n. [ From Pick. ] 1. One who, or that which, picks, in any sense, -- as, one who uses a pick; one who gathers; a thief; a pick; a pickax; as, a cotton picker. “Pickers and stealers.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mach.) A machine for picking fibrous materials to pieces so as to loosen and separate the fiber. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Weaving) The piece in a loom which strikes the end of the shuttle, and impels it through the warp. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Ordnance) A priming wire for cleaning the vent. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Dim. of Pike. ] [ Written also pickerell. ] 1. A young or small pike. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Bet [ better ] is, quoth he, a pike than a pickerel. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) (a) Any one of several species of freshwater fishes of the genus Esox, esp. the smaller species. (b) The glasseye, or wall-eyed pike. See Wall-eye. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The federation, or chain, pickerel (Esox reticulatus) and the brook pickerel (Esox Americanus) are the most common American species. They are used for food, and are noted for their voracity. About the Great Lakes the pike is called pickerel. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pickerel weed (Bot.), a blue-flowered aquatic plant (Pontederia cordata) having large arrow-shaped leaves. So called because common in slow-moving waters where pickerel are often found. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Probably a corruption of Pickerel. ] (Zool.) The sauger of the St.Lawrence River. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Pick to steal; or perhaps from Pickeer. ] Petty theft. [ Scot. ] Holinshed. [ 1913 Webster ]