picker meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

picker

noun

/ˈpɪkə(ɹ)/

Etymology From Middle English pikere, pykare, equivalent to pick + -er.

9 senses

Agent Agent noun of pick; one who picks.

The apple picker climbed the tree.
That concertina was a wonder in its way. The handles that was on it first was wore out long ago, and he'd made new ones of braided rope yarn. And the bellows was patched in more places than a cranberry picker's overalls.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

1 more example

I have observed that there are only two types of eaters in this world - pickers and wolfers.1987, Kerry Cue, Hang On To Your Horses Doovers, page 13:

A worker responsible for picking or retrieving ordered items, etc.

Already at Amazon warehouses, ‘pickers’—the workers who locate purchased items and transport them to the shipping station within the warehouse—are issued a hand-held device that tracks their every move.2020, Noreena Hertz, chapter 8, in The Lonely Century, Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN:
"Farmers can't get sufficient fruit pickers," he said. "It is the same pool of labour, agency staff [who are] largely eastern European [and] a huge number of them Polish."2021 August 27, “Fruit picker shortage spreads to Christmas workers”, in BBC News, United States, archived from the original on 05 Sep 2025:

Computing, Engineering, Graphical user interface, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences Any user interface control that selects something.

Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences A machine for picking fibrous materials to pieces so as to loosen and separate the fibre.

Business, Manufacturing, Textiles, Weaving The piece in a loom that strikes the end of the shuttle and impels it through the warp.

Government, Military, Politics, War A priming wire for cleaning the vent, in ordnance.

Slang A fragment of gold smaller than a nugget but large enough to be picked up.

Historical One who removes defects from and finishes electrotype plates.

Archaic A pilferer.

Derived terms: berrypicker, bone-picker, bowpicker, G2P, goods-to-person, goods-to-picker, lockpicker, nutpicker, parts-to-picker, peckerhead, picker-to-goods, picker-to-parts, picker-up, picker-upper, picker upper, picker-upperer, ragpicker, shitpicker, sternpicker, stockpicker, toothpicker, winkle-picker, winkle picker, wool picker
Hyponyms: cherry picker, cotton picker, gooseberry-picker, hop picker, nit-picker, nose-picker, sally-picker, stock picker, stock-picker, waste picker, wig-picker