WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

pick up
    v 1: take and lift upward [syn: pick up, lift up, gather
         up]
    2: take up by hand; "He picked up the book and started to read"
    3: give a passenger or a hitchhiker a lift; "We picked up a
       hitchhiker on the highway"
    4: gather or collect; "You can get the results on Monday"; "She
       picked up the children at the day care center"; "They pick up
       our trash twice a week" [syn: collect, pick up, gather
       up, call for]
    5: get to know or become aware of, usually accidentally; "I
       learned that she has two grown-up children"; "I see that you
       have been promoted" [syn: learn, hear, get word, get
       wind, pick up, find out, get a line, discover,
       see]
    6: get in addition, as an increase; "The candidate picked up
       thousands of votes after his visit to the nursing home"
    7: take into custody; "the police nabbed the suspected
       criminals" [syn: collar, nail, apprehend, arrest,
       pick up, nab, cop]
    8: buy casually or spontaneously; "I picked up some food for a
       snack"
    9: register (perceptual input); "pick up a signal" [syn: pick
       up, receive]
    10: lift out or reflect from a background; "The scarf picks up
        the color of the skirt"; "His eyes picked up his smile"
    11: meet someone for sexual purposes; "he always tries to pick
        up girls in bars"
    12: fill with high spirits; fill with optimism; "Music can
        uplift your spirits" [syn: elate, lift up, uplift,
        pick up, intoxicate] [ant: cast down, deject,
        demoralise, demoralize, depress, dismay, dispirit,
        get down]
    13: improve significantly; go from bad to good; "Her performance
        in school picked up" [syn: turn around, pick up]
    14: perceive with the senses quickly, suddenly, or momentarily;
        "I caught the aroma of coffee"; "He caught the allusion in
        her glance"; "ears open to catch every sound"; "The dog
        picked up the scent"; "Catch a glimpse" [syn: catch, pick
        up]
    15: eat by pecking at, like a bird [syn: peck, pick up]
    16: gain or regain energy; "I picked up after a nap" [syn: perk
        up, perk, percolate, pick up, gain vigor]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

195 Moby Thesaurus words for "pick up":
   accumulate, acquire, advance, amass, ameliorate, amend, animate,
   annex, apprehend, arrest, assemble, book, boost, brace, brace up,
   brighten, bring, bring back, bring together, brisk, brisken,
   buck up, buoy up, bust, call for, capture, chalk up, chase after,
   cheer, chirk up, collar, collect, come along, come on, compass,
   continue, convalesce, cull, descry, detain, detect, develop,
   dig up, discern, distinguish, drag up, draw up, dredge, dredge up,
   elevate, encourage, enliven, espy, exhilarate, fetch,
   fetch and carry, fillip, fish up, fortify, fresh up, freshen,
   freshen up, gain, gain ground, gain strength, galvanize, garner,
   gather, gather in, gather up, get, get ahead, get along,
   get better, get in, get together, give a lift, gladden, glean,
   go after, go ahead, go and get, go fetch, go for, go forward,
   go get, go to get, grab, graduate, grow better, grub, grub up,
   haul up, have, hearten, hoist, home on, identify, improve,
   infuse life into, inspire, inspirit, invigorate, jazz up, land,
   liven, look up, make an arrest, make headway, make out,
   make progress, make strides, map, master, meliorate, mend, nab,
   net, notice, obtain, perceive, perk up, pick, pinch, pinpoint,
   pique, pluck, pluck up, procure, progress, provoke, pull in,
   put under arrest, quicken, raise, rake up, rally, reanimate, rear,
   receive, recognize, recommence, recreate, recruit, recuperate,
   refresh, refreshen, regale, reinvigorate, rejoice,
   rejoice the heart, renew, reopen, resuscitate, retrieve, revive,
   revivify, round up, run after, run in, scan, scare up,
   scrape together, scrape up, secure, see, seize, sense, set up,
   shag, shape up, sharpen, show improvement, skyrocket, sleep it off,
   spot, spy, stimulate, sweep, take captive, take in,
   take into custody, take off, take prisoner, take up, trigger,
   tune in, turn the corner, uphold, uplift, upraise, uprear,
   vitalize, vivify, whet