PICK ON Definition & Meaning

View synonyms for

pick on

verb

tr, preposition to select (someone) for something unpleasant, esp in order to bully, blame, or cause to perform a distasteful task

Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

Tease, bully, victimize, as in She told Mom the boys were always picking on her . [Second half of 1800s] This expression is sometimes put as pick on someone your own size , meaning “don't badger someone who is younger, smaller, or weaker than yourself but do so only to an equal.”

Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Dallas Cowboys: CB Will Johnson, Michigan — The Cowboys haven’t used their top pick on a cornerback since taking Byron Jones 27th in 2015.

From

The Chargers used a third-round pick on linebacker Junior Colson last year.

From

Fascists are fundamentally people who can't pick on someone their own size.

From

"When you've got issues in society going on, it's always easy to pick on a group of people who don't have a voice in our society," he said.

From

It was a great sermon and it’s a shame that we didn’t hear more of that during the campaign because Mr. Trump, in addition to being a deeply unserious person, is a cruel person, and his policies are designed to pick on the weak and to get everybody else to hate each other.

From

Related 51�Թ�s

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Browse