cherry-pick

cherry-pick

1. To choose something very carefully to ensure that the best option is chosen, perhaps through means that provide one an unfair advantage or from a selection that others do not have ready access to. I can't believe he left the company and then cherry-picked the best employee in my department! Yes, you will get to cherry-pick all the equipment that goes into your studio.
2. slang In sports such as basketball and soccer (football), to position oneself away from the current play on one's opponent's defensive end for an opportunity to receive the ball and score an easy basket or goal. We might not have gotten scored on if you had actually been playing defense instead of cherry-picking!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

cherry-pick something

Fig. to choose something very carefully. (As if one were closely examining cherries on the tree, looking for the best.) We have to cherry-pick the lumber we want to use for the cabinetry. Nothing but the best will do.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • stack the odds against (someone or something)
  • stack the odds in the favor of (someone or something)
  • stack the odds in (someone's or something's) favor
  • sell (one) a bill of goods
  • sell a bill of goods
  • sell someone a bill of goods
  • saw into
  • see into
  • stack the cards
  • stack the cards (against someone or something)
References in periodicals archive
'It would, therefore, be wrong if SAIC, aided and abetted by the Chinese government, was able to cherry-pick the remains of MG Rover Group and effectively get what they want and at the same time stick two fingers up at the thousands of workers who are now concerned about their own and their family's future.
Stop SAIC cherry-picking
ROYAL Mail has warned of a threat to the universal postal service because rivals can "cherry-pick" easy-to-serve urban areas.
Royal Mail warns of postal service threat
To bully councils and governors into turning their schools into academies so that the private sector can cherry-pick the best bits.
Save our schools from academy bullies; letters@coventrytelegraph.net Letters letters@coventrytelegraph.net
But why does he then cherry-pick data to suit his additional but misguided views?
Letter: A warming debate
With regards to the BBC probably cutting back on horseracing coverage, if they're not prepared to support the 'lesser' meetings I don't see why they should be allowed to cherry-pick the top ones.
CHAT ROOM
No problem--the TV staff will throw open their closet doors so you can cherry-pick from a huge selection of silks and satins.
TV hotel
It added it would not 'cherry-pick' customers and would give a quote to 99 per cent of motorists who applied.
Personal Finance: Insure your car with the stamp of approval
It added it would not "cherry-pick" customers and would give a quote to 99% of motorists who applied.
Insurance move at PO
Through a deal with MTV, UPN will be able to cherry-pick top episodes out of the approximately 60 segs of "Deathmatch" that have been produced.
MTV helps UPN find clay `Match'
Said CCRL's Michael Markwick, a Vancouver lawyer: "The moment you grant the state the power to cherry-pick among religious beliefs, in the name of `Canadian values,' you cut at the roots of the tolerance and diversity we have come to cherish as a people."
Catholic Civil Rights League
Nass also offers long-time clients a 2-year guarantee that he will not "cherry-pick" their employment roster during other executive searches.
Executive searchers are looking for a new breed
Newcastle can no longer cherry-pick their matches in terms of delivering three points.
Managerial pedigree is the only area where United now compare with Man U; red devils' quality stacks the deck in their favour - but toon still have an ace in the dugout
WARNING Merkel says the UK can't cherry-pick its obligations and privileges
KISS RIGHT OFF, NIGEL; and do it quickly, please analysis
Cllr Nick Small, the council's cabinet member for education and assistant mayor, said: "We're worried that schools could be forced down an academy route, that academy chains from outside of the city who know nothing about Liverpool could come in and cherry-pick schools.
City bid to allay academy fears; LOCAL TRUST WOULD STOP NATIONAL CHAINS CHERRY-PICKING TOP PERFORMING SCHOOLS
Now it is coming to light that peers with interests in private healthcare are voting on reforms to rip the NHS apart so their chums can step in and cherry-pick the more profitable parts of the health service.
LORDS IS HOUSE OF PAIN