pick out

verb

picked out; picking out; picks out

transitive verb

1

: discern, make out

2

: to play the notes of by ear or one by one

picking out tunes on the piano

Examples of pick out in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The rookie seventh-round pick out of Alabama carried the ball 14 times for 55 yards. — Doug Kyed, Boston Herald, 14 Aug. 2026

The faces of club legends Sir Tom Finney, Bill Shankly and Alan Kelly are picked out using different colour seats in three of the stands, while there cannot be a finer statue in football than the one outside honouring Finney, aptly titled ‘Splash’. — Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 13 Aug. 2026

With one out and a runner on second, Jeremy Peña hit a soft broken-bat line drive that Adames picked out of the dirt. — Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 12 Aug. 2026

The boys even joined Uncle Parker on a bike ride to pick out flowers for the table. — Kelsey Monstrola, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1540, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for pick out

• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout
• checkout
• closeout
• cutout
• devout
• dropout

Kids Definition

pick out

verb

1

: to see or detect with some difficulty

picked out the trail in the snow

2

: to play the notes of by ear or one by one

pick out a tune