1. A light truck with an open body and low sides and a tailboard
   "He loaded the furniture into his pickup truck";
   - pickup truck, ute [Austral, NZ, informal]
    
2. The act or process of picking up or collecting from various places
   "garbage pickup is on Mondays and Thursdays"
    
3. The act of taking aboard passengers or freight
   "The bus made several pickups along its route"
    
4. An electro-acoustic transducer that is the part of the arm of a record player that holds the needle and that is removable
   "The audiophile invested in a high-end pickup for better sound quality";
   - cartridge
    
5. Mechanical device consisting of a light balanced arm that carries the cartridge
   "He carefully lowered the pickup onto the vinyl record";
   - tone arm, pickup arm
    
6. The attribute of being capable of rapid acceleration
   "his car has a lot of pickup";
   - getaway
    
7. [informal] A casual acquaintance; often made in hope of sexual relationships
   "He was known for his smooth talk at bars, always on the lookout for a pickup"
    
8. A stimulant or tonic that restores energy
   "she needed the pickup that coffee always gave her";
   - pick-me-up
    
9. Improvement in business activity
   "There was a pickup in sales after the holiday"
    
10. [US] A warrant to take someone into custody
    "put out a pickup on that man"

1. Take up by hand
   "He picked up the book and started to read"
    
2. Take and lift upward
   "He picked up the fallen books";
   - lift up, gather up
    
3. Give a passenger or a hitchhiker a lift
   "We picked up a hitchhiker on the highway"
    
4. Register (perceptual input)
   "pick up a signal";
   - receive
    
5. Get to know or become aware of, usually accidentally
   "I picked up that she has two grown-up children";
   - learn, hear, get word, get wind, find out, get a line [informal], discover, see
    
6. Perceive with the senses quickly, suddenly, or momentarily
   "The dog picked up the scent";
   - catch
    
7. Go to meet, esp. to then take somewhere in a vehicle
   "She picked up the children at the day care centre"; "They pick up our trash twice a week";
   - collect, gather up, call for
    
8. Buy casually or spontaneously
   "I picked up some food for a snack"
    
9. Take into custody
   "the police picked up the suspected criminals";
   - collar [informal], nail [informal], apprehend, arrest, nab [informal], cop [informal], pinch [Brit, informal], nick [Brit, informal]
    
10. Get in addition, as an increase
    "The candidate picked up thousands of votes after his visit to the nursing home"
     
11. Lift out or reflect from a background
    "The scarf picks up the colour of the skirt"; "His eyes picked up his smile"
     
12. Improve significantly; go from bad to good
    "Her performance in school picked up";
    - turn around
     
13. Fill with high spirits; fill with optimism
    "Music can pick up your spirits";
    - elate, lift up, uplift, intoxicate
     
14. Gain or regain energy
    "I picked up after a nap";
    - perk up, perk, percolate [N. Amer, informal], gain vigor [US], gain vigour [Brit, Cdn]
     
15. Meet someone for sexual purposes
    "he always tries to pick up girls in bars"

Derived forms: picking up, picks up, pickups, picked up

See also: collect, pluck, turn

Type of: acceleration, acquaintance, acquire, acquiring, act, aggregation, ameliorate, arrest warrant, assembling, bench warrant, better, bring out, bring up, buy, clutch, collecting, collection, comprehend, convalesce, corrective, electro-acoustic transducer, elevate, excite, friend, get, get together, get up, getting, improve, lift, lorry [Brit], mechanical device, meet, meliorate, motortruck [N. Amer], move, perceive, prehend [archaic], purchase, raise, recover, recuperate, restorative, seize, set off, shake, shake up, stir, take hold, take hold of, touch, transport, truck

Part of: conveyance, phonograph, record player, transfer, transferral, transport, transportation

Encyclopedia: Pickup, Thomas