pick at
verb1
Idiomatic To touch, grab, handle, or pull tentatively or gingerly, using a utensil or one's fingers.
- Mr Vholes remained immovable, except that he secretly picked at one of the red pimples on his yellow face with his black glove.1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, chapter 45, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC:
- He began to pick at the fussy fringe on the arm of his chair.1919, Henry B. Fuller, chapter 4, in Bertram Cope's Year:
2
Idiomatic, Of food Synonym of peck at.
- Picking at a salad in a conference room at Google’s headquarters here, Ms. Mayer says she is vexed by how some perceive her.2009 February 28, Laura M. Holson, “Putting a Bolder Face on Google”, in New York Times, retrieved 03 Aug 2015:
3
Idiomatic To pick on or repeatedly criticize (someone).
- "[N]oise and disrespect of no kind ain't pleasin' to him. His own folks behave becomin', but strangers go and act as they like. . . . Then we are picked at for their doin's."1872, Louisa May Alcott, chapter 9, in Work: A Story of Experience:
- "And I know she's my aunt, but she needn't pick at me all the time," she added defiantly.1904, Margaret Sidney, chapter 15, in Five Little Peppers and their Friends:
1 more example
- "I get crabby and pick at him about stupid things that wouldn’t normally bother me."2011 October 14, Richard Barber, “Carol McGiffin: I've got a problem in the bedroom... Insomnia!”, in Daily Mail, UK, retrieved 03 Aug 2015: