if something picks up speed, it starts to move faster
Example: A red Dodge pick-up stood beside it almost completely coated with a glistening layer of mud.
if something such as the wind picks up, it becomes stronger
Example: After the death of a partner, it can be difficult to pick up the threads of your life.
to arrest someone and take them away in a car
Example: And then in training we picked up an injury.
to buy something
Example: He picked the phone up and dialled.
to earn money
Example: He seems to think that we can get back together and just pick up where we left off.
to get an illness
Example: He walked out on his family, leaving his wife to pick up the pieces.
to go and meet someone or something that you have arranged to take somewhere in a vehicle
Example: He was picked up in the early hours of Thursday morning.
to improve
Example: Her father picks up the tab for her expensive lifestyle.
to learn a new skill or start a habit without intending to
Example: I am constantly picking up the things the children leave lying around.
to lift someone or something up from a surface
Example: I don’t think this thing can pick up foreign stations.
to lift something up and take it away
Example: It was a pick-up, coming fast from the direction of the office.
to lift things up and put them in the place where they are kept in order to make a place tidy
Example: It was the same battered pick-up truck which had brought Nicole to the village earlier.
to make a place clean and tidy
Example: I’ll pick up my luggage in the morning.
to notice a smell or sound, or to notice that someone or something is present
Example: I’ve already asked them to pick their toys up.
to pay for something
Example: Most tourists are worried that they’ll pick up a nasty stomach bug.
to receive an electronic signal on a radio or similar piece of equipment
Example: Nobody knows if Jim will ever pick himself up after his wife left him.
to recover from a fall or problem
Example: Pick up a leaflet from your doctor’s.
to return to a situation that existed before something went wrong
Example: She picked up a few German phrases while staying in Berlin.
to start something again, from the point where you stopped
Example: She rushed to pick up the baby as soon as it started to cry.
to start talking to someone because you want to have sex with them
Example: She went home with some man she picked up in a bar.
to take someone who is waiting by the road into your vehicle and take them somewhere
Example: The dogs must have picked up his scent.
to try to return to a normal life after a difficult experience
Example: The film is tipped to pick up at least three Oscars.
to win something such as a prize
Example: The performance will pick up in the second half.
