Plectrum vs. Pick: What's the Difference?

A small thin piece of metal, plastic, bone, or similar material, used to pluck the strings of certain instruments, such as the guitar or lute.

To select from a group

(music) A small piece of plastic, metal, ivory, etc., for plucking the strings of a guitar, lyre, mandolin, etc.

To gather in; harvest

A projection of bone or other stiff tissue, such as the ridges in some insects' stridulatory organs.

To gather the harvest from

A small instrument of ivory, wood, metal, or quill, used in playing upon the lyre and other stringed instruments.

To remove the outer covering of; pluck

A small thin device (of metal or plastic or ivory) used to pluck a stringed instrument

To tear off bit by bit

To remove extraneous matter from (the teeth, for example).

To poke and pull at (something) with the fingers.

To break up, separate, or detach by means of a sharp pointed instrument.

To pierce or make (a hole) with a sharp pointed instrument.

To take up (food) with the beak; peck

To steal the contents of

To open (a lock) without the use of a key.

To provoke

To pluck (an instrument's strings).

To play (an instrument) by plucking its strings.

To play (a tune) in this manner

To decide with care or forethought.

To work with a pick.

To find fault or make petty criticisms; carp

To be harvested or gathered

To throw (a shuttle) across a loom.

The act of picking, especially with a sharp pointed instrument.

The act of selecting or choosing; choice

Something selected as the most desirable; the best or choicest part

The amount or quantity of a crop that is picked by hand.

(Sports) An interception of a pass.

(Basketball) A screen.

A tool for breaking hard surfaces, consisting of a curved bar sharpened at both ends and fitted to a long handle.

Something, such as an ice pick, toothpick, or picklock, used for picking.

A long-toothed comb, usually designed for use on curly hair.

A pointed projection on the front of the blade of a figure skate.

(Music) A plectrum.

A weft thread in weaving.

A passage or throw of the shuttle in a loom.

A tool used for digging; a pickaxe.

A tool for unlocking a lock without the original key; a lock pick, picklock.

A comb with long widely spaced teeth, for use with tightly curled hair.

A choice; ability to choose.

That which would be picked or chosen first; the best.

(music) A tool used for strumming the strings of a guitar; a plectrum.

An anchor.

(basketball) A screen.

(lacrosse) An offensive tactic in which a player stands so as to block a defender from reaching a teammate.

(American football) An interception.

(baseball) A good defensive play by an infielder.

(baseball) A pickoff.

A pointed hammer used for dressing millstones.

(obsolete) A pike or spike; the sharp point fixed in the center of a buckler.

A particle of ink or paper embedded in the hollow of a letter, filling up its face, and causing a spot on a printed sheet.

That which is picked in, as with a pointed pencil, to correct an unevenness in a picture.

(weaving) The blow that drives the shuttle, used in calculating the speed of a loom (in picks per minute); hence, in describing the fineness of a fabric, a weft thread.

(AU) Pasture; feed, for animals.

To grasp and pull with the fingers or fingernails.

To harvest a fruit or vegetable for consumption by removing it from the plant to which it is attached; to harvest an entire plant by removing it from the ground.

To pull apart or away, especially with the fingers; to pluck.

To take up; especially, to gather from here and there; to collect; to bring together.

To remove something from somewhere with a pointed instrument, with the fingers, or with the teeth.

To decide upon, from a set of options; to select.

(transitive) To seek (a fight or quarrel) where the opportunity arises.

(cricket) To recognise the type of ball being bowled by a bowler by studying the position of the hand and arm as the ball is released.

(music) To pluck the individual strings of a musical instrument or to play such an instrument.

To open (a lock) with a wire, lock pick, etc.

To eat slowly, sparingly, or by morsels; to nibble.

To do anything fastidiously or carefully, or by attending to small things; to select something with care.

To steal; to pilfer.

(obsolete) To throw; to pitch.

(dated) To peck at, as a bird with its beak; to strike at with anything pointed; to act upon with a pointed instrument; to pierce; to prick, as with a pin.

(ambitransitive) To separate or open by means of a sharp point or points.

(basketball) To screen.

To intercept a pass from the offense as a defensive player.

To throw; to pitch.

To peck at, as a bird with its beak; to strike at with anything pointed; to act upon with a pointed instrument; to pierce; to prick, as with a pin.

To separate or open by means of a sharp point or points; as, to pick matted wool, cotton, oakum, etc.

To open (a lock) as by a wire.

To pull apart or away, especially with the fingers; to pluck; to gather, as fruit from a tree, flowers from the stalk, feathers from a fowl, etc.

To remove something from with a pointed instrument, with the fingers, or with the teeth; as, to pick the teeth; to pick a bone; to pick a goose; to pick a pocket.

To choose; to select; to separate as choice or desirable; to cull; as, to pick one's company; to pick one's way; - often with out.

To take up; esp., to gather from here and there; to collect; to bring together; as, to pick rags; - often with up; as, to pick up a ball or stones; to pick up information.

To trim.

To eat slowly, sparingly, or by morsels; to nibble.

To do anything nicely or carefully, or by attending to small things; to select something with care.

To steal; to pilfer.

A sharp-pointed tool for picking; - often used in composition; as, a toothpick; a picklock.

A heavy iron tool, curved and sometimes pointed at both ends, wielded by means of a wooden handle inserted in the middle, - used for digging ino the ground by quarrymen, roadmakers, etc.; also, a pointed hammer used for dressing millstones.

A pike or spike; the sharp point fixed in the center of a buckler.

Choice; right of selection; as, to have one's pick; in cat breeding, the owner of a stud gets the pick of the litter.

That which would be picked or chosen first; the best; as, the pick of the flock.

A particle of ink or paper imbedded in the hollow of a letter, filling up its face, and occasioning a spot on a printed sheet.

That which is picked in, as with a pointed pencil, to correct an unevenness in a picture.

The blow which drives the shuttle, - the rate of speed of a loom being reckoned as so many picks per minute;

The person or thing chosen or selected;

The quantity of a crop that is harvested;

The best people or things in a group;

The yarn woven across the warp yarn in weaving

A small thin device (of metal or plastic or ivory) used to pluck a stringed instrument

A thin sharp implement used for picking;

A heavy iron tool with a wooden handle and a curved head that is pointed on both ends;

A basketball maneuver; obstructing an opponent with one's body;

The act of choosing or selecting;

Select carefully from a group;

Look for and gather;

Harass with constant criticism;

Provoke;

Remove in small bits;

Remove unwanted substances from, such as feathers or pits;

Pilfer or rob;

Pay for something;

Pull lightly but sharply with a plucking motion;

Attack with or as if with a pickaxe of ice or rocky ground, for example;

Hit lightly with a picking motion

Eat intermittently; take small bites of;