Pick, from the Saxon, and election, from the Latin, picture the objects before one, with freedom and power to choose which he will; as, there were twelve horses, among which I could take my pick.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

choose It won't make any difference whichever you choose.
decide In the first place, we have to decide on the name.
select Select enough large apples to fill a pudding dish.
pluck Can you pluck up the courage to talk to her?
plunk Heaving a great sigh I plunk my bread on the table and flump onto the chair.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
pick		rising
choose		rising
decide		rising
select		rising
pluck		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters: foot¹, cast¹, crop¹, warp¹, peck¹, beak¹, woof¹, cull¹, hurl¹, weft
5 letters: piece¹, clean¹, blame¹, cream¹, pitch¹, chuck¹, elect², fling¹, pluck¹, glean¹, plunk¹
6 letters: choice¹, choose¹, decide², option², screen¹, prefer², select², gather², nibble², pickax
7 letters: filling², extract²
8 letters: plectrum, picklock
9 letters: selection³

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (elect² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: cueillir
Italiano: raccogliere
Español: pellizcar
Deutsch: pflücken
Català: collir