picar
Spanish, verb/piˈkaɾ/
picar is spelled P-I-C-A-R (5 letters) and appears 2.8 times per million words in written Spanish, the 18,166th most frequent Spanish word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Picar is a Spanish verb meaning “to itch (to feel itchy; to feel a need to be scratched)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) defines it as “Golpear algo con una punta, agujereándolo o no”.
What does picar mean in English?
verb
- 1
to itch (to feel itchy; to feel a need to be scratched)
una tela que pica
- 2
to sting
- 3
to chop
picar cebollas
- 4
to bite
- 5
to mince, to dice
- 6
to stab; to wound
- 7
colloquialto snack; to nibble; to have a bite
me apetece picar algo
- 8
to rot; to decay; to eat away; to rust
Source: English Wiktionary, Spanish section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Spanish dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Golpear algo con una punta, agujereándolo o no. 2. Cortar en pedazos muy pequeños. 3. Irritar o provocar a alguien. 4. Herir levemente con instrumento punzante.
verb: 1. Producir una sustancia comestible ardor en la boca, principalmente el ají, la pimienta, el jengibre, etc. 2. Tener en alguna parte del cuerpo una sensación de escozor que a menudo provoca la gana de rascarse. 3. Sentirse molesto o enfadado por una situación desfavorable. 4. Morder el pez el anzuelo.
The definition in the Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), in Spanish.
Source: Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of picar
- pico first-person present singular
- piqué first-person preterite singular
- picado participle past
- c-qu alternation
- picando gerund
- picada feminine participle past
- picados masculine participle past
- picadas feminine participle past
- picas indicative informal present
- picás indicative informal present
- pica indicative present singular
- picamos first-person indicative plural
- picáis indicative plural present
- pican indicative plural present
- picaba first-person imperfect indicative
- picabas imperfect indicative second-person
- picábamos first-person imperfect indicative
- picabais imperfect indicative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce picar?
- /piˈkaɾ/
- [piˈkaɾ]
Sources: English Wiktionary, Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to picar
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is picar in Spanish?
picar appears 2.8 times per million words in written Spanish.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).