pick-up stick

[ pik-uhp ]

noun

1. one of a group of sticks used in the game of jackstraws.
2. pick-up sticks [pik, -uhp-stiks], (used with a singular verb) the game of jackstraws.

Example Sentences

Later, Irwin expanded the size of his canvas but reduced the amount of visual material to a scattering of lines in a series known as the Pick-Up Stick paintings; these led to the even more austere Line Paintings, in which he hand-painted straight lines onto monochrome backgrounds, giving an earthy purity to these elemental geometrical figures.

From Washington Post

Says Twins Third Base Coach Karl Kuehl: "He handles that bar like it's a pick-up stick."

From Time Magazine Archive