foxed Summer 49 There would be richer pickings at this smart spa, which attracted all the beau monde.
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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > brick > [noun] > types of
white brick1468
red brick1587
clinker1659
clinkerc1660
stock-brick1683
Windsor brick1702
grey stock1726
stockc1738
red stock1748
firebrick1749
Welsh lump1798
malm1811
cutting-brick1815
pecking1819
blue brick1823
malm brick1824
Windsor1841
cutter1842
grizzle1843
shuff1843
picking1850
Woolpit brick1887
Hollander1897
Staffordshire1898
Stafford brick1908
misfire1923
klompie1926
1850 E. Dobson Rudimentary Treat. Manuf. Bricks & Tiles ii. v. 38 Pickings, these are good bricks, but soft, and inferior to the best paviours.
1855–8 Dict. Archit. (Archit. Publ. Soc.) at Brick The same sort of brick if burnt a little harder, is called a paver, and if rather softer than it ought to be, and of pale colour, a picking.
1856 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 6 June 491/2 The numerous titles of the London bricks..are wash bricks, grey stocks, rough stocks, paviours, pickings, grizzles, place, shuffs, and numerous other titles.
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1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products 285/2 Pickings, cullings, pounded oyster-shells for gravel walks.
Compounds
C1. With following adverb, forming nouns corresponding to phrasal verbs, as picking out, picking over, picking up. Occasionally attributive.
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1618 H. Wotton Let. in L. P. Smith Life & Lett. Sir H. Wotton (1907) II. 159 Remarkable how the divine justice, in a casual picking out of the foresaid number, from a 150 tumultuary men, did direct the man employed about this choice.
a1677 G. Wither Perpetuall Parl. in Misc. Wks. (1872–7) 51 This picking out again, What their impression left upon my brain.
1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. i. xi. 219 They seemed to..consider them [sc. little bits of gold] as just worth the picking up, but not worth the refusing to any body who asked them. View more context for this quotation
1846 G. Dodd Brit. Manuf. 6th Ser. v. 131 The part of the coach-painter's work which requires the largest amount of care and neatness is that of ‘picking~out’, or painting fine lines, scrolls, &c. of one colour on a groundwork of a different colour.
1863 Once a Week 14 Nov. 569/2 There is one infamous method of thieving in the streets..which is called ‘picking up’.
1868 L. M. Alcott Little Women I. xi. 169 They [sc. plates of fruit] dwindled sadly after the picking over.
1889 C. T. Clarkson & J. H. Richardson Police! xxv. 348 ‘Coshers’ and ‘trippers’ or ‘picking-up molls’, are vile men and women who travel from town to town.
1904 H. Black Pract. Self Culture iv. 105 The picking up of crumbs of knowledge is not in itself education.
1925 Times 23 May 9/3 The picking-up power of an aërial varies as the square of the effective height.
1955 B. C. L. Kemp Elem. Org. Chem. (new ed.) xiv. 203 If the crystals are sufficiently well-defined, it may..be possible to purify these two groups by picking-out.
1979 P. Cosgrave Three Colonels 189 That greatest of vices of warriors after a battle, the picking over..of memories.
2003 Oxoniensia 67 169 The waste removal from the processed grain during the final picking over.
C2. General attributive.
picking season n.
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1757 T. Hale et al. Compl. Body Husbandry (new ed.) III. 200 This [shed] conveniently holds two Frames in the picking Season; and at all other Times it serves to house the Tools.
1829 N. Amer. Rev. July 217 The picking season commences in November, and continues until March.
1992 San Francisco Chron. (Nexis) 29 Jan. a1 In California, the picking season [for fungi] generally begins in the fall.
picking table n.
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1854 Times 3 Mar. 16/4 (advt.) The whole of the machinery and materials of the said mine; comprising..the launders on the floors, two grates and picking tables, eight miners' chests, [etc.].
1892 Manufacturer & Builder Dec. 278/2 The latter dropping on a revolving picking table, where the barren rock is removed by hand.
1993 P. Oliva Drowning in Darkness ii. 37 The coal..bashed its way down the coal chutes into mine cars that were railed, tagged and dumped again, moved past tippers,..picking tables and gravity screens, the coal then sorted.
picking time n.
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the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > harvesting > [noun] > harvest-time
harvest902
harvest monthc1000
reap-timeOE
harvest-tidec1175
harvest time1362
reaping timea1382
shaking time1658
picking time1799
1799 J. Banister Synopsis Husbandry 169 They have no other foundation for their presages, than an unkindly season at the harvest or picking time.
1848 W. T. Thompson Major Jones's Sketches Trav. 8 I'm gwine..to..spend the summer until pickin time, nockin round in them big cities.
1991 Independent (Nexis) 9 Nov. (Food & Drink section) 38 Sherry suffered a harvesters' strike at picking time.
picking tool n.
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1853 A. Ure Dict. Arts 918 The two workmen who stand by with picking tools, perceive tears in the matter in advance of the roller.
1987 FDA Consumer (Nexis) Sept. 33 Crabs and picking tools that had fallen onto the floor and dirty crab baskets were not being properly washed or sanitized.
2003 Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Jrnl. Sentinel (Nexis) 12 Mar. 8 b A picking tool was used to gain entry through the door.
picking work n.
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1682 N. Tate & J. Dryden 2nd Pt. Absalom & Achitophel 13 He was too warm on Picking-work to dwell.
1989 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 21 Oct. 27/2 He had just about given up finding picking work in the apple orchards this fall.
2003 Sunday Times (Nexis) 11 May 8 In France—where the autumn grape season..remains the likeliest place to find picking work in Europe.
C3.
picking-bed n. a bed in a quarry that may be or has been picked away.
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the world > the earth > minerals > mineral deposits > [noun] > stratum or bed > bed of stone or sand
pendle1706
picking-bed1749
sand1849
1749 J. Wood Ess. Descr. Bath (ed. 2) II. 431 The next Layer under it, commonly called the Picking Bed, is generally as much Softer than the good Free Stone, as the Ragg is Harder.
1883 Stonemason Jan. Of this the top 12 inches is used as a picking-bed, so that blocks 6½ feet deep can always be obtained when required.
picking bee n. U.S. a working bee (bee n.3) at which something (as wool, fruit, etc.) is picked.
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society > leisure > social event > social gathering > [noun] > gatherings for specific activity
apple paring1656
house raising1704
quilting1768
bee1769
sing-song1769
reading party1781
rocking1786
cotton-picking1795
rolling1819
picking bee1828
candy pulling1834
candy pull1845
taffy-join1854
barn-raising1856
taffy pulling1863
coffee shop1880
log-rolling1883
taffy pull1883
petting party1920
play date1975
1828 in Dict. Americanisms (1951) 1235/1 Mother went to a picking Bee to pick wool the week Before She Deseased [sic].
1905 M. G. Sherk Pen Pict. Early Pioneer Life Upper Canada 177 The wool was then picked over by the women and girls, to get out any burs or lumps of dirt that might have adhered to it, ‘pickin'’ bees being frequently made for this purpose.
1943 S. Menefee Assignment: U.S.A. 48 In 1943 the townspeople were prepared to turn out for a picking-bee lasting most of the season, if necessary, to save the crop.
1977 D. Lavender One Man's West (ed. 3) ix. 139 In the fall the entire ranch force would move out on picking bees, equipped with shiny lard pails and baskets of sandwiches.
picking belt n. a conveyor belt on which something (as coal, scrap, etc.) is picked or sorted.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > mining equipment > [noun] > other mining equipment
dial1681
stick1708
motty1797
nail1839
spiking crib or curb1839
spile1841
bull1849
dag1863
ore bin1867
monitor1873
Billy Fairplay1876
snibble1883
brattice-cloth1885
breaker1885
steam point1895
picking belt1900
self-rescuer1924
rock duster1930
walking dragline1930
1900 Trans. Inst. Mining Engineers 20 67 Another jigging screen..throws the nuts on to a picking-belt.
1921 Spectator 28 May 680/1 Girls on a picking-belt or in a colliery brick-works were earning similarly inflated wages.
2003 Derby Evening Tel. (Nexis) 21 Jan. 20 Transcycle..has recently upgraded its waste separation and recycling unit with new conveyor picking belts.
picking ground n. (a) an area where something may be picked, or picked up; (b) ground capable of being worked with a pick.
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the world > the earth > land > ground > [noun] > picking
picking ground1845
1845 Jrnl. Royal Geogr. Soc. 15 206 The banks in front of it are called Watóndui or the picking-grounds, i.e. the banks for gathering shell fish.
1874 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 514 The removal in blasting-ground of 200 cubic feet, and in soft picking-ground..of 800 cubic feet.
1925 Ann. Rep. (New S. Wales Dept. Mines) 85 The ‘Opal Dirt’ is picking ground, being simply a layer of clay or sandy clay overlain by sandstone.
1993 Guardian 12 Oct. i. 6/8 A bumper harvest of hallucinogenic magic mushrooms is bringing visitors from far afield to the picking grounds in mid-Wales and the West Country.
picking knife n. Basket-making a knife used to trim the projecting ends of rods on a piece of basketwork.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > manufacture of fabric from specific materials > manufacture of articles made from twigs, etc. > basket-making > equipment for
brake1824
screw block1897
rapping iron1901
picking knife1912
1912 T. Okey Introd. Art of Basket-making vi. 28 The ends of the bottom-sticks are now cut off by the shears and the projecting tops and butts neatly picked off with the picking knife.
1960 [see sense 2f]. picking salt n. now rare the first salt created after a pan has been descaled.
ΚΠ
1884 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester (1886) Picking salt.., the first salt made after a pan has been ‘picked’, that is, has had the scale taken off the bottom.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
pickingn.2
/ˈpɪkɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈpɪkɪŋ/ 1. The action of casting, throwing, or pitching (cf. pick v.2 2). Chiefly in compounds: see Compounds 1. English regional (chiefly northern) in later use.
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c1487 J. Skelton tr. Diodorus Siculus Bibliotheca Historica iv. 247 They that be yong babes and tendre of aige, occupye theym with pikyng and castyng at markes.
1906 N.E.D. at Picking vbl. sb.2 The action of pitching or throwing sheaves, etc... north. dial.
2. Weaving. The driving of the shuttle to and fro in a loom; this operation or process.Earliest in picking stick n. at Compounds 1.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > weaving > moving or driving of shuttle
shooting1464
picking1803
shuttling1874
1803 J. Todd Brit. Patent 2698 2 A small roller..having the picking stick V fixed in it.
1924 Amer. Anthropologist 26 69 The requisite length of weft is released from the first bobbin before picking.
1970 Man 5 688 The Atayal loom:..continuous circulating warp, single heald rod, reedless with beating sword and spool picking.
1991 Mod. Asian Stud. 25 482 The new device [sc. the fly-shuttle] enabled the rate of picking to be greatly increased.
3. Spinning. The moving of the bobbin up and down the spindle, to ensure that it becomes uniformly filled. rare.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture of thread or yarn > [noun] > spinning > other processes involved in
knocking-off1883
picking1884
stretch spinning1925
1884 W. S. B. McLaren Spinning Woollen & Worsted (ed. 2) 152 The spool..requires a triple motion; a very short one at first filling the lower end, during which time the bobbin only moves a little way up and down, and then a longer ‘picking’..up and down, with the constantly lowering motion the same as for the tube.
Compounds
C1. In the names of parts employed in the driving or throwing action of a loom.
picking cord n.
ΚΠ
1863 G. Ripley & C. A. Dana New Amer. Cycl. 308/1 One of them..draws the lever and picking cord with a sharp jerk in the corresponding direction.
picking lever n.
ΚΠ
1853 A. Ure Dict. Arts 793 The bands..are superseded by the ends of the picking levers striking the shuttle direct.
1994 Metallurgia (Nexis) Nov. 42 Components that are subject to stress, eg. the runners of turbines and power plants or the picking levers of weaving machines.
picking motion n.
ΚΠ
1852 Brit. Patent 1165 (1854) 3 The application of that motion known as the ‘star wheel’, or Maltese cross, for the purpose of effecting the picking motion of looms.
1878 A. Barlow Hist. & Princ. Weaving xxv. 269 (heading) Shuttles and picking motions.
1985 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald-Jrnl. c11/5 (advt.) Tear down, fix or adjust any part of looms: 1. clutch 2. picking motion 3. change mechanism for different styles.
picking peg n.
ΚΠ
1823 R. Guest Compend. Hist. Cotton-manuf. Explan. Plates 1 The weaver holds the picking peg in his right hand.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 1285 The plan of throwing the shuttle by the picking peg and cord is a great improvement upon the old way of throwing it by hand.
1877 Globe Encycl. Universal Information 134/2 A smart pull at the picking peg causes one of the pickers to drive the shuttle with great velocity to the opposite end of its course.
picking-shaft n.
ΚΠ
1849 J. Gibson Brit. Patent 12,445 3 An improved method of connecting the picking stick with the picking shaft.
1878 A. Barlow Hist. & Princ. Weaving xxv. 271 This plan was to affix inclined planes to the peripheries of fly-wheels—one at each end of the crank shaft, so as to strike against a stud fixed upon a picking-shaft connected to each picking-stick.
picking staff n.
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1869 Sci. Amer. 7 Aug. 94/1 Mechanism for operating the picking staff in looms.
1897 Westm. Gaz. 22 Jan. 7/2 For shafts he has used a lot of the hickory picking staffs used in power looms.
picking stick n.
ΚΠ
1803 [see sense 2].
1960 G. Lewis Handbk. Crafts 108 The principle of the fly-shuttle is that it is sped across the warp by means of a picking stick.
C2.
picking-fork n. a hay-fork, a pitchfork.
ΚΠ
1906 N.E.D. at Picking Picking-fork.
picking-hole n. (also pickin-hoyle, pickin'-oile) English regional (northern) a window or door high up in a barn or hayloft, through which hay or sheaves may be pitched.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > storage or preservation of crops > [noun] > barn > parts of
mowstead1531
barn door?1544
driveway1834
barn-loft1837
barn chamber1838
picking-hole1847
1847 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words II Picking-hole.
1854 ‘T. Treddlehoyle’ Bairnsla Foaks' Ann. 25 Made it into hay, an thrawn it throo t' pickin-hoyle.
1873 J. Cordeaux Birds of Humber 14 One of the picking-holes at the north end of the barn.
1994 A. Kellett Yorks. Dict. 137/2 Pickin'-''oil, hole or door high up in the wall of a barn through which hay could be pitched.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
pickingadj.
/ˈpɪkɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈpɪkɪŋ/ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > refinement > fastidiousness > [adjective]
chisa700
estfula1000
esquaymous1303
squeamousc1325
overnicec1350
curiousc1380
dangerousc1386
delicatea1393
preciousc1395
nicec1400
skigc1400
over-delicatea1425
daintethc1430
ticklec1456
quaint1483
dauncha1500
pickinga1500
feat?1529
elegant?1533
queasy1545
fine1546
fine-fingered1549
fastidious?1555
fine-mouthed1559
chary1567
weamish1571
saucy1573
dainty1576
superfine1576
niced1577
overcurious1579
nicing1581
fineish1582
prick-me-dainty1583
daint1590
finical1592
tiptoe-nice1593
nice1594
nicking1598
choice1601
squeamish1608
marchpane1609
hypercritical1611
particular1616
finicking1661
overcritical1667
just so1696
penurious1703
fal-lal1747
ogertful1754
nackety1756
quiddling1789
pernickety1808
pershittie1808
taffety1814
hypercritic1820
faddy1824
finicky1825
meticulous1827
daintified1834
squeamy1838
picksome1855
choosey1862
picky1867
hyperaesthetic1879
persnickety1885
précieux1891
perskeet1897
tasty1905
Nice Nelly1922
perfectionist1942
snicketya1960
perfectionistic1968
a1500 Piers of Fulham (James) in W. C. Hazlitt Remains Early Pop. Poetry Eng. (1866) II. 5 But now men on deyntes so hem delyte, To fede hem vpon the fysches lyte, As flowndres, perches and suche pykyng ware.
1590 R. Harvey Plaine Percevall 3 If thy mill stones be not worne too blunt, for want of pecking, there is picking meat for thee.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iv. i. 196 The King is weary Of daintie and such picking greeuances. View more context for this quotation
1678 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress Author's Apol. sig. A6v Dost thou love picking meat? View more context for this quotation
2. That picks (in various senses of pick v.1); formerly spec. †thieving (obsolete). Now usually as the second element in compounds forming adjectives with sense ‘that picks (something)’ (for more established compounds see the first element).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > [adjective] > stealing or inclined to
bribering?1529
picking1535
thievish1538
prigging1567
felonous1570
thieving1598
Hungarian1608
theftuous1632
felonious1637
predacious1665
furacious1676
priggish1699
furtive1816
kleptic1865
1535 D. Lindsay Satyre 2657 Sic pykand peggrall theifis ar hangit.
1561 T. Hoby tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer iv. sig. Qq.iiiv The ouer wealthy..were stiff necked and recklesse, the pore, desperate and pikinge.
1633 J. Ford Loves Sacrifice iv. sig. Iv Edg'd on by some thank-picking Parasite.
1664 in M. Wood Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. 1655–65 (1940) 344 Apprehendit for a commoun pyking theife and ane idle drunken vagabound.
1697 W. Mountfort Life of Dr. Faustus iii. 18 I'll after 'em, cheating Villains..a parcel of..Yellowing, Peas-picking..Dogs.
1782 W. O'Brien Lusorium 103 Sneaking Snip, the boozer, Rag-picking blear-ey'd Ciss, and squinting Jack, the bruiser.
1860 Sci. Amer. 1 Dec. 353/3 It has remained for the natives of Chili, to supply this tooth-picking nation with..those little orange sticks that one finds at every restaurant and hotel.
1894 R. Kipling Jungle Bk. 52 Nothing but foolish words and little picking thievish hands.
1941 W. J. Cash Mind of South i. iii. 83 Jim Crow—the banjo-picking, heel-flinging, hi-yi-ing happy jack of the levees and the cotton fields.
1996 R. Mistry Fine Balance (1997) ii. 87 Less orthodox messengers: card-picking doves, chart-reading parrots, communicating cows, [etc.].
2000 H. Stevenson Instr. for Visitors 19 They..walk slowly,..eager to be soothed and cured, but unable to walk at more than a careful picking pace.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.11272
n.2c1487adj.a1500