picking

1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of pick

plural pickings

1. A gathering to pick fruit.

   We went to a strawberry picking last June.

2. usually pluralizedItems remaining after others have selected the best; scraps, as of food.

   Gilbert wandered through . . .the haunts of ravenous dogs and homeless cats that kept themselves alive on the choice pickings of the city's garbage.

   1899, F. Marion Crawford, chapter 9, in Via Crucis

   Synonyms: leftovers

3. usually pluralizedIncome or other gains, especially if obtained in an unscrupulous or objectionable manner.

   easy pickings, rich pickings

   1 more example

   He liked the pickings which the job brought him much better than the job itself.

   1919, Anthony Hope, chapter 11, in The Secret of the Tower

4. Something picked or pulled out.

   The schoolboy flicked his nose pickings across the classroom.

5. The act of making a choice; selection.
6. The final finishing of woven fabrics by removing burs, etc.
7. The removal of defects from electrotype plates.
8. Dabbing in stoneworking.