Word.ws English Dictionary

picking a hole in someone's coat

picking a hole in someone's coat is the present participle and gerund of pick a hole in someone's coat.

Meaning of pick a hole in someone's coat

Verb

pick a hole in someone's coat (third-person singular simple present picks a hole in someone's coat, present participle picking a hole in someone's coat, simple past and past participle picked a hole in someone's coat)

  1. (archaic) To find fault with someone.
    • 'Sheartikins, they know I follow it to do it no good, unless they pick a hole in my Coat for lending you Money now and then, which is a greater Crime to my Conscience, Gentlemen, than to the Common-Wealth.1677, Aphra Behn, The Rover, or, the Banish't Cavaliers, page 8

Questions about picking a hole in someone's coat

What is picking a hole in someone's coat the present participle and gerund of?
Picking a hole in someone's coat is the present participle and gerund of pick a hole in someone's coat.

Words near picking a hole in someone's coat in the dictionary

  1. pickin'
  2. pickin' and grinnin'
  3. pickiness
  4. picking
  5. picking a fight
  6. picking a hole in someone's coat
  7. picking a lane
  8. picking a quarrel
  9. picking and choosing
  10. picking and grinning
  11. picking and passing

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: picking a hole in someone's coat (page history and authors); pick a hole in someone's coat (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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