choose

choose (up) sides

to select from a group to be on opposing sides for a debate, fight, or game. (Fixed order.) Let's choose up sides and play basketball. The children chose up sides and began the game.

See also: side

choose someone or something for something

to select someone or something for a particular purpose, office, title, etc. I chose red for the color or the carpet. I will choose Alice for office manager.

choose someone as something

to select someone to be something. We will choose her as our representative. I chose Sam as my assistant.

choose something for someone

to select something for someone, perhaps as a gift. I will probably choose flowers for your mother. I chose a funny card for his birthday.

choose among someone or something

to make a choice of a person or thing from a variety of possibilities. We will choose among the names on the list you gave us. I need to choose among the car models available.

See also: among

choose between two people or things

to choose one from a selection of two persons or things in any combination. For dessert, you can choose between chocolate and vanilla ice cream. I am unable to choose between promoting John and hiring one of the others.

See also: people, thing, two

choose from someone or something

to make a selection from a group of persons or things. You will have to choose from these people only. Ron chose from the items in the catalog.

nothing to choose from

no choice; no choice in the selection; not enough of something to make a choice. I went to the store looking for new shoes, but there was nothing to choose from. By the time I got around to selecting a team of helpers, there was nothing to choose from.

See also: nothing

pick and choose

to choose very carefully from a number of possibilities; to be selective. You must take what you are given. You cannot pick and choose. Meg is so beautiful. She can pick and choose from a whole range of boyfriends.

See also: and, pick

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pick and choose

to take only what you want from a group You cannot pick and choose which rules to accept and which to ignore.

See also: and, pick