Meaning of pick-me-up | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A drink, often an alcoholic one, taken as a stimulant or sometimes as a hangover cure; a restorative, tonic or bracer.
   informal
2. Something that improves one's mood.

Equivalents

Examples

“Strong tea is just the pick-me-up that I need right now.”

“He brought a hip flask along, just in case he needs a little pick-me-up later.”

“Adonis calls for a ‘pick-me-up’ before he has strength enough to answer a billet-doux from Venus. Adonis has not the strength to get nobly drunk, but his delicate constitution requires stimulants, and he is always tippling.”

“Make half-a-pint of beef-tea in a tumbler with this extract. Put the tumbler in a refrigerator for an hour, then add a liqueur-glassful of old brandy, with just a dust of cayenne. This is one of the very best pick-me-ups known to the faculty.”

“"I'm feeling fine today," pursued Gideon, advancing a step and so bringing himself about halfway to the table. "Had a couple of pick-me-ups and a fat breakfast. How are you?"”

“In fact I did not feel good. I was suffering from the morning sickness of the steady, heavy drinker. What I needed was a pick-me-up, a bracer.”

“I have had occasion, I fancy, to speak before now of these pick-me-ups of Jeeves’s and their effect on a fellow who is hanging to life by a thread on the morning after. What they consist of, I couldn’t tell you. He says some kind of sauce, the yolk of a raw egg and a dash of red pepper, but nothing will convince me that the thing doesn’t go much deeper than that.”

“God, he needed a drink. Just a little pick-me-up to put things in their true perspective— […]”

“A trip into town for lunch with my friend was a nice pick-me-up today.”

“A month or so of winter sport seemed a desirable pick-me-up after the strenuous work and crowning discomfiture of the election.”

“Those Austrian desserts we all know and love, sacher torte, linzer torte, apfelstrudel and the like, as well as Bavarian chocolate, peach torte and jailhouse pie, are $2.25 or $2.50 and — with a cup of cafe mocha — a delightful afternoon pick-me-up.”

“Have to keep reminding myself that I’m also a happily married woman—but it is nice to be noticed as a woman for a change (and to have my fantasy life given such a pick-me-up).”

“Meeting Marlene had been such a pick-me-up, but at the same time, it was a grim reminder that Allen was not healed.”

“Glen Medeiros and Bobby Brown are on KDWB right now performing She Ain’t Worth It, and it is such a pick-me-up.”

“Nothing brightens your day like an unexpected check in the mail, letter to the editor, or sign of support from a strong quarter. Such a pick-me-up is welcome, and frequently happens at a time where you most need a boost.”

“Carrie’s cats have been such a pick-me-up. There’s always one that needs a cuddle and there’s a lot to be said for fur therapy.”

“According to [Kiminobu] Sugaya, music also increases dopamine release in a specific part of the brain, similar to that of illegal drugs. It’s like a cerebral Woodstock, only with musical rather than chemical stimulants (and better hygiene). In other words, it’s time to tune into a happier you. Next to showering, it’s one of the easiest things you can do to give yourself and immediate pick-me-up.”

CEFR level