cherry-picker

Noun

cherry picker (plural cherry pickers)

1. A piece of equipment consisting of a large basket at the end of an extensible boom, often mounted on a truck body, and used by workers to reach inaccessible places such as power lines and tall trees.
   • Near-synonym: man lift

   Synonyms:

   boom lift, basket crane, hydraladder, bucket truck

2. A cantilevered tool for installing or removing a vehicle's engine block.

   Synonyms:

   engine crane, engine hoist

3. (literal) A person or device that harvests cherries, or that aids in the harvesting of cherries.
   • A relatively high proportion of the cost of production of RSP cherries is in the picking. Pickers are paid […]. There is considerable interest in a mechanical cherry picker which is reported to be able to double each picker's output.1947, John Trecartin Ogden, Food Freezing
4. (figuratively) A person or group that picks the best for themselves; one who cherry-picks.

   Synonyms:

   goalhanger

5. (figuratively) A person or group that picks only evidence which supports an argument and ignores evidence which contradicts it; one who cherry-picks.
   • Two conclusions stand out: The Bible is a cherry-picker's paradise, and human beings cannot function without double standards.2006, Manfred Weidhorn, An Anatomy of Skepticism, →ISBN, page 218

See all 6 meanings of cherry picker