answer a phone call:
"the phone rang and rang and nobody picked up" · "let the machine pick it up and return the call later"
pay the bill for something, especially when others have contributed to the expense:
"as usual, we had to pick up the tab"
tidy a room or building:
"finish your homework and pick up your room"
put something away neatly:
"will you pick up all your toys?"
lift up one's ball, especially when conceding a hole.
go somewhere to collect someone, typically in one's car:
"will you pick the children up from school?"
stop for someone to board a train, boat, etc.:
"they were picked up by a passing ship"
arrest someone:
"he was picked up by the police for questioning"
casually strike up a conversation with a stranger, with the aim of having sex with them:
"one night I picked up a stranger in a bar"
return to a point made by someone in order to criticize it:
"she picked him up on one niggling point"
make someone feel more energetic and cheerful:
"songs to pick you up and make you feel good"
stand up again after a fall:
"Emily picked herself up off the grass"
collect something that has been left elsewhere:
"Wanda came over to pick up her things"
obtain, acquire, or learn something, especially in an informal way:
"he had picked up a little Russian from his father"
catch an illness or infection:
"I've picked up some kind of flu bug"
become better; improve:
"my luck's picked up"
become stronger; increase:
"the wind has picked up"
detect or receive a signal or sound, especially by means of electronic apparatus:
"we've picked up a distress signal" · "the animals had picked up their scent and were following their trail"
become aware of or sensitive to something:
"she is very quick to pick up emotional atmospheres" · "it is more likely that such a problem would be picked up by professionals" · "I failed to pick up on the humor in his remark"
find and take a particular road or route:
"they veered left and picked up the road which ran alongside the river"
resume something:
"let's pick up where we left off yesterday" · "they picked up their friendship without the slightest difficulty" · "he picked up the story in the 1950s"
refer to or develop a point or topic mentioned earlier:
"Dawson picked up her earlier remark" · "if I could just pick up on a question you raised earlier"
(of an object or color) attractively accentuate the color of something else by being of a similar shade:
"her earrings picked up the blue in her outfit"