Picidse 
both to procure food and to construct nesting- 
places; the woodpeckers, (a) In abroad sense, a fam- 
ily including the piculets and wrynecks, which have soft 
tail-feathers not used in climbing, and divided into / m- 
th 
limbing being pressed against the tree, and forming with 
Jie feet a tripod of support. The tail consists always of 
twelve rectrices, but the next to the outer pair are very 
small and concealed, so that there appear to be only ten 
The wing is more or less pointed, with ten primaries, of 
which the first is short or spurious ; the coverts are short, 
as in passerine birds. The feet are four-toed and zygodac- 
tvl (excepting in the genus Pimides). The arrangement 
of the flexor tendons of the toes is antiopelmous, the oil- 
gland is tufted, the carotid is single, casca are wanting, 
and the manubrium of the breast-bone is bifurcate. The 
principal peculiarities are found in the skull, beak, and 
tongue. Thu palatal structure is unique and of the type 
called by Parker laurognathoue, and the whole skull is re- 
markably solid and firm. The beak is eminentlyfltted, like 
a gouge or chisel, for boring into wood. In some of the less 
4472 
Pick an npple with a pin full of holes, not deep and 
smear it with spirits, to see if the virtual heat of the strong 
waters will not mature it. Bacon. 
The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to 
obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, 
and the young eagles shall eat it. Prov. xxx. 17. 
2. To open with a pointed instrument : said of 
a lock. 
Wi 
YetL 
typical Picidx tliis instrument is a little curved, acute, and 
pendicularly) at , 
with ridges on the sides. Except in afew genera(asSp%ro- 
pirns), the tongue is lumbriciform or cylindrical, barbed 
at the end, and capable of great extension ; it is used as a 
spear to capture insects. The horns of the hyoid bone are 
very highly developed, as a rule, curling up over the back 
of the head, even as far as the orbital or nasal cavities, and 
the salivary glands are very large. The species are nu- 
merous (upward of 800), placed in many modern genera, 
inhabiting nearly all parts of the world. They are chiefly 
insectivorous, but alsofrugivorous to some extent, nest in 
holes which they excavate with the bill, and lay crystal- 
white eggs. They are not regularly migratory, and not 
musical. Besides their vocal cries, they make a loud rat- 
tling noise by tapping trees. See cuts under Campophuus, 
Centurus, Dryocopus, flicker, Melanerpei, pair-toed. Pirns, 
pUcated, pitahaya, popinjay, sapsucker, woodpecker, and 
Xenopicus. 
piciform (pis'i-form), a. [< NL. piciformis, < 
I,, picas, a woodpecker, + forma, form.] Hav- 
ing the form or structure of a woodpecker ; re- 
lated to the woodpeckers ; picoideous; specifi- 
cally, of or pertaining to the Piciformes. 
Piciformes (pis-i-for'mez), n. pi. [NL., pi. of 
piciformis: see piciform.'] 1. In Garrod's clas- 
sification, a superfamily of anomalogonatous 
picarian birds, having a tufted oil-gland, one 
carotid, and no caeca, including the Picidse and 
some related families : contrasted with Cypseli- 
formes. 2. In Coues's system (1884), the wood- 
peckers alone as a suborder of Picarise, com- 
posed of the three families Picidse, PicumnMx, 
and lyngidae. 
Picinse (pi-si'ne), n. pi. [NL., < Picus + -inse.'] 
luornitA.: (<z+) In Nitzsch's classification (1829), 
a superfamily of birds, equivalent to the Den- 
drocolaptfe of Merrem. (6) A subfamily of Pi- 
cidse (a), made by elimination of the Picumninse 
and lynginse: same as Picidse (b). (c) A sub- 
family of Picidse (b), containing the most typi- 
cal woodpeckers, which have the bill perfectly 
straight, ridged and beveled on the sides, and 
truncate at the end, and the tongue usually ex- 
tensile. 
picine (pi'sin), a. and n. [< NL. "picinus, < L. 
picus, a woodpecker: see Picus.] I. a. Like 
a woodpecker; being or resembling one of the 
Picidse. 
II. n. One of the Picidse. 
pick 1 (pik), v. [Early mod. E. also pike, m/ke 
(partly merged in pike 1 , v.); also peck, which 
is partly differentiated in use (see peck 1 ) ; < ME. 
picken, pikken, also pekken, also piken, pyken 
(piken), pick; perhaps < AS. pycan (found but 
once, in the passage "and let him pycan ut 
his eagan." 'and caused [one] to pick out 
his eyes' (AS. Chron., an. 796), where Thorpe 
prints pytan, and Bosworth (ed. Toller) ex- 
plains the word as pycan for *pican); the AS. 
form corresponding to ME. pikken would be 
"piccan; cf. MD. picken, D. pikken, pick, = G. 
picken, pick, peck, = Icel. pikka, pick, prick; 
cf . Ir. piocaim, I pick, pluck, nibble, = Gael. 
pioc, pick, nip, nibble, = W. pigo, pick, peck, 
prick, choose, = Corn, piga, prick, sting; con- 
nected with the noun which appears as E. pike 
andpeafc: see pike 1 and peak 1 . Cf. also pitch 1 , 
an assibilated form of jMcfci.] I. trans. 1. To 
prick or pierce with some pointed instrument ; 
strike with some pointed instrument; peck or 
peck at, as a bird with its bill ; form with re- 
peated strokes of something pointed; punch: 
as, to pick a millstone ; to pick a thing full of 
holes ; to pick a hole in something. 
Beware therefore leaste whyle thou contemne the 
peaceable princes that god hath sent the, thou bee lyke 
vnto Isopes frogges, to whom, for theyr vnquietnesse, 
Inpiter sent ahearon to picke them in the hedes. 
B. Eden, First Books on America (ed. ArberX p. 63. 
ere beauty under twenty locks kept fast, 
3t love breaks through and picks them all at last 
Shale., Venus and Adonis, 1. 576. 
3. To remove clinging particles from, either 
by means of a pointed instrument, by pluck- 
ing with the thumb and finger, or by strip- 
ping with the teeth : as, to pick one's teeth ; to 
pick a thread from one's coat; to pick a bone. 
Why, he will look upon his boot and sing ; mend the 
ruff and sing ; ask questions and sing ; pick his teeth and 
8 j ng . Shak., All's Well, iii. 2. 8. 
4. To pluck; gather; break off; collect, as fruit 
or flowers growing: as, to pick strawberries. 
He ... hire his trouthe plyghte, 
And piked of hire al the good he myghte. 
Chaucer, Good Women, 1. 2467. 
Twas a good lady ; we may pick a thousand salads ere 
we light on such another herb. Shak., All's Well, iv. 6. 15. 
5. To pluck with the fingers, as the strings of 
a guitar or banjo; play with the fingers; twitch; 
twang. 
What charming girls, quick of wit, dashing in repartee, 
who can pick the strings, troll a song, and dance a brando ! 
C. D. Warner, Their Pilgrimage, p. 11. 
Dat nigger, whar nuv'r know how to pick a banjer be- 
fo', took it up an' play off dat ve'y dance. 
Harpers May., LXXVIII. 42. 
6. To filch or pilfer from ; steal or snatch 
thievishly the contents of: as, to pick a pocket 
or a purse. 
The Grekes were full gredy, grippit horn belyue, 
Prayen and pyken mony priuey chambur. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. 8.), L 1371. 
Pistol, did you pick Master Blender's purse ? 
Shak., M. W. of W., i. 1. 154. 
He found his pocket was picked ! that being a kind of 
palmistry at which this race of vermin [gipsies] are very 
dexterous. Addison, Spectator, No. 130. 
They pick'd my pockets bare. 
Battle of Tranent-Muir (Child's Ballads, VII. 173). 
Pick my left pocket of its silver dime, 
But spare the right it holds my golden time! 
0. W. Holmes, A Rhymed Lesson. 
7f. To separate and arrange in order, as a bird 
its feathers ; preen ; trim. 
He kembeth hym, he proyneth hym imdpyketh. 
Chaucer, Merchant's Tale, 1. 767. 
8. To separate ; pull apart or loosen, as hair, 
fibers, etc.; pull to pieces; shred: sometimes 
with up : as, to pick horsehair ; to pick oakum ; 
to pick up codfish (in cookery). 9. To sepa- 
rate and select out of a number or quantity; 
choose or cull carefully or nicely: often with 
out: as, to^icfc (or pick out) the best. 
We vse as much as may be the most flowing words & 
slippery sillables that we can picke out. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 64. 
To he honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked 
out of ten thousand. Shak., Hamlet, ii. 2. 179. 
Can nothing then but Episcopacy teach men to speak 
good English, to piciand orderasetof words judiciously? 
Milton, Apology for Smectymnuus. 
Our modern wits are forced to pick and cull, 
And here and there by chance glean up a fool. 
Addison, Prol. to Steele's Tender Husband. 
10t. To seek out by ingenuity or device ; find 
out; discover. 
He is so wise 
That we can pick no cause to affront him. 
Fletcher (and another), Queen of Corinth, iii. 1. 
No key 
Could from my bosom pick that Mystery. 
J. Beaumont, Psyche, ii. 75. 
A bone to pick. See &oni. To have a crow to pick 
with one. See crowz. To pick a hole in one's coat, 
to find fault with one. To pick a quarrel, to find or 
make cause or occasion for quarreling. 
She '11 pick a quarrel with a sleeping child, 
Ere she fall out with me. 
II,-" a. and Fl., Coxcomb, tii. 3. 
To pick a thankt, to pick thankst, to procure consid- 
eration or favor by servile or underhand means. 
He is ashamed to say that which is said already, or else 
to pick a thank with his prince. 
Sir T. More, Utopia (tr. by Robinson), i. 
As I am not minded to picke a thanke with the one, so 
am I not determined to picke a quarrell with the other. 
Lyly, I :iii>hurs. Anat. of Wit, p. 107. 
By slavish fawning or by picking thanks. 
Wither, Britain's Remembrancer. (Nares.) 
TO pick fault, to seek out petty occasion for censure ; 
find fault. 
They medle with other folkes busines, . . . exhort and 
glue preceptes, rebuke and correcte, pykefautes. 
Hyrde, tr. of Vives's Instruction of a Christian Woman 
[(ed. 1541), fol. 138 b. 
pick 
To pick Off, to single out, aim at, and kill or wound, as 
with firearms : as, the riflemen picked of the enemy. To 
pick one's way, to move cautiously or carefully. 
He does not fail to observe the entrance of a stalwart 
old gentleman, who picks hi* way up to the front chairs. 
Hallberger's Ittws. May., I., Ward or Wife? 
To pick out. (a) To piece out ; form by combining sepa- 
rate or scattered parts or fragments ; find or make out. 
Compare def. 9. 
I did prety well picke out the sense of the Epitaphe. 
Coryat, Crudities, I. 155. 
He brings me information, picked out of broken words in 
men's common talk. Beau, and Fl., Woman-llater, i. 3. 
Hopeful . . . called to Christian (for he was learned) to 
see if he could pick out the meaning. 
Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress, p. 170. 
(6) To mark as with spots of color or other applications of 
ornament. 
Tall dark houses, with window-frames of stone, at picked 
out of a lighter red. Thackeray, Vanity Fair, xlvii. 
This flying being [Eros] has his body painted in opaque 
white : his wings are blue picked out with gold. 
C. T. Newton, Art and Archfeol., p. 388. 
To pick pockets, to pick one's pocket. See pocket. 
To pick up. (a) To take up, as with the fingers : as, to 
pick up a stone ; to pick uj> a fan ; hence, to take up in 
general ; pluck up : as, to pick tip courage. 
I picked up courage, and, putting on the best appear- 
ance I could, said to them steadily, without trepidation, 
" What men are these before?" 
Bruce, Source of the Nile, 1. 195. 
The sweet flavor of a frost-bitten apple, such as onepicks 
up under the tree in December. 
Hawthorne, Seven Gables, x. 
(6) To take or get casually ; obtain or procure as opportu- 
nity offers ; acquire by chance or occasional opportunity ; 
gather here .and there, little by little, or bit by bit: as, to 
pick up a rare copy of Homer ; to pick up information ; to 
pick up acquaintance ; to pick up a language or a liveli- 
hood. 
If in our youths we could pick up some pretty estate, 
'twere not amiss to keep our door hatched. 
Shak., Pericles, iv. 2. 36. 
They could find Trade enough nearer home, and by this 
Trade "the Freemen of Malacca pick up a good livelihood. 
Dumpier, Voyages, II. L 167. 
When I was at Grand Cairo I picked up several oriental 
manuscripts, which I have still by me. 
Addison, The Vision of Mirza. 
If you can pick me wpany fragments of old painted glass, 
arms, or anything, I shall be excessively obliged to you. 
Walpole, Letters, H. 190. 
(c) To take (a person found or overtaken) into a vehicle or 
a vessel, or into one's company : as, to pick up a tired trav- 
eler; to pick up a shipwrecked crew. 
On the way Mr. Gowen, who has charge of the first four- 
teen miles of the aqueduct, was picked up. 
Sew York Tribune, Feb. 2, 1890. 
(<Z) See def. a To pick up one's crumbs, heels, etc. 
See the nouns. 
II. intrans. 1. To strike with a pointed in- 
strument; peck. 2. To take up morsels of 
food and eat them slowly ; nibble. 
Why stand'st thou picking ? Is thy palate sore, 
That bete and radishes will make thee roar? 
Dryden, tr. of Persius's Satires, iii. 226. 
3. To steal ; pilfer To pick at, to annoy by repeated 
faultfinding ; nag : as, she is forever picking at the child. 
To pick UP, to improve gradually; acquire vigor or 
strength, as after illness or failure : as, he is looking better, 
and beginning to pick up. [Colloq. ] 
This club began to pick up, and now it has regained its 
former prestige. The Century, XXXVII. 751. 
pick 1 (pit), " [In most uses from the verb; 
but in senses 1 and 2 prob. a mere var. of pike 1 , 
n., which is in part ult. the source of the verb 
pick : see pick 1 , v., pike 1 , .] 1. A pointed in- 
strument of various kinds, (a) A tool used for 
loosening and breaking up closely compacted soil and 
rock. It is ordinarily a bar of iron tipped with steel at 
both ends, about eighteen inches long, sometimes straight 
but more generally slightly curved, and having an eye in 
(i and f, pickaxes, a (sometimes called a pick-mattock) having an 
adz-like edge on the end opposite the point, and c having its edge in 
line with the handle, like a common ax ; b, a push-pick, having a 
crutch-handle ft, which is grasped by the hands, and a step s for 
the foot ; d, a miners' pick ; f, the common pick used in excavation, 
etc. 
the middle to receive a handle or helve. The tips of the 
pick are usually sharpened to a point by a square taper ; 
sometimes, however, to a chisel-edge. The tapering ex- 
tremities of the pick possess the property of the wedge, 
so that this tool is really hammer and wedge in one. Its 
form allows it also to be advantageously used as a bent 
lever. The pick is known in England by the names pike, 
mandrel, slitter, mattock, and hack; the last two, however, 
belong properly to forms of the pick with only one point 
and that ending in a chisel-edge. The pick is largely em- 
ployed by miners, especially by coal-miners. (6) An edged 
or pointed hammer used in dressing stones, (c) A tooth- 
pick. [Colloq.] (dt)Afork. 
