Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Baseball A play in which a runner is caught off base and is put out by a quick throw, as from the pitcher or catcher.
  • noun Sports An intercepted pass, especially in football.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Baseball) a play in which a base runner is picked off. See pick off.
  • transitive verb (Baseball) to put out a baserunner who is off base by tagging him/her, especially by a quick throw from the pitcher or catcher.
  • transitive verb to shoot so as to kill or disable, especially one by one from a position or in a situation where the target is unable to return fire at the shooter; -- used commonly of sniper fire.
  • transitive verb (Football) to intercept (a pass).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun baseball A play in which a pitcher throws a live ball to a fielder so that the fielder can tag out a baserunner who has moved away from the base

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb shoot one by one
  • verb pull or pull out sharply
  • noun a baseball play in which a base runner is caught off base and tagged out

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

pick +‎ off

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Examples

  • While my pickoff has been a valuable asset my entire professional career, only in the last season and a half have I come close to perfecting it, including ways to better set up what I call my "A" and "" A+ "moves.

    Baseball Prospectus 2010

  • Over the All-Star break, for instance, he returned to his hometown of Salisbury, N.C., and spent a day working on pickoff moves with pitchers from a local American Legion team.

    Too Normal to Be the Closer? Mike Sielski 2011

  • He recalled challenging some of the top pickers (Fleck, Douglas) to a "pickoff" during his last visit here (2006) and they never showed, so "we decided by forfeit we won."

    Michael Bialas: A Double Date With Sara Watkins at Telluride Bluegrass Festival Michael Bialas 2011

  • He recalled challenging some of the top pickers (Fleck, Douglas) to a "pickoff" during his last visit here (2006) and they never showed, so "we decided by forfeit we won."

    Michael Bialas: A Double Date With Sara Watkins at Telluride Bluegrass Festival Michael Bialas 2011

  • Braden controls the opposing running game extremely well, and he has one of the best pickoff moves in the game.

    American League Team Notes 2010

  • As request for quotes rolled across the screen, scumbag traders would pickoff others by changing one letter in a quote, eg M95-96 – 97 bfly vs U92-95 p sprd becomes M95-96 – 97 bfly vs U82-95 p sprd, changing the value of the package by a couple tics.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » The Goldman Fraud Suit 2010

  • Following a 40-minute rain delay, Robinson Cano slashed a double to left, then stole third on a botched pickoff attempt.

    Jeter Tallies Four Hits in Win Daniel Barbarisi 2011

  • Burnett hit the first batter of the game, Detroit's Don Kelly, then threw away a pickoff attempt to allow Kelly to reach third.

    The Limp Says it All Daniel Barbarisi 2011

  • Roethlisberger finished 21 of 30 for 256 yards with one touchdown and one interception, Dansby's pickoff at the Steelers '33-yard line that the Cardinals could not turn into points.

    With victory in claws, Cards defense 'just couldn't finish' 2009

  • Braden controls the opposing running game extremely well, and he has one of the best pickoff moves in the game.

    Oakland Athletics Team Report 2010

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