Definition
To notice, observe, learn, or understand, especially something otherwise overlooked.
To continue or build upon (for example, a task, analysis, or narrative), beginning from a point at which someone has previously stopped.
To adopt a practice in which others already engage.
In Context
- ""Remember, I know more about it than only what you picked up on that morning.""
- "No wonder I didn't pick up on what was happening."
- "Why didn't the police or the school pick up on the killers' warning signs?"
- "Patrick: Well, maybe you're just too smart for everybody. Allen Gregory DeLongpre: Hmm, that's a good point, Pete. You pick up on stuff, don't you? Patrick: I don't know. It's Patrick, though. Allen Gregory: I don't care."
- "Readers and bloggers alertly picked up on the nuances of language, and what some called the inconsistencies."
- "Making recommendations to GBRf to improve its fatigue management, RAIB notes that GBRf missed an opportunity to pick up on the driver's potential fatigue."
- "Andy Murray has landed in Valencia for next week’s ATP tournament to pick up on his interrupted year, six weeks after the Davis Cup tie against Poland when he played three times in successive days and exacerbated the damage to his left wrist."
- ""What you've got to do is, you've got to study the guy and try to pick up on his techniques, try to pick up what he's real good at.""
- "China was slow to pick up on the reality-TV trend."
Also Said As
- grasp
- spot