Pick vs. Hold — What's the Difference?

Detach and remove (a flower, fruit, or vegetable) from where it is growing

To have and keep in one's grasp

Choose (someone or something) from a number of alternatives

To aim or direct; point

Repeatedly pull at something with one's fingers

To keep from falling or moving; support

Pluck the strings of (a guitar or banjo)

To sustain the pressure of

An act or the right of selecting something from a number of alternatives

To keep from departing or getting away

An act of blocking or screening a defensive player from the ball handler.

To keep in custody

A tool consisting of a long handle set at right angles in the middle of a curved iron or steel bar with a point at one end and a chisel edge or point at the other, used for breaking up hard ground or rock.

To retain (one's attention or interest)

An instrument for picking

To avoid letting out or expelling

To select from a group

To be filled by; contain

To gather in; harvest

To be capable of holding

To gather the harvest from

To have as a chief characteristic or quality

To remove the outer covering of; pluck

To have in store

To tear off bit by bit

To have and maintain in one's possession

To remove extraneous matter from (the teeth, for example).

To have as a responsible position or a privilege

To poke and pull at (something) with the fingers.

To have in recognition of achievement or superiority

To break up, separate, or detach by means of a sharp pointed instrument.

To maintain control over

To pierce or make (a hole) with a sharp pointed instrument.

To maintain occupation of by force or coercion

To take up (food) with the beak; peck

To withstand the efforts or advance of (an opposing team, for example).

To steal the contents of

To maintain in a given condition, situation, or action

To open (a lock) without the use of a key.

To impose control or restraint on; curb

To provoke

To stop the movement or progress of

To pluck (an instrument's strings).

To reserve or keep back from use

To play (an instrument) by plucking its strings.

To defer the immediate handling of

To play (a tune) in this manner

To own or have title to.

To decide with care or forethought.

To be in possession of, whether legally entitled or not

To work with a pick.

To bind by a contract.

To find fault or make petty criticisms; carp

To adjudge or decree

To be harvested or gathered

To make accountable; obligate

To throw (a shuttle) across a loom.

To keep in the mind or convey as a judgment, conviction, or point of view

The act of picking, especially with a sharp pointed instrument.

To assert or affirm, especially formally

The act of selecting or choosing; choice

To regard in a certain way

Something selected as the most desirable; the best or choicest part

To cause to take place; carry on

The amount or quantity of a crop that is picked by hand.

To assemble for and conduct the activity of; convene

(Sports) An interception of a pass.

To carry or support (the body or a bodily part) in a certain position

(Basketball) A screen.

To cover (the ears or the nose, for example) especially for protection

A tool for breaking hard surfaces, consisting of a curved bar sharpened at both ends and fitted to a long handle.

To maintain a grasp or grip on something.

Something, such as an ice pick, toothpick, or picklock, used for picking.

To stay securely fastened

A long-toothed comb, usually designed for use on curly hair.

To maintain a desired or accustomed position or condition

A pointed projection on the front of the blade of a figure skate.

To withstand stress, pressure, or opposition

(Music) A plectrum.

To continue in the same direction

A weft thread in weaving.

To be valid, applicable, or true

A passage or throw of the shuttle in a loom.

To halt an intended action. Often used in the imperative.

A tool used for digging; a pickaxe.

To stop the countdown during a missile or spacecraft launch.

A tool for unlocking a lock without the original key; a lock pick, picklock.

(Slang) To have in one's possession illicit or illegally obtained material or goods, especially narcotics

A comb with long widely spaced teeth, for use with tightly curled hair.

The act or a means of grasping.

A choice; ability to choose.

A manner of grasping an opponent, as in wrestling or aikido

That which would be picked or chosen first; the best.

Something that may be grasped or gripped, as for support.

(music) A tool used for strumming the strings of a guitar; a plectrum.

A control or adjustor on a television that keeps the screen image in proper position

An anchor.

A telephone service that allows one to temporarily interrupt a call without severing the connection.

(basketball) A screen.

A bond or force that attaches or restrains, or by which something is affected or dominated

(lacrosse) An offensive tactic in which a player stands so as to block a defender from reaching a teammate.

Complete control

(American football) An interception.

Full understanding

(baseball) A good defensive play by an infielder.

The sustaining of a note longer than its indicated time value.

(baseball) A pickoff.

The symbol designating this pause; a fermata.

A pointed hammer used for dressing millstones.

A direction or indication that something is to be reserved or deferred.

(obsolete) A pike or spike; the sharp point fixed in the center of a buckler.

A temporary halt, as in a countdown.

A particle of ink or paper embedded in the hollow of a letter, filling up its face, and causing a spot on a printed sheet.

A prison cell.

That which is picked in, as with a pointed pencil, to correct an unevenness in a picture.

The state of being in confinement; custody.

(weaving) The blow that drives the shuttle, used in calculating the speed of a loom (in picks per minute); hence, in describing the fineness of a fabric, a weft thread.

(Archaic) A fortified place; a stronghold.

(AU) Pasture; feed, for animals.

The lower interior part of a ship or airplane where cargo is stored.

To grasp and pull with the fingers or fingernails.

(transitive) To grasp or grip.

To harvest a fruit or vegetable for consumption by removing it from the plant to which it is attached; to harvest an entire plant by removing it from the ground.

(transitive) To contain or store.

To pull apart or away, especially with the fingers; to pluck.

(heading) To maintain or keep to a position or state.

To take up; especially, to gather from here and there; to collect; to bring together.

(transitive) To have and keep possession of something.

To remove something from somewhere with a pointed instrument, with the fingers, or with the teeth.

(transitive) To reserve.

To decide upon, from a set of options; to select.

(transitive) To cause to wait or delay.

(transitive) To seek (a fight or quarrel) where the opportunity arises.

(transitive) To detain.

(cricket) To recognise the type of ball being bowled by a bowler by studying the position of the hand and arm as the ball is released.

To be or remain valid; to apply (usually in the third person).

(music) To pluck the individual strings of a musical instrument or to play such an instrument.

To keep oneself in a particular state.

To open (a lock) with a wire, lock pick, etc.

(transitive) To impose restraint upon; to limit in motion or action; to bind legally or morally; to confine; to restrain.

To eat slowly, sparingly, or by morsels; to nibble.

(transitive) To bear, carry, or manage.

To do anything fastidiously or carefully, or by attending to small things; to select something with care.

Not to move; to halt; to stop.

To steal; to pilfer.

(intransitive) Not to give way; not to part or become separated; to remain unbroken or unsubdued.

(obsolete) To throw; to pitch.

To remain continent; to control an excretory bodily function.

(dated) To peck at, as a bird with its beak; to strike at with anything pointed; to act upon with a pointed instrument; to pierce; to prick, as with a pin.

(heading) To maintain or keep to particular opinions, promises, actions.

(ambitransitive) To separate or open by means of a sharp point or points.

(transitive) To maintain, to consider, to opine.

(basketball) To screen.

(transitive) To bind (someone) to a consequence of his or her actions.

To intercept a pass from the offense as a defensive player.

To maintain in being or action; to carry on; to prosecute, as a course of conduct or an argument; to continue; to sustain.

To throw; to pitch.

To accept, as an opinion; to be the adherent of, openly or privately; to persist in, as a purpose; to maintain; to sustain.

To peck at, as a bird with its beak; to strike at with anything pointed; to act upon with a pointed instrument; to pierce; to prick, as with a pin.

(archaic) To restrain oneself; to refrain; to hold back.

To separate or open by means of a sharp point or points; as, to pick matted wool, cotton, oakum, etc.

To win one's own service game.

To open (a lock) as by a wire.

To take place, to occur.

To pull apart or away, especially with the fingers; to pluck; to gather, as fruit from a tree, flowers from the stalk, feathers from a fowl, etc.

To organise an event or meeting (usually in passive voice).

To remove something from with a pointed instrument, with the fingers, or with the teeth; as, to pick the teeth; to pick a bone; to pick a goose; to pick a pocket.

(archaic) To derive right or title.

To choose; to select; to separate as choice or desirable; to cull; as, to pick one's company; to pick one's way; - often with out.

(imperative) In a food or drink order at an informal restaurant etc., requesting that a component normally included in that order be omitted.

To take up; esp., to gather from here and there; to collect; to bring together; as, to pick rags; - often with up; as, to pick up a ball or stones; to pick up information.

To be in possession of illicit drugs for sale.

To trim.

A grasp or grip.

To eat slowly, sparingly, or by morsels; to nibble.

An act or instance of holding.

To do anything nicely or carefully, or by attending to small things; to select something with care.

A place where animals are held for safety

To steal; to pilfer.

An order that something is to be reserved or delayed, limiting or preventing how it can be dealt with.

A sharp-pointed tool for picking; - often used in composition; as, a toothpick; a picklock.

Something reserved or kept.

A heavy iron tool, curved and sometimes pointed at both ends, wielded by means of a wooden handle inserted in the middle, - used for digging ino the ground by quarrymen, roadmakers, etc.; also, a pointed hammer used for dressing millstones.

Power over someone or something.

A pike or spike; the sharp point fixed in the center of a buckler.

The ability to persist.

Choice; right of selection; as, to have one's pick; in cat breeding, the owner of a stud gets the pick of the litter.

The property of maintaining the shape of styled hair.

That which would be picked or chosen first; the best; as, the pick of the flock.

(wrestling) A position or grip used to control the opponent.

A particle of ink or paper imbedded in the hollow of a letter, filling up its face, and occasioning a spot on a printed sheet.

(exercise) An exercise involving holding a position for a set time

That which is picked in, as with a pointed pencil, to correct an unevenness in a picture.

(gambling) The percentage the house wins on a gamble, the house or bookmaker's hold.

The blow which drives the shuttle, - the rate of speed of a loom being reckoned as so many picks per minute;

(gambling) The wager amount, the total hold.

The person or thing chosen or selected;

(tennis) An instance of holding one's service game, as opposed to being broken.

The quantity of a crop that is harvested;

The part of an object one is intended to grasp, or anything one can use for grasping with hands or feet.

The best people or things in a group;

A fruit machine feature allowing one or more of the reels to remain fixed while the others spin.

The yarn woven across the warp yarn in weaving

A pause facility.

A small thin device (of metal or plastic or ivory) used to pluck a stringed instrument

The queueing system on telephones and similar communication systems which maintains a connection when all lines are busy.

A thin sharp implement used for picking;

(baseball) A statistic awarded to a relief pitcher who is not still pitching at the end of the game and who records at least one out and maintains a lead for his team.

A heavy iron tool with a wooden handle and a curved head that is pointed on both ends;

(aviation) A region of airspace reserved for aircraft being kept in a holding pattern.

A basketball maneuver; obstructing an opponent with one's body;

The cargo area of a ship or aircraft (often holds or cargo hold).

The act of choosing or selecting;

(obsolete) Gracious; friendly; faithful; true.

Select carefully from a group;

The whole interior portion of a vessel below the lower deck, in which the cargo is stowed.

Look for and gather;

The act of holding, as in or with the hands or arms; the manner of holding, whether firm or loose; seizure; grasp; clasp; grip; possession; - often used with the verbs take and lay.

Harass with constant criticism;

The authority or ground to take or keep; claim.

Provoke;

Binding power and influence.

Remove in small bits;

Something that may be grasped; means of support.

Remove unwanted substances from, such as feathers or pits;

A place of confinement; a prison; confinement; custody; guard.

Pilfer or rob;

A place of security; a fortified place; a fort; a castle; - often called a stronghold.

Pay for something;

A character [thus ] placed over or under a note or rest, and indicating that it is to be prolonged; - called also pause, and corona.

Pull lightly but sharply with a plucking motion;

To cause to remain in a given situation, position, or relation, within certain limits, or the like; to prevent from falling or escaping; to sustain; to restrain; to keep in the grasp; to retain.

Attack with or as if with a pickaxe of ice or rocky ground, for example;

To retain in one's keeping; to maintain possession of, or authority over; not to give up or relinquish; to keep; to defend.

Hit lightly with a picking motion

To have; to possess; to be in possession of; to occupy; to derive title to; as, to hold office.

Eat intermittently; take small bites of;

To impose restraint upon; to limit in motion or action; to bind legally or morally; to confine; to restrain.

To maintain in being or action; to carry on; to prosecute, as a course of conduct or an argument; to continue; to sustain.

To prosecute, have, take, or join in, as something which is the result of united action; as to, hold a meeting, a festival, a session, etc.; hence, to direct and bring about officially; to conduct or preside at; as, the general held a council of war; a judge holds a court; a clergyman holds a service.

To receive and retain; to contain as a vessel; as, this pail holds milk; hence, to be able to receive and retain; to have capacity or containing power for.

To accept, as an opinion; to be the adherent of, openly or privately; to persist in, as a purpose; to maintain; to sustain.

To consider; to regard; to esteem; to account; to think; to judge.

To bear, carry, or manage; as he holds himself erect; he holds his head high.

In general, to keep one's self in a given position or condition; to remain fixed. Hence:

Not to move; to halt; to stop; - mostly in the imperative.

Not to give way; not to part or become separated; to remain unbroken or unsubdued.

Not to fail or be found wanting; to continue; to last; to endure a test or trial; to abide; to persist.

Not to fall away, desert, or prove recreant; to remain attached; to cleave; - often with with, to, or for.

To restrain one's self; to refrain.

To derive right or title; - generally with of.

The act of grasping;

Understanding of the nature or meaning or quality or magnitude of something;

Power by which something or someone is affected or dominated;

Time during which some action is awaited;

A state of being confined (usually for a short time);

A stronghold

A cell in a jail or prison

The appendage to an object that is designed to be held in order to use or move it;

The space in a ship or aircraft for storing cargo

Organize or be responsible for;

Keep in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g.,

Have or hold in one's hands or grip;

To close within bounds, limit or hold back from movement;

Have rightfully; of rights, titles, and offices;

Have or possess, either in a concrete or an abstract sense;

Keep in mind or convey as a conviction or view;

Contain or hold; have within;

Lessen the intensity of; temper; hold in restraint; hold or keep within limits;

Remain in a certain state, position, or condition;

Maintain (a theory, thoughts, or feelings);

Assert or affirm;

Remain committed to;

Secure and keep for possible future use or application;

Be the physical support of; carry the weight of;

Hold the attention of;

Keep from exhaling or expelling;

Support or hold in a certain manner;

Have room for; hold without crowding;

Be capable of holding or containing;

Be valid, applicable, or true;

Take and maintain control over, often by violent means;

Protect against a challenge or attack;

Declare to be;

Have as a major characteristic;

Cause to stop;

Bind by an obligation; cause to be indebted;

Cover as for protection against noise or smell;

Drink alcohol without showing ill effects;

Be pertinent or relevant or applicable;

Arrange for and reserve (something for someone else) in advance;

Resist or confront with resistance;

Keep from departing;

Stop dealing with;

Aim, point, or direct;

Be in accord; be in agreement;