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pickup

noun

Simple meaning

Impromptu or ad hoc.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

pikuhp

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈpɪkəp

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. usually attributive

    Impromptu or ad hoc, especially of sports games and teams made up of randomly selected players.

  2. An instance of approaching someone and engaging in romantic flirtation and courting with the intent to pursue romance, a date, or a sexual encounter.

  3. The act of taking aboard passengers or freight

  4. The act of collecting and taking away something or someone, usually in a vehicle.

  5. A person successfully approached in this manner for romance or sex.

  6. An electronic device for detecting sound, vibration, etc., such as one fitted to an electric guitar or record player.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Varies by meaning

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Impromptu or ad hoc, especially of sports games and teams made up of randomly selected players.

Used this way, pickup is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a sporting use: familiar to anyone who follows the game, and puzzling to anyone who does not.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Where it naturally appears

  • Sports
  • News/reporting
  • Everyday conversation

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use pickup

  • “Garbage pickup is on Mondays and Thursdays.”noun
  • “She needed the pickup that coffee always gave her.”noun
  • “His car has a lot of pickup.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

pickup truckgarbage pickuppickup coilred pickuppickup tubeblue pickupchevy pickuppickup point

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • pickup armnounCompound term

    Mechanical device consisting of a light balanced arm that carries the cartridge.

  • pickup trucknounCompound term

    A light truck with an open body and low sides and a tailboard.

  • garbage pickupnounCompound term

    The collection and removal of garbage.

  • crystal pickupnounCompound term

    A cartridge in which an output voltage is produced by the vibration of a piezoelectric crystal.

  • television pickup tubenounCompound term

    A tube that rapidly scans an optical image and converts it into electronic signals.

  • trash pickupnounCompound term

    The collection and removal of garbage.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.