1584 J. Newbery Let. 20 Jan. in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1589) i. 212 Nineteene & a halfe pikes of cloth, which cost in London twentie shillings the pike.

1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. xxii. 158 The Pic [Fr. pic] is a Measure of six Hands breadth.

1687 B. Randolph Present State Archipel. 39 A pettycoat..that had above 40 pikes of dimity, which is about 30 yards; some have above 60 pikes.

1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Pike, is also the name of an Ægyptian measure, of which there are two kinds, the large and the small. The larger pike, called also the pike of Constantinople, is 27·92 English inches.

1796 in Naval Documents U.S. Wars with Barbary Powers (1939) 154 One pick is 24⁷/₈ inches.

1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Pic, Pik, a variable Turkish cloth-measure, ranging from twenty-eight inches the long pic, to eighteen inches the short pic.

1874 Times 19 Oct. 8/3 It was hoped that the river [sc. the Nile] had reached its highest point (25 pics 17 kerats) on the 28th of September.

1937 Whitaker's Almanack 585/1 Dira Mamari, or Pic (used by architects) 29·53 inches.

1658 R. White tr. K. Digby Late Disc. Cure Wounds 25 Many are of opinion, that it [sc. Mount Viso] is the highest Mountain in the World, after the Pic of Tenariff [Fr. Pic de Teneriffe], in the gran Canarie.

1669 R. Boyle Contin. New Exper. Physico-mech. xxiii. App. Navigators and travellers..do almost unanimously agree that the pic of Teneriff is the highest mountain hitherto known in the world.

c1705 in J. K. Laughton Mem. Relating to Ld. Torrington (1889) 6 Passed it by..and made the Pic in 3 days.

1772 J. Adams tr. A. de Ulloa Voy. S. Amer. (ed. 3) I. 229 The signal was at first erected on the highest summit of Pichincha; but afterwards removed to another station at the foot of the pic.

1817 J. Bradbury Trav. Amer. 133 Near the centre there rises a pic, very steep, which seems to be elevated at least 100 feet above the hill on which it stands.

1821 A. Ure Dict. Chem. Pyreneite..occurs in primitive limestone, in the Pic of Eres-Lids, near Bareges, in the French Pyrenees.

1839 Spirit of Times 18 May 129/1 The gentleman of the bar..set back the bottle and popped the ‘pic’ in the drawer.

1841 E. R. Steele Summer Journey in West 159 In paying for them I found a new currency here, my shillings and sixpences being transformed into bits and pics or picayunes.

1846 E. W. Farnham Life in Prairie Land ii. i. 291 ‘How much does the muskito-bar cost a yard?’ ‘Two bits and a pic, or three bits.’

1850 ‘M. Tensas’ Odd Leaves from Louisiana Swamp Doctor 51 The animal, didn't mind him a pic.

1859 P. H. Gosse Lett. from Alabama 103 The negroes ferried me over the romantic river, for which I paid a ‘pic’ (i.e. a picayune, the sixteenth of a dollar, or half a ‘bit’), the smallest silver coin current.

1884 J. Ruskin Let. 16 Nov. in S. Birkenhead Illustrious Friends (1965) xxxiii. 304 I am so very sorry I cant ‘reprieve’—as you call it—the ‘pics’.

1891 R. Kipling Light that Failed v. 82 I must see your pics first.

1910 C. E. Montague Hind let Loose v. 81 He was sent off to see some pics; an'..he saw..just what the men were about that had painted them.

?1948 L. Durrell Let. in Spirit of Place (1969) 98 I've suggested to Tambi that Runciman might do a small Patmos book to go with your pics?

1994 Inside Soap Aug. 6/3 If you thought glamour in soaps was dead, just check out these latest pics from the set of hot new US soap Models Inc!

2009 B. Foster Church Parish Marketing E-handbk. 67 The DSLR camera should be used for special pics from main events or for pics with a special promotional use.

1913 Motography 19 Apr. 284/2 An afternoon's hard work in mud, water, and wreckage yielded much material and the party left for Chicago, Sunday night with the ‘pics’ of the entire flood situation safely in their possession.

1913 Motography 14 June 423/2 Pearl White is the leading lady in Crystal ‘pics’ and has made herself universally known throughout filmdom by..her clever portrayal of whatever role she is cast for.

1916 Corks & Curls (Univ. of Virginia) 29 314 Theda Bara in ‘Passionate Pauline’... When pics was over, he walk [sic] home with me.

1925 Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 3 Jan. 14 He can make a pic outta the..book that'll panic 'em.

1961 A. Berkman Singers' Gloss. Show Business 25 Gaffer (Pics, TV), Stage electrician.

1970 P. Y. Carter Mr. Campion's Falcon iii. 26 The Hag is out for the evening—gone off..to the pics.

1996 Time Out 31 July 68/3 If Hammer pics often lacked spontaneity, their quality cinematography and art direction certainly belied the company's modest resources.

1922 Trans. Internat. Astron. Union 1 158 The following resolutions were adopted [at the first General Assembly of the IAU]: (1) The exclusive use of the Latin names of the constellations. (2) The adoption of the three-letter abbreviations proposed by Profs. Hertzsprung and Russell for the representation of the 88 principal constellations... Pic Pictor.

1964 D. H. Menzel Field Guide Stars & Planets vi. 235 ι Pic (b 8) is a wide double.

1997 Nature 7 Aug. p. ix/2 A disk of dust and gas has been found around a much younger star that is otherwise very similar to β Pic.

1925 E. Hemingway Let. 17 Feb. (2013) II. 252 A good pic dont never let his horse get killed.

1978 M. Walker Infiltrator i. 11 I want to watch the pics.

1925 E. Hemingway Let. 17 Feb. (2013) II. 252 A good pic dont never let his horse get killed. He holds off the bull with his pick.]

1926 E. Hemingway Sun also Rises ii. xv. 173 Watching the picador place the point of his pic.

1932 R. Campbell Taurine Provence 38 From the beginning of the 18th century we know almost every pass, pic, or estocada that has been performed up to the present day.

1967 J. McCormick & M. S. Mascareñas Compl. Aficionado i. 20 The picador's long pole tipped by the pic.

2004 Courier Mail (Queensland) (Nexis) 13 Mar. (Travel section) h6 The picadors, mounted on horses, place their pics in the muscles of the bull.

1927 E. Hemingway Men without Women (1928) 33 He wheeled his horse..towards..the far side of the ring where the bull would come out... ‘Pic him, Manos,’ he said. ‘Cut him down to size for me.’

1934 R. Campbell Broken Rec. 195 I pic'd better than any of the professionals.

1957 A. MacNab Bulls of Iberia vi. 65 The sight of a brave, powerful bull being pic'd honourably..is a fine one.

1991 T. Mitchell Blood Sport Pref. p. viii The slightly drunken picador..clumsily picced the bull's ribs instead of his withers.

1925 E. Hemingway Let. 17 Feb. (2013) II. 252 The enditer [i.e., writer] if properly trained could revive the whole art of pic-ing.

1956 A. Murray Let. 11 Aug. in R. Ellison & A. Murray Trading Twelves (2000) 142 I left out two phases: the banderillas and the pic-ing. Moque & Mique were downright enthusiastic about the bullfights.

1991 T. Mitchell Blood Sport iii. 88 They tested the bravura of the bulls with a procedure known as the tienta (similar to a piccing but without the actual wounding).