pick off

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Verb

pick off

1. (literally) To remove by picking.

   Before you recycle the bottle you need to pick off the label.

2. To shoot one by one.

   The sniper picked off the incoming police one at a time.

3. To dispose of tasks, obstacles, opponents etc. one by one.

   Let's pick off these issues starting from the top.

   England's batsmen were nothing more than sitting ducks waiting to be picked off by these unerringly accurate marksmen.

4. (baseball) To throw out a runner by tagging them whilst they are not in contact with any of the three bases or home plate.

   The pitcher attempted to pick off the runner at first, but he was safe.

5. To intercept, such as a ball in flight.

Noun

pick off (plural pick offs)

1. (baseball) An instance of throwing out a batter leading off base.

   The final out of the game was determined by a pick off.

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