pick-up

Language: en

🇺🇸 /ˈpɪˌkʌp/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    A light truck with an open body and low sides, used for carrying goods or people.; The act of collecting or gathering someone or something, especially in a vehicle.; An improvement or increase in activity, speed, or performance.; A casual or informal romantic or sexual encounter, or the act of meeting someone for such a purpose.; A device on a record player or phonograph that converts the vibrations of the stylus into electrical signals.; A microphone or transducer that converts sound or mechanical vibrations into electrical signals.; In sports, an informal game organized spontaneously without prior arrangement.; The act of lifting or raising something from a surface.; In broadcasting, the reception of a signal from a remote location for retransmission.; A stimulant or something that gives a person energy or a boost.
  2. adjective
    Denoting something informal or impromptu, especially a game or group assembled without prior planning.

🔗 Details

Word forms

countable Plural: pick-ups

Collocations

pick-up truckpick-up gamepick-up linepick-up artistpick-up point

Derivatives

pickuppick up

Synonyms

pickup truckcollectionretrievalute

Antonyms

drop-off

Commonly confused

pick up
EN: 'pick up' (two words) is the phrasal verb form; 'pick-up' or 'pickup' is the noun/adjective form.
pickup
EN: 'pickup' (one word) is an increasingly common alternative spelling of 'pick-up' as a noun or adjective; both are acceptable.

Spelling tips

EN: The verb is always two words ('pick up'), while the noun/adjective can be hyphenated ('pick-up') or closed ('pickup'). Avoid writing the verb as one word or hyphenated.

💬 Examples

  1. He loaded the furniture into the back of his pick-up and drove it to the new house.

  2. The school bus makes three pick-ups before reaching the elementary school.

  3. There has been a noticeable pick-up in sales since the new advertising campaign began.

  4. They met at a bar and it turned into a pick-up that lasted only one night.

  5. The old turntable needed a new pick-up because the sound had become distorted.

  6. The guitar's pick-up was adjusted to reduce feedback during the live performance.

  7. We organized a pick-up basketball game at the park on Saturday afternoon.

  8. The crane's pick-up of the heavy steel beam was completed in under a minute.

  9. The network arranged a satellite pick-up of the event from the remote stadium.

  10. She needed a strong coffee as a pick-up before her afternoon meeting.