Verb: pick at
- Eat only small pieces of food at a time
"The anorexic girl just picks at her food";
- peck at, peck [informal]
- Pluck or pull at with the fingers
"She nervously picked at the hem of her dress";
- pluck at, pull at
- Express a negative opinion of
"She picked at her student's efforts";
- disparage, belittle
Derived forms: picked at, picking at, picks at
Type of: criticise [Brit], criticize, damn [informal], eat, knock [informal], pick apart, pull