Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

picking

/ˈpɪkɪŋ/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.44 in modern English

Syllables: pick-ing
IPA: /ˈpɪkɪŋ/

16

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

present participle and gerund of pick

noun

A gathering to pick fruit.

noun

Items remaining after others have selected the best; scraps, as of food.

noun

Income or other gains, especially if obtained in an unscrupulous or objectionable manner.

noun

Something picked or pulled out.

noun

The act of making a choice; selection.

noun

The final finishing of woven fabrics by removing burs, etc.

noun

The removal of defects from electrotype plates.

Example Sentences

"We went to a strawberry picking last June."
"Gilbert wandered through . . .the haunts of ravenous dogs and homeless cats that kept themselves alive on the choice pickings of the city's garbage."
"easy pickings, rich pickings"
"He liked the pickings which the job brought him much better than the job itself."
"The schoolboy flicked his nose pickings across the classroom."

Inflected Forms

pickings (plural)

Derived Forms

berrypicking flowerpicking nitpicking nutpicking

Phrases

batch picking brain-picking case picking chronic skin-picking cluster picking cotton-picking digital picking discrete picking

Synonyms

leftovers booty pick

Rhymes With

kicking sticking clicking licking ticking tricking flicking fricking dicking pricking bricking

Questions

How do you pronounce picking?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈpɪkɪŋ/.
What does picking mean?: present participle and gerund of pick

How to pronounce picking

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “picking”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈpɪkɪŋ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “picking”.
Repeat and practice — Say “picking” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.