Plectrum vs. Pick: What's the Difference?

Plectrum and Pick Definitions
Plectrum
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.
Pick
To select from a group
The best swimmer was picked.
Plectrum
(music) A small piece of plastic, metal, ivory, etc., for plucking the strings of a guitar, lyre, mandolin, etc.
Pick
To gather in; harvest
They were picking cotton.
Plectrum
A projection of bone or other stiff tissue, such as the ridges in some insects' stridulatory organs.
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Pick
To gather the harvest from
Picked the field in one day.
Plectrum
A small instrument of ivory, wood, metal, or quill, used in playing upon the lyre and other stringed instruments.
Pick
To remove the outer covering of; pluck
Pick a chicken clean of feathers.
Plectrum
A small thin device (of metal or plastic or ivory) used to pluck a stringed instrument
Pick
To tear off bit by bit
Pick meat from the bones.
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Pick
To remove extraneous matter from (the teeth, for example).
Pick
To poke and pull at (something) with the fingers.
Pick
To break up, separate, or detach by means of a sharp pointed instrument.
Pick
To pierce or make (a hole) with a sharp pointed instrument.
Pick
To take up (food) with the beak; peck
The parrot picked its seed.
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Pick
To steal the contents of
My pocket was picked.
Pick
To open (a lock) without the use of a key.
Pick
To provoke
Pick a fight.
Pick
To pluck (an instrument's strings).
Pick
To play (an instrument) by plucking its strings.
Pick
To play (a tune) in this manner
Picked a melody out on the guitar.
Pick
To decide with care or forethought.
Pick
To work with a pick.
Pick
To find fault or make petty criticisms; carp
He's always picking about something.
Pick
To be harvested or gathered
The ripe apples picked easily.
Pick
To throw (a shuttle) across a loom.
Pick
The act of picking, especially with a sharp pointed instrument.
Pick
The act of selecting or choosing; choice
Got first pick of the desserts.
Pick
Something selected as the most desirable; the best or choicest part
The pick of the crop.
Pick
The amount or quantity of a crop that is picked by hand.
Pick
(Sports) An interception of a pass.
Pick
(Basketball) A screen.
Pick
A tool for breaking hard surfaces, consisting of a curved bar sharpened at both ends and fitted to a long handle.
Pick
Something, such as an ice pick, toothpick, or picklock, used for picking.
Pick
A long-toothed comb, usually designed for use on curly hair.
Pick
A pointed projection on the front of the blade of a figure skate.
Pick
(Music) A plectrum.
Pick
A weft thread in weaving.
Pick
A passage or throw of the shuttle in a loom.
Pick
A tool used for digging; a pickaxe.
Pick
A tool for unlocking a lock without the original key; a lock pick, picklock.
Pick
A comb with long widely spaced teeth, for use with tightly curled hair.
Pick
A choice; ability to choose.
Pick
That which would be picked or chosen first; the best.
Pick
(music) A tool used for strumming the strings of a guitar; a plectrum.
Pick
An anchor.
Pick
(basketball) A screen.
Pick
(lacrosse) An offensive tactic in which a player stands so as to block a defender from reaching a teammate.
Pick
(American football) An interception.
Pick
(baseball) A good defensive play by an infielder.
Pick
(baseball) A pickoff.
Pick
A pointed hammer used for dressing millstones.
Pick
(obsolete) A pike or spike; the sharp point fixed in the center of a buckler.
Pick
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.
Pick
That which is picked in, as with a pointed pencil, to correct an unevenness in a picture.
Pick
(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.
So many picks to an inch
Pick
(AU) Pasture; feed, for animals.
Pick
To grasp and pull with the fingers or fingernails.
Don't pick at that scab.
He picked his nose.
Pick
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.
It's time to pick the tomatoes.
Pick
To pull apart or away, especially with the fingers; to pluck.
She picked flowers in the meadow.
To pick feathers from a fowl
Pick
To take up; especially, to gather from here and there; to collect; to bring together.
To pick rags
Pick
To remove something from somewhere with a pointed instrument, with the fingers, or with the teeth.
To pick the teeth; to pick a bone; to pick a goose; to pick a pocket
Pick
To decide upon, from a set of options; to select.
I'll pick the one with the nicest name.
Pick
(transitive) To seek (a fight or quarrel) where the opportunity arises.
Pick
(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.
He didn't pick the googly, and was bowled.
Pick
(music) To pluck the individual strings of a musical instrument or to play such an instrument.
He picked a tune on his banjo.
Pick
To open (a lock) with a wire, lock pick, etc.
Pick
To eat slowly, sparingly, or by morsels; to nibble.
Pick
To do anything fastidiously or carefully, or by attending to small things; to select something with care.
I gingerly picked my way between the thorny shrubs.
Pick
To steal; to pilfer.
Pick
(obsolete) To throw; to pitch.
Pick
(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.
Pick
(ambitransitive) To separate or open by means of a sharp point or points.
To pick matted wool, cotton, oakum, etc.
Pick
(basketball) To screen.
Pick
To intercept a pass from the offense as a defensive player.
The pass was almost picked, but the tight end was able to hold on.
Pick
To throw; to pitch.
As high as I could pick my lance.
Pick
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.
Pick
To separate or open by means of a sharp point or points; as, to pick matted wool, cotton, oakum, etc.
Pick
To open (a lock) as by a wire.
Pick
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.
Pick
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.
Did you pick Master Slender's purse?
He picks clean teeth, and, busy as he seemsWith an old tavern quill, is hungry yet.
Pick
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.
Pick
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.
Pick
To trim.
Pick
To eat slowly, sparingly, or by morsels; to nibble.
Why stand'st thou picking? Is thy palate sore?
Pick
To do anything nicely or carefully, or by attending to small things; to select something with care.
Pick
To steal; to pilfer.
Pick
A sharp-pointed tool for picking; - often used in composition; as, a toothpick; a picklock.
Pick
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.
Pick
A pike or spike; the sharp point fixed in the center of a buckler.
Pick
Choice; right of selection; as, to have one's pick; in cat breeding, the owner of a stud gets the pick of the litter.
France and Russia have the pick of our stables.
Pick
That which would be picked or chosen first; the best; as, the pick of the flock.
Pick
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.
Pick
That which is picked in, as with a pointed pencil, to correct an unevenness in a picture.
Pick
The blow which drives the shuttle, - the rate of speed of a loom being reckoned as so many picks per minute;
Pick
The person or thing chosen or selected;
He was my pick for mayor
Pick
The quantity of a crop that is harvested;
He sent the first picking of berries to the market
It was the biggest peach pick in years
Pick
The best people or things in a group;
The cream of England's young men were killed in the Great War
Pick
The yarn woven across the warp yarn in weaving
Pick
A small thin device (of metal or plastic or ivory) used to pluck a stringed instrument
Pick
A thin sharp implement used for picking;
He used a pick to clean dirt out of the cracks
Pick
A heavy iron tool with a wooden handle and a curved head that is pointed on both ends;
They used picks and sledges to break the rocks
Pick
A basketball maneuver; obstructing an opponent with one's body;
He was called for setting an illegal pick
Pick
The act of choosing or selecting;
Your choice of colors was unfortunate
You can take your pick
Pick
Select carefully from a group;
She finally picked her successor
He picked his way carefully
Pick
Look for and gather;
Pick mushrooms
Pick flowers
Pick
Harass with constant criticism;
Don't always pick on your little brother
Pick
Provoke;
Pick a fight or a quarrel
Pick
Remove in small bits;
Pick meat from a bone
Pick
Remove unwanted substances from, such as feathers or pits;
Clean the turkey
Pick
Pilfer or rob;
Pick pockets
Pick
Pay for something;
Pick up the tab
Pick up the burden of high-interest mortgages
Foot the bill
Pick
Pull lightly but sharply with a plucking motion;
He plucked the strings of his mandolin
Pick
Attack with or as if with a pickaxe of ice or rocky ground, for example;
Pick open the ice
Pick
Hit lightly with a picking motion
Pick
Eat intermittently; take small bites of;
He pieced at the sandwich all morning
She never eats a full meal--she just nibbles