Pick vs. Collect — What's the Difference?
By Fiza Rafique & Maham Liaqat — Updated on April 30, 2024
"Pick" refers to the act of selecting or choosing something from a group, emphasizing the decision-making process; "collect" involves gathering items or accumulating them over time, focusing more on the assembly aspect.
Difference Between Pick and Collect
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
"Picking" something often involves making a choice among various options, such as selecting fruit from a tree or choosing a piece of clothing from a store. This action requires decision-making and discernment to choose the best or most suitable option. In contrast, "collecting" refers to the process of gathering items from different sources or locations, emphasizing the act of accumulation, such as collecting stamps or gathering data for research.
When you pick something, the focus is on the singularity of choice and the criteria used for this selection. For example, picking a movie to watch on a Friday night involves considering personal preferences and mood. On the other hand, collecting involves multiple instances of acquisition, like adding to a coin collection or accumulating points in a loyalty program.
The contexts in which "pick" and "collect" are used also differ. "Picking" is often a momentary decision with immediate results, such as picking a flower from a garden. Meanwhile, "collecting" is generally a more prolonged activity that might span years and is often driven by a hobby, research, or professional necessity.
"Picking" can also imply a physical action involving precision and care, such as picking a lock or picking a guitar string. "Collecting," however, often requires organizational skills and planning, as seen in art collectors securing pieces or researchers collecting samples for study.
The emotional connotations of both terms can vary. "Picking" often carries a sense of personal satisfaction and immediate gratification, while "collecting" can provide a sense of long-term accomplishment and pride from building or completing a set or compilation.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
To choose or select from a range of options
To gather items or data over time
Focus
Decision-making and selection
Accumulation and assembly
Typical Context
Immediate and often singular choices
Long-term and often involves multiple items
Required Skills
Precision and discernment
Organizational and planning skills
Emotional Connotation
Satisfaction from choice
Pride from accumulation
Compare with Definitions
Pick
To select from a number of alternatives.
She had to pick her favorite flavor at the ice cream shop.
Collect
To accumulate as a hobby or for study.
She collects stamps from every country she visits.
Pick
To use fingers to pluck the strings of a musical instrument.
She learned to pick the guitar at a young age.
Collect
To bring things together from different sources.
He collects rare books from around the world.
Pick
To physically remove something by pulling it.
He went to the orchard to pick apples.
Collect
To gather information or data.
Researchers collect data through various surveys and experiments.
Pick
To identify or choose someone or something from a group.
The director will pick the lead actor today.
Collect
To come together and form a group.
The students collect in the auditorium for the assembly.
Pick
To open something such as a lock without a key.
The locksmith was skilled enough to pick the lock.
Collect
To receive or ask for money owed or due.
She went to collect the rent from her tenants.
Pick
Detach and remove (a flower, fruit, or vegetable) from where it is growing
I went to pick some flowers for Jenny's room
Collect
The collect ( KOL-ekt) is a short general prayer of a particular structure used in Christian liturgy. Collects appear in the liturgies of Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran, and Presbyterian churches, among others (in those of Eastern Christianity the Greek term [déesis] synapté is often used instead of the Latin term [oratio] collecta, both having the same meaning).
Pick
Choose (someone or something) from a number of alternatives
Maggie picked on a nice reliable chap
Maybe I picked the wrong career
He was picked for the England squad
Collect
Bring or gather together (a number of things)
He went round the office collecting old coffee cups
Pick
Repeatedly pull at something with one's fingers
The old woman was picking at the sheet
Collect
Call for and take away; fetch
The children were collected from school
Pick
Pluck the strings of (a guitar or banjo)
People were singing and picking guitars
Collect
Regain control of oneself, typically after a shock
He paused for a moment to take a breath, to collect himself
Pick
An act or the right of selecting something from a number of alternatives
Laura should have first pick
Take your pick from our extensive menu
Collect
Conclude; infer
By all best conjectures, I collect Thou art to be my fatal enemy
Pick
An act of blocking or screening a defensive player from the ball handler.
Collect
Cause (a horse) to bring its hind legs further forward as it moves
A rider should want to be able to collect a horse when hacking
Pick
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.
Collect
Collide with
He lost control of the truck and collected two cats
Pick
An instrument for picking
An ebony hair pick
Collect
(with reference to a telephone call) to be paid for by the person receiving it
I called my mother collect
Pick
To select from a group
The best swimmer was picked.
Collect
(with reference to a telephone call) to be paid for by the person receiving it
I called my mother collect
Pick
To gather in; harvest
They were picking cotton.
Collect
A winning bet.
Pick
To gather the harvest from
Picked the field in one day.
Collect
(in church use) a short prayer, especially one assigned to a particular day or season.
Pick
To remove the outer covering of; pluck
Pick a chicken clean of feathers.
Collect
To bring together in a group or mass; gather
The teacher collected the exams.
Pick
To tear off bit by bit
Pick meat from the bones.
Collect
To accumulate as a hobby or for study
Collect old coins.
Collect folk tales.
Pick
To remove extraneous matter from (the teeth, for example).
Collect
To call for and obtain payment of
Collect taxes.
Pick
To poke and pull at (something) with the fingers.
Collect
To be the site for (an accumulating mass), especially as a consequence of disuse or neglect
My guitar is collecting dust in the corner.
Pick
To break up, separate, or detach by means of a sharp pointed instrument.
Collect
To recover control of
Collect one's emotions.
Pick
To pierce or make (a hole) with a sharp pointed instrument.
Collect
To call for (someone); pick up
Collected the children and drove home.
Pick
To take up (food) with the beak; peck
The parrot picked its seed.
Collect
To come together in a group or mass; gather
Sand collected in the crevices.
Pick
To steal the contents of
My pocket was picked.
Collect
To take in payments or donations
Collecting for charity.
Pick
To open (a lock) without the use of a key.
Collect
With payment to be made by the receiver
Called collect.
A collect phone call.
Pick
To provoke
Pick a fight.
Collect
A brief formal prayer that is used in various Western liturgies before the epistle and that varies with the day.
Pick
To pluck (an instrument's strings).
Collect
(transitive) To gather together; amass.
Suzanne collected all the papers she had laid out.
Pick
To play (an instrument) by plucking its strings.
Collect
(transitive) To get; particularly, get from someone.
A bank collects a monthly payment on a client's new car loan.
A mortgage company collects a monthly payment on a house.
Pick
To play (a tune) in this manner
Picked a melody out on the guitar.
Collect
(transitive) To accumulate (a number of similar or related objects), particularly for a hobby or recreation.
John Henry collects stamps.
I don't think he collects as much as hoards.
My friend from school has started to collects mangas and novels recently
Pick
To decide with care or forethought.
Collect
To form a conclusion; to deduce, infer. (Compare gather, get.)
Pick
To work with a pick.
Collect
To collect payments.
He had a lot of trouble collecting on that bet he made.
Pick
To find fault or make petty criticisms; carp
He's always picking about something.
Collect
(intransitive) To come together in a group or mass.
The rain collected in puddles.
Pick
To be harvested or gathered
The ripe apples picked easily.
Collect
(transitive) To infer; to conclude.
Pick
To throw (a shuttle) across a loom.
Collect
To collide with or crash into (another vehicle or obstacle).
The truck veered across the central reservation and collected a car that was travelling in the opposite direction.
Pick
The act of picking, especially with a sharp pointed instrument.
Collect
To be paid for by the recipient, as a telephone call or a shipment.
It was to be a collect delivery, but no-one was available to pay.
Pick
The act of selecting or choosing; choice
Got first pick of the desserts.
Collect
With payment due from the recipient.
I had to call collect.
Pick
Something selected as the most desirable; the best or choicest part
The pick of the crop.
Collect
(Christianity) The prayer said before the reading of the epistle lesson, especially one found in a prayerbook, as with the Book of Common Prayer.
He used the day's collect as the basis of his sermon.
Pick
The amount or quantity of a crop that is picked by hand.
Collect
To gather into one body or place; to assemble or bring together; to obtain by gathering.
A band of menCollected choicely from each country.
'Tis memory alone that enriches the mind, by preserving what our labor and industry daily collect.
Pick
(Sports) An interception of a pass.
Collect
To demand and obtain payment of, as an account, or other indebtedness; as, to collect taxes.
Pick
(Basketball) A screen.
Collect
To infer from observed facts; to conclude from premises.
Which sequence, I conceive, is very ill collected.
Pick
A tool for breaking hard surfaces, consisting of a curved bar sharpened at both ends and fitted to a long handle.
Collect
To assemble together; as, the people collected in a crowd; to accumulate; as, snow collects in banks.
Pick
Something, such as an ice pick, toothpick, or picklock, used for picking.
Collect
To infer; to conclude.
Whence some collect that the former word imports a plurality of persons.
Pick
A long-toothed comb, usually designed for use on curly hair.
Collect
A short, comprehensive prayer, adapted to a particular day, occasion, or condition, and forming part of a liturgy.
The noble poem on the massacres of Piedmont is strictly a collect in verse.
Pick
A pointed projection on the front of the blade of a figure skate.
Collect
A short prayer generally preceding the lesson in the Church of Rome or the Church of England
Pick
(Music) A plectrum.
Collect
Get or gather together;
I am accumulating evidence for the man's unfaithfulness to his wife
She is amassing a lot of data for her thesis
She rolled up a small fortune
Pick
A weft thread in weaving.
Collect
Call for and obtain payment of;
We collected over a million dollars in outstanding debts
He collected the rent
Pick
A passage or throw of the shuttle in a loom.
Collect
Assemble or get together;
Gather some stones
Pull your thoughts together
Pick
A tool used for digging; a pickaxe.
Collect
Get or bring together;
Accumulate evidence
Pick
A tool for unlocking a lock without the original key; a lock pick, picklock.
Collect
Gather or collect;
You can get the results on Monday
She picked up the children at the day care center
They pick up our trash twice a week
Pick
A comb with long widely spaced teeth, for use with tightly curled hair.
Collect
Payment due by the recipient on delivery;
A collect call
The letter came collect
A COD parcel
Pick
A choice; ability to choose.
Collect
Make a telephone call or mail a package so that the recipient pays;
Call collect
Send a package collect
Pick
That which would be picked or chosen first; the best.
Pick
(music) A tool used for strumming the strings of a guitar; a plectrum.
Pick
An anchor.
Pick
(basketball) A screen.
Pick
(lacrosse) An offensive tactic in which a player stands so as to block a defender from reaching a teammate.
Pick
(American football) An interception.
Pick
(baseball) A good defensive play by an infielder.
Pick
(baseball) A pickoff.
Pick
A pointed hammer used for dressing millstones.
Pick
(obsolete) A pike or spike; the sharp point fixed in the center of a buckler.
Pick
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.
Pick
That which is picked in, as with a pointed pencil, to correct an unevenness in a picture.
Pick
(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.
So many picks to an inch
Pick
(AU) Pasture; feed, for animals.
Pick
To grasp and pull with the fingers or fingernails.
Don't pick at that scab.
He picked his nose.
Pick
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.
It's time to pick the tomatoes.
Pick
To pull apart or away, especially with the fingers; to pluck.
She picked flowers in the meadow.
To pick feathers from a fowl
Pick
To take up; especially, to gather from here and there; to collect; to bring together.
To pick rags
Pick
To remove something from somewhere with a pointed instrument, with the fingers, or with the teeth.
To pick the teeth; to pick a bone; to pick a goose; to pick a pocket
Pick
To decide upon, from a set of options; to select.
I'll pick the one with the nicest name.
Pick
(transitive) To seek (a fight or quarrel) where the opportunity arises.
Pick
(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.
He didn't pick the googly, and was bowled.
Pick
(music) To pluck the individual strings of a musical instrument or to play such an instrument.
He picked a tune on his banjo.
Pick
To open (a lock) with a wire, lock pick, etc.
Pick
To eat slowly, sparingly, or by morsels; to nibble.
Pick
To do anything fastidiously or carefully, or by attending to small things; to select something with care.
I gingerly picked my way between the thorny shrubs.
Pick
To steal; to pilfer.
Pick
(obsolete) To throw; to pitch.
Pick
(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.
Pick
(ambitransitive) To separate or open by means of a sharp point or points.
To pick matted wool, cotton, oakum, etc.
Pick
(basketball) To screen.
Pick
To intercept a pass from the offense as a defensive player.
The pass was almost picked, but the tight end was able to hold on.
Pick
To throw; to pitch.
As high as I could pick my lance.
Pick
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.
Pick
To separate or open by means of a sharp point or points; as, to pick matted wool, cotton, oakum, etc.
Pick
To open (a lock) as by a wire.
Pick
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.
Pick
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.
Did you pick Master Slender's purse?
He picks clean teeth, and, busy as he seemsWith an old tavern quill, is hungry yet.
Pick
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.
Pick
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.
Pick
To trim.
Pick
To eat slowly, sparingly, or by morsels; to nibble.
Why stand'st thou picking? Is thy palate sore?
Pick
To do anything nicely or carefully, or by attending to small things; to select something with care.
Pick
To steal; to pilfer.
Pick
A sharp-pointed tool for picking; - often used in composition; as, a toothpick; a picklock.
Pick
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.
Pick
A pike or spike; the sharp point fixed in the center of a buckler.
Pick
Choice; right of selection; as, to have one's pick; in cat breeding, the owner of a stud gets the pick of the litter.
France and Russia have the pick of our stables.
Pick
That which would be picked or chosen first; the best; as, the pick of the flock.
Pick
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.
Pick
That which is picked in, as with a pointed pencil, to correct an unevenness in a picture.
Pick
The blow which drives the shuttle, - the rate of speed of a loom being reckoned as so many picks per minute;
Pick
The person or thing chosen or selected;
He was my pick for mayor
Pick
The quantity of a crop that is harvested;
He sent the first picking of berries to the market
It was the biggest peach pick in years
Pick
The best people or things in a group;
The cream of England's young men were killed in the Great War
Pick
The yarn woven across the warp yarn in weaving
Pick
A small thin device (of metal or plastic or ivory) used to pluck a stringed instrument
Pick
A thin sharp implement used for picking;
He used a pick to clean dirt out of the cracks
Pick
A heavy iron tool with a wooden handle and a curved head that is pointed on both ends;
They used picks and sledges to break the rocks
Pick
A basketball maneuver; obstructing an opponent with one's body;
He was called for setting an illegal pick
Pick
The act of choosing or selecting;
Your choice of colors was unfortunate
You can take your pick
Pick
Select carefully from a group;
She finally picked her successor
He picked his way carefully
Pick
Look for and gather;
Pick mushrooms
Pick flowers
Pick
Harass with constant criticism;
Don't always pick on your little brother
Pick
Provoke;
Pick a fight or a quarrel
Pick
Remove in small bits;
Pick meat from a bone
Pick
Remove unwanted substances from, such as feathers or pits;
Clean the turkey
Pick
Pilfer or rob;
Pick pockets
Pick
Pay for something;
Pick up the tab
Pick up the burden of high-interest mortgages
Foot the bill
Pick
Pull lightly but sharply with a plucking motion;
He plucked the strings of his mandolin
Pick
Attack with or as if with a pickaxe of ice or rocky ground, for example;
Pick open the ice
Pick
Hit lightly with a picking motion
Pick
Eat intermittently; take small bites of;
He pieced at the sandwich all morning
She never eats a full meal--she just nibbles
Common Curiosities
What is the main difference between pick and collect?
"Pick" focuses on selecting or choosing, often based on specific criteria, while "collect" involves gathering or accumulating items over time.
How do "pick" and "collect" apply in professional settings?
In professional settings, "picking" might refer to selecting ideas or candidates, while "collecting" could involve accumulating data or resources for business purposes.
What skills are important for picking and collecting?
Picking requires good judgment and decision-making skills, while collecting often requires organizational skills and persistence.
Is there an emotional difference between picking and collecting?
Yes, picking often involves immediate gratification from making a choice, whereas collecting can bring long-term satisfaction from building or completing a collection.
Are there any psychological aspects associated with picking and collecting?
Yes, both can be psychologically rewarding but may also trigger anxiety or stress in decision-making or the pressure to complete collections.
What are some common mistakes in using "pick" and "collect"?
Common mistakes include confusing the two in contexts where specific actions are involved (e.g., saying "pick information" instead of "collect information").
What are some hobbies that involve picking and collecting?
Hobbies like foraging involve picking, whereas hobbies like philately involve collecting.
Can "pick" and "collect" be used interchangeably?
While in some contexts they might overlap, they are not generally interchangeable due to their different focuses on selection versus accumulation.
What impact do picking and collecting have on personal development?
Both activities can enhance cognitive abilities—picking can improve decision-making skills, while collecting can enhance organizational skills and knowledge acquisition.
How does one become better at picking and collecting?
Improving in picking involves refining judgment and preference clarity, while better collecting can come from enhanced research skills and systematic approaches.
Can picking and collecting be seen as survival skills?
Yes, historically, picking the right items (like food sources) and collecting necessary materials were crucial survival skills.
How do cultural differences affect the perception of picking and collecting?
Cultural backgrounds can influence the value and methods associated with both picking and collecting, affecting what is chosen or collected and how.
How do digital technologies affect picking and collecting?
Digital technologies facilitate both activities—streamlining picking through filters and algorithms, and enhancing collecting through digital archives and databases.
What are the financial implications of picking and collecting?
Picking may involve cost-benefit considerations in choices, while collecting can be a significant financial investment.
How do professionals use picking and collecting in industries like finance?
In finance, picking involves selecting investments, while collecting involves accumulating data for analysis or portfolio diversification.
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Written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Maham Liaqat
