picking
/ˈpɪkɪŋ/noun, verb
picking is spelled P-I-C-K-I-N-G: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 28 times per million words in written English, the 3,364th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, picking means “A gathering to pick fruit” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of picking is pickings.
How many letters and syllables are in picking?
| Letters | 7: P-I-C-K-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 28 times per million words; the 3,364th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is picking?
Picking appears 28 times per million words in written English, the 3,364th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce picking?
- /ˈpɪkɪŋ/
Picking has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-picking.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of picking
- pickings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does picking mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A gathering to pick fruit.
We went to a strawberry picking last June.
- 2
Items remaining after others have selected the best; scraps, as of food.
- 3
Income or other gains, especially if obtained in an unscrupulous or objectionable manner.
easy pickings, rich pickings
- 4
Something picked or pulled out.
The schoolboy flicked his nose pickings across the classroom.
- 5
The act of making a choice; selection.
- 6
The final finishing of woven fabrics by removing burs, etc.
- 7
The removal of defects from electrotype plates.
- 8
Dabbing in stoneworking.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of pick
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).