pick-me-upn.
/ˈpɪkmɪʌp/, U.S. /ˈpɪkmiˌəp/ colloquial (originally U.S.).
1.
a. A stimulating drink which has a reviving and invigorating effect; a beverage, medicinal preparation, etc., supposed to have restorative properties; a tonic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > restoratives, tonics, or stimulants > [noun] > restorative > drink
pick-me-up1867
screw1877
pickup1881
fortifier1894
1867 H. Latham Black & White 80 Who could induce the American loafer to drink home-brewed ale..instead of pick-me-ups.
1871 Standard 13 Feb. A good trade in ‘foaming pick-me-ups’,..was done at the various American bars.
1900 Westm. Gaz. 5 Feb. 5/2 Incautious use of a pick-me-up in which strychnine was an ingredient.
1948 R. Chandler Let. 5 Apr. (1966) 177 If there was all this arsenic, why did Maybrick have to go to a drug store to buy it in small doses as a pick-me-up?
1996 Good Food Easter 74/1 Instant lemon tea. Fresh-flavoured, with a clean lemony tang, it's a perfect pick-me-up at any time of the day.
b. figurative and in extended use. Anything which restores strength or vigour, or has a bracing effect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > refreshment or invigoration > [noun] > that which or one who refreshes or invigorates
spice?c1225
comfort1377
refresherc1450
refreshment1532
reviver1542
sauce1561
salt1579
refocillation1608
whettera1625
fillip1699
stimulant1728
stimulation1733
yeast1769
stimulus1791
inspiriter1821
stimulatory1821
refreshener1824
boost1825
bracer1826
young blood1830
freshener1838
invigoratorc1842
blow1849
tonic1849
elevation1850
stimulator1851
breather1876
pick-me-up1876
a shot in the arm1922
1876 ‘Ouida’ In Winter City vii. 217 To Society the Père Hilarion was only a sort of mental liqueur, as Jenny Léa was an American ‘pick-me-up’.
1887 Poor Nellie (1888) 278 Dr. Doseman's lively wrath proved a pick-me-up to his.
1952 Time 15 Sept. 22/3 The association frowned on ‘charlatans’ who advised extramarital pick-me-ups.
2000 N.Y. Times 6 Aug. i. 16/6 Tax cuts were showcased..as a prudent way to spur entrepreneurship, help people looking to reach the middle class, and provide an economic pick-me-up.
2. A person willing to be picked up; a prostitute. Cf. pickup n. 12.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > [noun] > sexual indulgence > unchaste behaviour of woman > unchaste or loose woman > woman who makes herself available
pushover1916
pick-me-up1918
round-heeler1927
lay1932
make1933
round heel1933
round heels1944
hump1969
pull1969
spare1969
1918 J. Joyce Ulysses Nestor in Little Rev. May 43 She lives in Leeson park [printed Leesonp ark], with a grief and kickshaws, a lady of letters. Talk that to someone else, Stevie: a pickmeup.
1941 J. Smiley Hash House Lingo 42 Pick me up, loose woman.
2001 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) May 211/3 It might be slightly depressing were it not for the dazzling young pick-me-ups he has hanging around.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1867