pick at

present singular third person picks at · participle present picking at · participle past picked at · past picked at

1. idiomatictransitiveTo touch, grab, handle, or pull tentatively or gingerly, using a utensil or one's fingers.

   He began to pick at the fussy fringe on the arm of his chair.

   1919, Henry B. Fuller, chapter 4, in Bertram Cope's Year

   1 more example

   Mr Vholes remained immovable, except that he secretly picked at one of the red pimples on his yellow face with his black glove.

   1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, chapter 45, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC

   Synonyms: fiddle with, toy with

   1. idiomatictransitiveSynonym of peck at.

      Picking at a salad in a conference room at Google’s headquarters here, Ms. Mayer says she is vexed by how some perceive her.

      2009 February 28, Laura M. Holson, “Putting a Bolder Face on Google”, in New York Times, retrieved 03 Aug 2015

      Synonyms: fiddle with, toy with, peck at

2. idiomatictransitiveTo pick on or repeatedly criticize (someone).

   "I get crabby and pick at him about stupid things that wouldn’t normally bother me."

   2011 October 14, Richard Barber, “Carol McGiffin: I've got a problem in the bedroom... Insomnia!”, in Daily Mail, UK, retrieved 03 Aug 2015

   2 more examples

   "[N]oise and disrespect of no kind ain't pleasin' to him. His own folks behave becomin', but strangers go and act as they like. . . . Then we are picked at for their doin's."

   1872, Louisa May Alcott, chapter 9, in Work: A Story of Experience

   "And I know she's my aunt, but she needn't pick at me all the time," she added defiantly.

   1904, Margaret Sidney, chapter 15, in Five Little Peppers and their Friends

   Synonyms: nitpick, badger, bully, find fault, pester, badger, bait, bedevil