Meaning & use
litter pick
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountableBritish
An organized event where volunteers collect litter from streets, parks, or beaches.
Grammar: Countable: a litter pick, two litter picks. Often used with 'go on' or 'organize'.
Patterns
- go on a litter pick
- organize a litter pick
- a litter pick in the park
The school is organizing a litter pick in the local park this Saturday.
We went on a litter pick and collected ten bags of rubbish.
She joined a beach litter pick to help protect wildlife.
verbintransitiveBritish
To pick up litter from an area as a volunteer or worker.
Grammar: No object; often used with 'in' or 'on': litter-picking in the park.
Patterns
- litter-pick in a place
- litter-pick on a beach
- go litter-picking
They litter-pick in the woods every month.
Volunteers litter-picked along the riverbank.
We spent the morning litter-picking on the beach.
Word forms
| plural | litter picks |
|---|---|
| verb: third person singular | litter-picks |
| verb: past tense | litter-picked |
| verb: past participle | litter-picked |
| verb: present participle | litter-picking |
Common combinations
- go on a litter pick
- We go on a litter pick every first Sunday.
- organize a litter pick
- The council organized a litter pick for Earth Day.
- community litter pick
- The community litter pick attracted over fifty volunteers.
- beach litter pick
- The beach litter pick removed plastic from the shoreline.
- litter-picking equipment
- They provided gloves and litter-picking equipment.
Synonyms and how they differ
- litter cleanup
- The usual American term; it can refer to the event or the act of cleaning up.
- cleanup
- Broader; it can apply to any mess, not just litter.
- trash pickup
- American; often refers to collecting household rubbish, not volunteer litter collection.
Opposites
Word family
- litter noun
- Rubbish left in a public place.
- litterer noun
- A person who drops litter.
- litter-picker noun
- A person who takes part in a litter pick.
Commonly confused: litter pick or litter pick vs. litter bin? litter pick or litter pick vs. pick litter?
litter pick vs litter pick vs. litter bin
A litter bin is a container for rubbish; a litter pick is the activity of collecting it.
litter pick vs litter pick vs. pick litter
'Pick litter' is the verb phrase; 'litter pick' is the noun for the event.
Practice
We're going on a ___ in the park tomorrow morning.
Choose one answer.
'Litter pick' is the noun for the organized event. 'Litter bin' is a container, 'litter' is the rubbish itself, and 'littering' is the act of dropping rubbish, which does not fit 'go on a...'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “litter pick”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.