Adjacent Words

Pluck definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PLUCK, v.t.
1. To pull with sudden force or effort, or to pull off, out or from, with a twitch. Thus we say, to pluck feathers from a fowl; to pluck hair or wool from a skin; to pluck grapes or other fruit.
They pluck the fatherless from the breast. Job 24.
2. To strip by plucking; as, to pluck a fowl.
They that pass by do pluck her. Psalms 80.
The sense of this verb is modified by particles.
To pluck away, to pull away, or to separate by pulling; to tear away.
He shall pluck away his crop with his feathers. Leviticus 1.
To pluck down, to pull down; to demolish; or to reduce to a lower state.
To pluck off, is to pull or tear off; as, to pluck off the skin. Micah 3.
To pluck on, to pull or draw on.
pluck up, to tear up by the roots or from the foundation; to eradicate; to exterminate; to destroy; as, to pluck up a plant; to pluck up a nation. Jeremiah 12.
To pluck out, to draw out suddenly or to tear out; as, to pluck out the eyes; to pluck out the hand from the bosom. Psalms 74.
To pluck up, to resume courage; properly, to pluck up the heart. [Not elegant.]
PLUCK, n. The heart, liver and lights of an animal.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the trait of showing courage and determination in spite of possible loss or injury [syn: gutsiness, pluck, pluckiness] [ant: gutlessness]
2: the act of pulling and releasing a taut cord v
1: pull or pull out sharply; "pluck the flowers off the bush" [syn: pluck, tweak, pull off, pick off]
2: sell something to or obtain something from by energetic and especially underhanded activity [syn: hustle, pluck, roll]
3: rip off; ask an unreasonable price [syn: overcharge, soak, surcharge, gazump, fleece, plume, pluck, rob, hook] [ant: undercharge]
4: pull lightly but sharply with a plucking motion; "he plucked the strings of his mandolin" [syn: pluck, plunk, pick]
5: strip of feathers; "pull a chicken"; "pluck the capon" [syn: pluck, pull, tear, deplume, deplumate, displume]
6: look for and gather; "pick mushrooms"; "pick flowers" [syn: pick, pluck, cull]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: Middle English, from Old English pluccian; akin to Middle High German pflücken to pluck Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. to pull or pick off or out 2. a. to remove something (as hairs) from by or as if by plucking <pluck one's eyebrows> b. rob, fleece 3. to move, remove, or separate forcibly or abruptly <plucked the child from the middle of the street> 4. a. to pick, pull, or grasp at b. to play by sounding the strings with the fingers or a pick intransitive verb to make a sharp pull or twitch • plucker noun II. noun Date: 15th century 1. an act or instance of plucking or pulling 2. the heart, liver, lungs, and trachea of a slaughtered animal especially as an item of food 3. courageous readiness to fight or continue against odds ; dogged resolution

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. 1 tr. (often foll. by out, off, etc.) remove by picking or pulling out or away. 2 tr. strip (a bird) of feathers. 3 tr. pull at, twitch. 4 intr. (foll. by at) tug or snatch at. 5 tr. sound (the string of a musical instrument) with the finger or plectrum etc. 6 tr. plunder. 7 tr. swindle. --n. 1 courage, spirit. 2 an act of plucking; a twitch. 3 the heart, liver, and lungs of an animal as food. Phrases and idioms: pluck up summon up (one's courage, spirits, etc.). Derivatives: plucker n. pluckless adj. Etymology: OE ploccian, pluccian, f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lyrie Ly"rie (l[imac]"r[i^]), n. [Icel. hl[=y]ri a sort of fish.] (Zo["o]l.) A European fish (Peristethus cataphractum), having the body covered with bony plates, and having three spines projecting in front of the nose; -- called also noble, pluck, pogge, sea poacher, and armed bullhead.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Pluck Pluck, v. i. To make a motion of pulling or twitching; -- usually with at; as, to pluck at one's gown.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Pluck Pluck, n. 1. The act of plucking; a pull; a twitch. 2. [Prob. so called as being plucked out after the animal is killed; or cf. Gael. & Ir. pluc a lump, a knot, a bunch.] The heart, liver, and lights of an animal. 3. Spirit; courage; indomitable resolution; fortitude. Decay of English spirit, decay of manly pluck. --Thackeray. 4. The act of plucking, or the state of being plucked, at college. See Pluck, v. t., 4. 5. (Zo["o]l.) The lyrie. [Prov. Eng.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Pluck Pluck, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plucked; p. pr. & vb. n. Plucking.] [AS. pluccian; akin to LG. & D. plukken, G. pfl["u]cken, Icel. plokka, plukka, Dan. plukke, Sw. plocka. ?27.] 1. To pull; to draw. Its own nature . . . plucks on its own dissolution. --Je?. Taylor. 2. Especially, to pull with sudden force or effort, or to pull off or out from something, with a twitch; to twitch; also, to gather, to pick; as, to pluck feathers from a fowl; to pluck hair or wool from a skin; to pluck grapes. I come to pluck your berries harsh and crude. --Milton. E'en children followed, with endearing wile, And plucked his gown to share the good man's smile. --Goldsmith. 3. To strip of, or as of, feathers; as, to pluck a fowl. They which pass by the way do pluck her. --Ps. lxxx.?2. 4. (Eng. Universities) To reject at an examination for degrees. --C. Bront['e]. To pluck away, to pull away, or to separate by pulling; to tear away. To pluck down, to pull down; to demolish; to reduce to a lower state. to pluck off, to pull or tear off; as, to pluck off the skin. to pluck up. (a) To tear up by the roots or from the foundation; to eradicate; to exterminate; to destroy; as, to pluck up a plant; to pluck up a nation. --Jer. xii. 17. (b) To gather up; to summon; as, to pluck up courage.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(plucks, plucking, plucked) 1. If you pluck a fruit, flower, or leaf, you take it between your fingers and pull it in order to remove it from its stalk where it is growing. (WRITTEN) I plucked a lemon from the tree... He plucked a stalk of dried fennel. VERB: V n from n, V n 2. If you pluck something from somewhere, you take it between your fingers and pull it sharply from where it is. (WRITTEN) He plucked the cigarette from his mouth and tossed it out into the street... VERB: V n from/out of/off n 3. If you pluck a guitar or other musical instrument, you pull the strings with your fingers and let them go, so that they make a sound. Nell was plucking a harp. VERB: V n 4. If you pluck a chicken or other dead bird, you pull its feathers out to prepare it for cooking. She looked relaxed as she plucked a chicken. VERB: V n 5. If a woman plucks her eyebrows, she pulls out some of the hairs using tweezers. You've plucked your eyebrows at last! VERB: V n 6. If someone unknown is given an important job or role and quickly becomes famous because of it, you can say that they have been plucked from obscurity or plucked from an unimportant position. (WRITTEN) She was plucked from the corps de ballet to take on Juliet... The agency plucked Naomi from obscurity and turned her into one of the world's top models. VERB: usu passive, be V-ed from n, V n from n 7. If someone is rescued from a dangerous situation, you can say that they are plucked from it or are plucked to safety. A workman was plucked from the roof of a burning power station by a police helicopter... Ten fishermen were plucked to safety from life-rafts. VERB: usu passive, be V-ed from n, be V-ed to n 8. If you pluck up the courage to do something that you feel nervous about, you make an effort to be brave enough to do it. It took me about two hours to pluck up courage to call. PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR to-inf 9. If you say that someone plucks a figure, name, or date out of the air, you mean that they say it without thinking much about it before they speak. Is this just a figure she plucked out of the air? PHRASE: V inflects

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Gather, pick, cull. 2. Pull (quickly), twitch, snatch, jerk, yerk, tug, tear. 3. Pull, draw. 4. Strip by plucking. II. n. (Colloq.) Spirit, courage, resolution, manhood, indomitableness, backbone, determination, energy, force, mettle, nerve, hardihood, force of character, strength of will.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

Courage. He wants pluck: he is a coward. Against the pluck; against the inclination. Pluck the Ribbon; ring the bell. To pluck a crow with one; to settle a dispute, to reprove one for some past transgression. To pluck a rose; an expression said to be used by women for going to the necessary house, which in the country usually stands in the garden. To pluck also signifies to deny a degree to a candidate at one of the universities, on account of insufficiency. The three first books of Euclid, and as far as Quadratic Equations in Algebra, will save a man from being plucked. These unfortunate fellows are designated by many opprobrious appellations, such as the twelve apostles, the legion of honor, wise men of the East, etc.

Moby Thesaurus

accumulate, amass, assemble, avulse, backbone, bare, bleed, bleed white, bob, boldness, bottle, bottom, bravery, bring in, bring together, bust, catch at, chutzpah, collect, courage, crop, crop herbs, cull, cut, cut out, dauntlessness, denudate, denude, deplume, deracinate, despoil, determination, dig, dig out, dig up, disentangle, displume, divest, drain, draw, draw out, dredge, dredge up, dry, eradicate, evolve, evulse, excavate, excise, exhaust, expose, exsect, extract, extricate, fail, flay, fleece, flick, flip, flirt, flounce, flunk, flunk out, fortitude, gameness, gather, gather in, get in, get out, get together, glean, gouge out, grab, grabble, grit, grub, grub up, guts, gutsiness, guttiness, hardiness, harvest, hay, heart, heart of oak, hitch, impoverish, intestinal fortitude, intrepidity, jerk, jig, jigger, jigget, jiggle, jog, joggle, lay bare, lay open, mettle, mettlesomeness, milk, mine, mow, moxie, nerve, nut, pick, pick clean, pick out, pick up, pith, pluck out, pluck up, pluckiness, plunk, pull, pull out, pull up, quarry, rake out, rake up, reap, reap and carry, remove, resolution, resolve, rip out, root out, root up, round up, sand, scare up, scrape together, scrape up, shear, skin, snake, snatch, spirit, spunk, spunkiness, stamina, start, steadfastness, stout heart, stoutness, strip, strip bare, strum, sturdiness, suck dry, sudden pull, sweep the strings, take out, take up, tear out, thrum, toughness, true grit, twang, tweak, twitch, uncloak, uncover, unearth, unravel, unsheathe, unveil, uproot, vellicate, wash out, weed out, withdraw, wrench, wrest out, yank, yerk