pickup

pick·up  (pkp)

n.

1.

a. The act or process of picking up: the pickup and delivery of farm produce.

b. Sports The act of striking or fielding a ball after it has touched the ground: a good pickup and throw from third base.

c. Capacity for acceleration: a sports car with good pickup.

d. Informal An improvement in condition or activity: a pickup in sales.

e. Slang An arrest by a law enforcement officer.

2. One that is picked up, especially:

a. Passengers or freight: Taxi drivers expect good tips from airport pickups.

b. Informal A hitchhiker.

c. Slang A stranger with whom casual acquaintance is made, usually in anticipation of sexual relations.

3. Accounting A balance brought forward.

4. Previous journalistic copy to which succeeding copy is added.

5. Music See upbeat.

6. One that picks up, especially:

a. A pickup truck.

b. The rotary rake on a piece of machinery, such as a harvester, that picks up windrowed hay or straw.

7. Electronics

a. A device that converts the oscillations of a phonograph needle into electrical impulses for subsequent conversion into sound.

b. The tone arm of a record player.

8.

a. The reception of light or sound waves for conversion to electrical impulses.

b. The apparatus used for such reception.

c. A telecast originating outside a studio.

d. The apparatus for transmitting a broadcast from an outside place to the broadcasting station.

adj.

Being, relating to, or involving a group of people assembled informally for a temporary purpose: a pickup orchestra; a pickup baseball game.

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pick•up (ˈpɪkˌʌp)

n.

1. an improvement, as in health, business conditions, production, etc.

2. a casual acquaintance, as one offering hope of a sexual encounter.

3. an instance of taking aboard passengers or freight.

4. the passengers or freight taken aboard.

5. acceleration, or the capacity for acceleration.

6. Also called pick′up truck`. a small truck with a low-sided open body, used for deliveries and light hauling.

7. a device at the end of the tone arm of a phonograph that translates the movement of the stylus into a changing electrical voltage; cartridge.

8.

a. the reception of sound waves in a radio transmitter for conversion into electrical waves.

b. a receiving or recording device.

adj.

9. composed of or using whatever persons, ingredients, etc., are available: a pickup dance band; a pickup supper.

[1855–60]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	pickup - a light truck with an open body and low sides and a tailboard pickup truck technical - a pickup truck with a gun mounted on it motortruck, truck - an automotive vehicle suitable for hauling
	2.	pickup - a warrant to take someone into custody; "put out a pickup on that man" arrest warrant, bench warrant - a warrant authorizing law enforcement officials to apprehend an offender and bring that person to court colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech
	3.	pickup - anything with restorative powers; "she needed the pickup that coffee always gave her" pick-me-up corrective, restorative - a device for treating injury or disease
	4.	pickup - a casual acquaintance; often made in hope of sexual relationships acquaintance, friend - a person with whom you are acquainted; "I have trouble remembering the names of all my acquaintances"; "we are friends of the family"
	5.	pickup - the attribute of being capable of rapid acceleration; "his car has a lot of pickup" getaway acceleration - an increase in rate of change; "modern science caused an acceleration of cultural change"
	6.	pickup - mechanical device consisting of a light balanced arm that carries the cartridge pickup arm, tone arm mechanical device - mechanism consisting of a device that works on mechanical principles phonograph, record player - machine in which rotating records cause a stylus to vibrate and the vibrations are amplified acoustically or electronically
	7.	pickup - an electro-acoustic transducer that is the part of the arm of a record player that holds the needle and that is removable cartridge crystal pickup - a cartridge in which an output voltage is produced by the vibration of a piezoelectric crystal electro-acoustic transducer - a transducer that converts electrical to acoustic energy or vice versa phonograph, record player - machine in which rotating records cause a stylus to vibrate and the vibrations are amplified acoustically or electronically stylus - a sharp pointed device attached to the cartridge of a record player
	8.	pickup - the act or process of picking up or collecting from various places; "garbage pickup is on Mondays and Thursdays" assembling, collecting, aggregation, collection - the act of gathering something together garbage collection, garbage pickup, trash collection, trash pickup - the collection and removal of garbage
	9.	pickup - the act of taking aboard passengers or freight acquiring, getting - the act of acquiring something; "I envied his talent for acquiring"; "he's much more interested in the getting than in the giving" transfer, transferral, transportation, conveyance, transport - the act of moving something from one location to another