1
general::
Phrase(s): pick something over
Fig. to look through something carefully, looking for something special. • The shoppers who got here first picked everything over, and there is not much left. • They picked over all the merchandise.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
2
general::
Sort out, examine item by item, as in Dad hates to pick over the beans one by one. This term is sometimes put as picked over, describing something that has already been selected from (as in They have almost nothing left; the stock of bathing suits has been picked over). [First half of 1800s]
American Heritage Idioms