Language: en
Meaning: (idiomatic)To pick out the best or mostdesirableitems from alistorgroup, especially to obtain someadvantageor topresentsomething in the best possible light.2005, “The PC Way to Pick Winners”, inKiplinger's Personal Finance, volume59, number 4, page44:Screeners can help youcherry-picka promising group of stocks that meet your exact specifications.2008, Donna Andrews,The Penguin Who Knew Too Much, page98:"We're not offering you a chance tocherry-pickthe Caerphilly Zoo to fill in the gaps in your own collection.2012April 29, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Treehouse of Horror III” (season 4, episode 5; originally aired 10/29/1992)”, in(Please provide the book title or journal name)[1]:In time The Simpsons would, indeed, resort to spoofing such decidedly non-spooktacular fare like E.T and Mr. And Mrs. Smith (both in “Treehouse Of Horror XVIII”) but in 1992 the field was wide-open and the show couldcherry-pickthe most iconic and beloved fright fare of all time.2023March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, inRAIL, number978, pages37–38:The situation became more acute as road competition began to grow during the 1930s. A national road network was built, and road hauliers couldcherry-pickthe most profitable movements.; (rhetoric,logic,by extension)To select only evidence which supports an argument, and reject or ignore contradictory evidence.From all the available statistics, the politiciancherry-pickedonly those that backed up his ideas.1999, Nicholas Alexander, Gary Akehurst,The Emergence of Modern Retailing, 1750-1950,page38:The reason for this concentration is to attempt to alleviate the problems of fragmentation which usually accompany the study of retailing, particularly at the end of the early period, and has so often happened in the past, to curtail the temptation to 'cherry-pick'the best evidence from a wide, but not necessarily related, area.2001, Ian St. John insci.environmentYou are *asking* for a specific *subset* of the data to *prove* a specific theory. That is 'cherry picking'. It is no more valid to 'cherry pick'data to disprove global warming than it is to 'cherry pick'data to prove it. That is *science*. You *must* deal with the entire data set. What part of this is not clear?2006,Scientific developments relating to the Abortion Act 1967: twelfth report of session 2006-07, Vol. 2: Oral and written evidence,page32:Yes, I do think in principle it is a good idea to have clearing houses where data is assessed and has as objective an account as possible given of the data because of the tendency of all organisations tocherry-pickthose studies which may support a pre-existing position.2008, Warren Davies,How to Study Psychology,page80:So it's possible to 'cherry pick'only the evidence that supports a position and ignore the rest. To the reader who does not know about the rest of the evidence, it may seem like a strong case. The whole body of evidence must be considered.; (US,idiomatic,sports)To position oneself near theopponent'sgoalto attempt to receive anerrantorintentionalpass for an easyscore, as inbasketballor versions ofsoccerwhereoffsidesare not enforced.; (US,idiomatic,broadcasting)To broadcast selectedprogrammingfrom anothernetwork.1980,Television/radio age, volume28, page80:Those stations that will send CNN tapes of their local and regional news for CNN tocherry-pickfrom, in turn will be allowed tocherry-pickthemselves.; (software engineering)Insource control, tocommitselected changes from onebranchto another.
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