pickup

Etymology

From pick + up.

noun

1. An electronic device for detecting sound, vibration, etc., such as one fitted to an electric guitar or record player.
   1. In a record player, an electromagnetic component that converts the needle vibrations into an electrical signal.
   2. Electromagnetic coil receiver of metal string oscillations.
2. (US, Canada) Ellipsis of pickup truck.
   Franklin is beside himself, revving up the engine in the pickup. 2009, Chinle Miller, Desert Rats: Adventures in the American Outback, page 35
3. (usually attributive) Impromptu or ad hoc, especially of sports games and teams made up of randomly selected players.
   Rather than join a basketball league, James decided to play pickup.
   At lunch we had a game of pickup hockey.
   Trevor, like an Aussie outbacker, eats snacks and a pickup meal of bread, cantaloupe, olives, mangoes, and melon. 2010, Mary Ellen Snodgrass, Peter Carey: A Literary Companion, page 100
4. An instance of approaching someone and engaging in romantic flirtation and courting with the intent to pursue romance, a date, or a sexual encounter.
   Hey, thanks for the drink, but if this is a pickup, I'm not interested.
5. A person successfully approached in this manner for romance or sex.
   But what about the women who still go to bars — are they completely unaffected by these negative connotations? Hardly. No woman wants to think of herself as being an easy pick-up […] 1984, Steven Carter, What every man should know about the "new woman": a survival guide
   Audball's latest pickup didn't seem to care where they were, or anything at all about alimony, palimony, or child support […] 2002, James A. Abrahamson, Confessions of a Diplomatic Pouch Clerk, page 192
6. (sports) In various games, the fielding or hitting of a ball just after it strikes the ground.
   The fourth seed was dominating her 20-year-old opponent with a series of stinging groundstrokes and athletic drive-volleys, striking again in game five when Paszek flicked a forehand pick-up into the tramlines. June 28, 2011, David Ornstein, “Wimbledon 2011: Victoria Azarenka beats Tamira Paszek in quarters”, in BBC Sport
7. (video games) An item that can be picked up by the player, conferring some benefit or effect; a power-up.
   Every step of the way you come across absolutely loads of aliens, pick-ups and new and weird obstacles to overcome. 1991, James Leach, Turrican II (video game review) in Your Sinclair issue 69
   Enter the graveyard if you want pick-ups, otherwise make a left under the archways to progress. When the pathway ends, you'll see two blocked-off tunnels and a switch between them. 2002, Acclaim Entertainment, Turok Evolution: The official strategy guide, page 73
8. (US, Canada, politics) The act of a challenging party or candidate winning an electoral district held by an incumbent party or candidate.
   Coordinate term: gain
   The returns from the election show Apple Party candidate Jane Doe has made a pickup in the district of City West defeating Orange Party Incumbent Joe Smith
9. The act of answering a telephone.
   That's why the phone at the theater's on automatic pickup. 2006, Georgina Spelvin, The Devil Made Me Do It, Little Red Hen Books, published 2008, page 224
10. (film) A relatively minor shot filmed or recorded after the fact to augment previous footage.
11. The act of collecting and taking away something or someone, usually in a vehicle.
    Owner Philip Schaffart said a precoronavirus Tuesday typically brought in $2,500 in revenue. This past Tuesday, he said, that amount dwindled to $300 as his place was open only for pickup and delivery. 2020-03-18, Cindy Gonzalez, “Blackstone District starts emergency fund to aid the neighborhood's bar, restaurant servers”, in Omaha World-Herald
12. (uncountable) A time during which passengers, such as school children, are picked up.
    These signs are friendly reminders for road users to slow down during drop-off and pick-up. 1 February 2021, Living in Brisbane, Brisbane, page 1
13. (uncountable) The rate at which a motor vehicle picks up speed.
    The Willys-Overland won't be the fastest car on the road or have the best pickup, but it will have a top speed of eighty miles per hour, and its makers are confident that no car in its class will excel it in economy of fuel and upkeep. 1946, Henry Robinson Luce, Fortune, volume 34, page 186
    The more highly vaporized the mixture your carburetor delivers, the more power you get, which means higher speed, better pickup, smoother idling, more miles per gallon. 1955, Popular Mechanics, volume 104, number 3, page 70
14. (uncountable) The condition of being picked up, or taken up; adoption by some entity.
    Newsweek gave it a big write-up, as did many trade journals, including, Editor and Publisher. And our articles get pickup as far west as the Tombstone Epitaph in Arizona. 1987, Chuck Jordan, Jordan Family Descendents, page 302
    Back then CPI staff demonstrated a reflexivity common to public relations, reflected for instance in Lewis's acknowledgment of the fact that the novelty factor might lead to more pickup. 2018, Magda Konieczna, Journalism Without Profit: Making News when the Market Fails, page 189

verb

1. Misspelling of pick up.