La Palabra Del Día "picotear"
picotear ( pee-koh-teh-AHR )
(verb) to peck, to pick at
Welcome to La Palabra Del Día
There are many native English speakers here, most of us can offer great suggestions to the English sentences. I will do my best to go through them all, too. For the Spanish sentences, edit your posts according to the native Spanish speakers suggestions. Use today's Word of the Day in your own Spanish sentence (and include the English translation as well). Try to use the word in a completely new way and vote on the sentences you like best. The winner will be chosen based upon the correct use of the word as well as the number of votes.
Guidelines:
Write sentences at least 5 words long, but don't write a paragraph either. Write your Spanish sentence, but include the English translation as well. Make the corrections suggested by other users and moderators in the comments section (try not to use personal pronouns unless absolutely necessary). Use your own words! (Don't use a translator, copy from a book, use song lyrics, etc.) Please keep political, religious or personal statements to a minimum. This is a practice game.
How to post a picture
Examples:
1: Las gallinas pasan todo el día picoteando el suelo.
The chickens spend the whole day pecking the ground.
2: Si sigues picoteando la comida, mamá se va a enojar.
If you keep picking at your food, Mom's going to get mad.
12 Answers
You should not throw any food, please pick the food from the floor. There are many children who are suffering from the starvation.
No debes tirar algunas comidas, por favor pica los alimientos del suelo. Hay muchos niños quien estan sufriendo del hambre.
¡Deja ya de picotear el pan! / Stop nibbling the bread!
El polluelo de la mamá picó a sus polluelos que decidían cuál elegir para ser su favorito.
The mom chick pecked at her chicks deciding which one to pick to be her favorite.
Cuando vi la palabra del día, el picotear, me pregunté "Por qué existe esta palabra, porque el picar significa lo mismo." Aparentemente, yo no era el único que era confundido, porque algunos miembros ha usado la palabra incorrecta en sus respuestas. Tal vez podamos culpar "Google Translate" por eso. 
Al leer las definiciones de ambas palabras, me ha dado cuenta que el picar tiene casi cien significados mientras el picotear tiene casi nada. Déjame pensar un momento. ¿Qué palabra debería usar? ¡Ay, caramba! Ya he utilizado las dos.
When I saw the word of the day, picotear, I wondered "Why does this word exist, because picar means the same thing." Apparently, I was not the only one who was confused, because some members have used the wrong word in their answers. Maybe we can blame "Google Translate" for that. After reading the definitions of both words, I have noticed that picar has about a hundred meanings while picotear has just a few. Let me think a sec. Which word should I use? Oy vey! I've already used them both.
Cuando yo era un niño a menudo sólo picoteaba mi comida porque odiaba grandes comidas, y mi apetito no era bueno.
Excepto con una comida que me gustó.
When I was a kid I often just pecked at my food because I hated big meals , and my appetite was not good.
Except with a meal that I liked.
Polly el loro le encanta a Bill, pero picotea a Susan cada vez que se acerca.
Polly the parrot loves Bill, but she pecks Susan every time she approaches.
Un pájaro de carpentiro ha tomando de gusto a picotear nuestro árbol.
A woodpecker has taken a liking to pecking our tree.
En esta canción ("Pick-a-Little") un grupo de mujeres chismeando que chismean se compara a gallinas picoteando que picotean.
In this song ("Pick-a-Little") a group of gossiping women is compared to hens pecking.
At the park, the birds are pecking food on the ground. En el parque, las aves están picoteando la comida en el suelo.
Siempre se dice que comer aparte des horas de la comida normal engorda y que hay que cuidarse cuando picoteas para no subir desmedidamente de peso.
It is always said that eating apart from the hours of the normal meal is fattening and that you have to be careful when you peck in order not to rise unnecessarily in weight.
Espero que todos picotearán en mi refrigerio para que puedo ganar mucho dinero y ser tratada bien por sociedad.
I hope that everyone will nibble on my snack so that I can make lots of money and be treated well by society.
Cuando las palomas terminaron de picotear la comida que él había traído al parque, lo asediaron para tratar de encontrar más.
After the pigeons finished nibbling on the food that he had brought to the park, they mobbed him to try to find more.
