phrasal verb🧩 phrasal verb

pick up

to lift from somewhere

What it means

To lift something from a surface using your hand. It also has many extended uses: collecting someone in a car, learning casually, buying on the way, or improving in speed or quality.

Examples

  • Could you pick up that pen for me, please?
  • I'll pick you up from the airport at six.
  • She picked up a bit of Italian during her holiday.
  • Sales have started to pick up since the new advert launched.

Where it comes from

Separable: 'pick up the kids' or 'pick the kids up', and pronouns always go in the middle ('pick them up'). One of the most versatile phrasal verbs in English with over a dozen distinct meanings depending on context, from collecting groceries to detecting a signal.

Related phrasal verbs

#pick out#put down#drop off#hand out

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