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pick up on

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phrasal verb [transitive]
Word Forms
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present tense
I/you/we/theypick up on
he/she/itpicks up on
present participlepicking up on
past tensepicked up on
past participlepicked up on
  1. 1
    pick up on something to talk in more detail about something that someone has mentioned

    I’d just like to pick up on a couple of points that you made.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  pick up onThesaurus entry for this meaning of pick up on
  2. 2
    pick up on something to react to something that has happened or that you have noticed

    She had expected Dan to pick up on her insult.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  pick up onThesaurus entry for this meaning of pick up on
  3. 3
    to notice something that is not very obvious

    This is something you would expect a skilled negotiator to pick up on.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  pick up onThesaurus entry for this meaning of pick up on
  4. 4
    pick someone up on something to correct someone who has made a mistake, or to criticize them for doing something wrong

    She’s always picking me up on my grammar.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  pick up onThesaurus entry for this meaning of pick up on

This is the British English definition of pick up on. View American English definition of pick up on.

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