Pick Off (Verb)
Meaning 1
Pull or pull out sharply; "pluck the flowers off the bush".
Classification
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging.
Examples
- She carefully picked off the ripe fruit from the orchard.
- The caterpillar was picked off by a curious bird.
- He picked off the stickers from the old furniture.
- Gently pick off the dead petals from the flowers to promote new growth.
- Her mom helped her pick off the loose threads from her favorite sweater.
Synonyms
Hypernyms
Hyponyms
Meaning 2
Shoot one by one.
Classification
Verbs of political and social activities and events.
Examples
- The sniper's job was to carefully pick off enemy soldiers trying to sneak across the battlefield.
- A skilled hunter will pick off individual birds from a large flock to minimize damage.
- Shooting from the cover of bushes, the rebel was able to pick off several government soldiers.
- During the last battle, the marksman had managed to pick off at least five enemy fighters.
- Armed with a rifle, the lookout in the watchtower was trained to pick off anyone attempting to scale the walls.