pick at | Idiomator

Meaning: (transitive,idiomatic)Totouch,grab,handle, orpulltentativelyorgingerly, using autensilor one's fingers.Synonyms:fiddle with,toy with1852March –1853September,Charles Dickens, chapter 45, inBleak House, London:Bradbury and Evans,[…], published1853,→OCLC:Mr Vholes remained immovable, except that he secretlypicked atone of the red pimples on his yellow face with his black glove.1919,Henry B. Fuller, chapter 4, inBertram Cope's Year:He began topick atthe fussy fringe on the arm of his chair.(transitive,of food)Synonym ofpeck at.2009February 28, Laura M. Holson, “Putting a Bolder Face on Google”, inNew York Times, retrieved3 August 2015:Picking ata salad in a conference room at Google’s headquarters here, Ms. Mayer says she is vexed by how some perceive her.; (transitive,idiomatic)Topick onor repeatedlycriticize(someone).Synonyms:nitpick,badger,bully,find fault with,pester;see alsoThesaurus:pester1872,Louisa May Alcott, chapter 9, inWork: A Story of Experience:"[N]oise and disrespect of no kind ain't pleasin' to him. His own folks behave becomin', but strangers go and act as they like. . . . Then we arepicked atfor their doin's."1904,Margaret Sidney, chapter 15, inFive Little Peppers and their Friends:"And I know she's my aunt, but she needn'tpick atme all the time," she added defiantly.2011October 14, Richard Barber, “Carol McGiffin: I've got a problem in the bedroom... Insomnia!”, inDaily Mail, UK, retrieved3 August 2015:"I get crabby andpick athim about stupid things that wouldn’t normally bother me."

Examples:

EN: - That's unfair, you are the pick at this place.
ES: Es verdad. Qué injusto.
EN: You pick at him like vultures!
ES: ¡Lo despedazan como buitres!
EN: While I pick at the locks, you build your antiques collection.
ES: Mientras me peleo con cerraduras, tú haces colección de antigüedades.
EN: You'll spoil your tea if you pick at things like that.
ES: Luego no vas a tener hambre.
EN: All she did was pick at that flower.
ES: Lo único que hizo fue coger esa flor.
EN: Then all you did was pick at me, you kept after me.
ES: Y lo que hiciste fue criticarme, perseguirme...
EN: It's like music to hear you two pick at each other.
ES: Oírlos pelear es como música.
EN: You pick at me so I can't think!
ES: ¡Me agobias tanto que no puedo pensar!
EN: Don't pick at your food like that, luv.
ES: No picotees la comida de esa forma.
EN: She's got no right to pick at other people.
ES: No tiene derecho a ir criticando a los demás.
EN: - I could pick at a little.
ES: - Podría picar un poco.
EN: If it occurs to just one to pick at it, then all the others will want it too.
ES: Basta que a una se le ocurra picotearlo ya también todas las demás lo quieren.
EN: They want to keep things quiet, but I pick at the scab until blood flows and they resent me.
ES: Quieren que todo permanezca callado y silencioso, pero yo levanto la costra hasta que sale la sangre, y se resienten conmigo.
EN: I'll pick at random some of you to do the readings.
ES: Escogeré a suerte a uno de vosotros para hacer las lecturas.
EN: You are compelled to pick at the scab you've grown over the bruise until you succeed in pulling it off.
ES: Está obligado a rascarse la costra que creció sobre la herida, hasta que logre sacarla.

Note: the examples for non latin scripts have a high likelihood of mistakes, we do not own any of this data and it is sourced from Wiktionary, the NLLB database and Opensubtitles. Please help us improve this by contributing correct examples. We will be working to fix this issue over time however it is a bigger issue due to the the difficulties in dealing with non latin scripts and grammatical structures(non-romantic/european languages have lower resources as well ).