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View synonyms for pick-off

pick-off

[ pik-awf, -of ]

noun

  1. Baseball. a play in which a base runner, caught off base, is tagged out by an infielder on a quick throw, usually from the pitcher or catcher.
  2. Electronics. a mechanism that senses mechanical motion and produces a corresponding electric signal.


pick off

verb

  1. tr, adverb to aim at and shoot one by one
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of pick-off1

First recorded in 1935–40; noun use of verb phrase pick off
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Idioms and Phrases

Shoot after singling out, as in The hunter picked off the ducks one by one . [Early 1800s]
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Example Sentences

He dove into scouting reports with first base coach Clayton McCullough on opposing pitchers’ timing and pick-off tendencies, coupling a cerebral component with his explosive raw foot speed.

Because of Ohtani’s bruise — which he sustained by getting hit with a pick-off throw last week — the Dodgers didn’t want him to have to get loose twice in one day.

Other times it’s on a failed pick-off attempt from the opposing pitcher throwing to first base.

“We just have to be better,” Roberts said, noting more pitch-outs and pick-off attempts might be necessary, too.

The bases are slightly bigger this year, but that’s a change you won’t notice, and MLB has also limited pick-off attempts with runners on base, which will marginally speed up play as well.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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pick 'n' mixpick of the litter