SINCE 1828

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

cherry picker

noun

Updated on: 19 Mar 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

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.

First Known Use of cherry picker

1940

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

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BROWSE DICTIONARY

cherry pepper

cherry-pick

cherry picker

cherry pie

cherry pink

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