1 (also pickup truck) a small van or truck with low sides.
2an act of collecting a person or goods, especially in a vehicle:travel by coach from your local pickup point to your hotel
3 informal a casual encounter with a stranger with a view to having sexual intercourse:most people met through casual pickups
a person encountered with a view to having sexual intercourse:her flatmates are used to Susan’s rugged pickups
4an improvement, especially in an economy:a pickup in demand
5a device that produces an electrical signal in response to some other kind of signal or change, in particular:
the cartridge of a record player, carrying the stylus.
a device on an electric guitar which converts string vibrations into electrical signals for amplification.
6 [mass noun] the reception of signals, especially interference or noise, by electrical apparatus:this microphone helps reduce the pickup of background noise
7 Music a series of introductory notes leading into the opening part of a tune.
8 Fishing a semicircular loop of metal for guiding the line back on to the spool as it is reeled in.
