phrasal verb🧩 phrasal verb

pick out

to select carefully

What it means

To choose something or someone from a group, usually carefully or with a specific purpose in mind. It can also mean to recognise or spot someone in a crowd or in a photo.

Examples

  • She picked out a beautiful blue dress for the wedding next weekend.
  • Can you pick out your brother in this old school photograph?
  • He picked out three books from the shelf and brought them to the till.
  • It's hard to pick out one favourite song from the entire album.

Where it comes from

Separable: 'pick it out' or 'pick out a present'. In musical contexts, 'pick out a tune' means to play a melody one note at a time.

Related phrasal verbs

#pick up#point out#set aside#weigh up

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