pick·ing

(pĭk′ĭng)

1. The act of one that picks.

2. pickings Something or a group of things that are or may be picked.

a. often pickings Leftovers.

b. A share of spoils.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

pickings

(ˈpɪkɪŋz)

pl n

(sometimes singular) money, profits, etc, acquired easily or by more or less dishonest means; spoils

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pick•ings

(ˈpɪk ɪŋz)
n.pl.

1. scraps or gleanings: the pickings of a feast.

2. profits or gains; spoils.

[1635–45]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

pickings - the act of someone who picks up or takes something; "the pickings were easy"; "clothing could be had for the taking"

taking

action - something done (usually as opposed to something said); "there were stories of murders and other unnatural actions"

pickings

plural noun profits, returns, rewards, earnings, yield, proceeds, spoils, loot, plunder, gravy (slang), booty, ill-gotten gains Sporting events provide rich pickings for unscrupulous touts.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

guadagni facili

pickings

[ˈpɪkɪŋz] npl
there are rich pickings to be had in ... → il y a gros à gagner dans ...
They hoped for rich pickings from privatisation → Ils espéraient récolter des sommes rondelettes avec la privatisation.

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

pickings

[ˈpɪkɪŋz] npl (profits) there are good pickings to be had here → qui si possono fare dei guadagni facili

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

It happened that a Countryman was sowing some hemp seeds in a field where a Swallow and some other birds were hopping about picking up their food.

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Rising, he kicked the cat out of the door, and picking up the mouse compassionately put it out of its misery by pulling off its head.

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As I saw him go, picking his way among the nettles, and among the brambles that bound the green mounds, he looked in my young eyes as if he were eluding the hands of the dead people, stretching up cautiously out of their graves, to get a twist upon his ankle and pull him in.

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The new frocks were taken off, and orders were given for the little girls to have their blouses put on, and the boys their old jackets, and the wagonette to be harnessed; with Brownie, to the bailiff's annoyance, again in the shafts, to drive out for mushroom picking and bathing.

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And therefore, when men are ingenious in picking out circumstances of contempt, they do kindle their anger much.

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Then the cocoa-nuts would be ripe for picking, and her cousins (like all the natives, Ata had a host of relatives) would swarm up the trees and throw down the big ripe nuts.

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