cherry picker

noun

|Updated on: 8 Jul 2018

Definition of cherry picker

1 : a traveling crane equipped for holding a passenger at the end of the boom

2 : one who cherry-picks

Recent Examples of cherry picker from the Web

Its public works department sent out a cherry picker and Wurst climbed in.

— frank kummer, Philly.com, "Think before releasing balloons: Osprey tangled 35-feet up rescued at Shore," 21 June 2018
All four Pakistanis testified as alibi witnesses in the evidentiary hearing on whether to free Lodi cherry picker Hamid Hayat, who has spent 12 years in prison after being convicted in 2006 of lying to the FBI and providing assistance to terrorists.

— stephen magagnini, sacbee, "Witnesses in Sacramento terror case testify from Pakistan in rare late-night court session | The Sacramento Bee," 20 Feb. 2018
Workers in hydraulic cranes, or cherry pickers, were sent high up the poles to refasten the nets.

— john tuohy, Indianapolis Star, "Fisher's Topgolf fixes giant net that was damaged by wind and sleet," 17 Jan. 2018
Others like White Lake, Mich., John Turner hadn't worked at the factory but was looking for tools at a bargain for his small business: an arbor press, a cherry picker and jackstands.

— david kiley, Popular Mechanics, "GM Makes Money, Closes Factories," 15 Nov. 2010
Officer Mays calmly rode the cherry picker to the ground to vacuum the rest of the swarm.

— ben kesling, WSJ, "Look Out—It’s New York City’s Bee Cop! And He’s Got a Vacuum Cleaner," 1 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cherry picker.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.