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Definition of pluck - 6 dictionary results

pluck

  [pluhk]
Use pluck in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to pull off or out from the place of growth, as fruit, flowers, feathers, etc.: to pluck feathers from a chicken.
2. to give a pull at; grasp: to pluck someone's sleeve.
3. to pull with sudden force or with a jerk.
4. to pull or move by force (often fol. by away, off, or out).
5. to remove the feathers, hair, etc., from by pulling: to pluck a chicken.
6. Slang. to rob, plunder, or fleece.
7. to sound (the strings of a musical instrument) by pulling at them with the fingers or a plectrum.
–verb (used without object)
8. to pull or tug sharply (often fol. by at).
9. to snatch (often fol. by at).
–noun
10. act of plucking; a tug.
11. the heart, liver, and lungs, esp. of an animal used for food.
12. courage or resolution in the face of difficulties.
—Verb phrase
13. pluck up,
a. to eradicate; uproot.
b. to summon up one's courage; rouse one's spirits: He always plucked up at the approach of danger. She was a stranger in the town, but, plucking up her courage, she soon made friends.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME plukken (v.), OE pluccian, c. MLG plucken; akin to D plukken, G pflücken

Related forms:
plucker, noun

Synonyms:
2. tug. 3. yank, tear, rip. 12. bravery, boldness, determination, mettle, nerve.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To pluck
pluck   (plŭk)   
v.   plucked, pluck·ing, plucks

v.   tr.
  1. To remove or detach by grasping and pulling abruptly with the fingers; pick: pluck a flower; pluck feathers from a chicken.
  2. To pull out the hair or feathers of: pluck a chicken.
  3. To remove abruptly or forcibly: plucked the child from school in midterm.
  4. To give an abrupt pull to; tug at: pluck a sleeve.
  5. Music To sound (the strings of an instrument) by pulling and releasing them with the fingers or a plectrum.
v.   intr.
To give an abrupt pull; tug.
n.  
  1. The act or an instance of plucking.
  2. Resourceful courage and daring in the face of difficulties; spirit.
  3. The heart, liver, windpipe, and lungs of a slaughtered animal.

[Middle English plukken, from Old English pluccian, probably from Vulgar Latin *piluccāre, ultimately from Latin pilāre, from pilus, hair.]
pluck'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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.

Pluck

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

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 Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : pluck
Spanish: arrancar,
German: zupfen,
Japanese: 引っぱる
More Translations »

pluck  (v.)
late O.E. ploccian "pull off, cull," from W.Gmc. *plokken (cf. M.L.G. plucken, M.Du. plocken, Flem. plokken), perhaps from V.L. *piluccare (cf. O.Fr. peluchier, c.1180), a frequentative, ultimately from L. pilare "pull out hair," from pilus "hair." But despite the similarities, OED finds difficulties with this and cites gaps in historical evidence. Noun sense of "courage, boldness" (1785) is originally boxing slang, from meaning "heart, viscera" (1611) as that which is "plucked" from slaughtered livestock. Perhaps infl. by fig. use in pluck up (one's courage, etc.), attested from c.1300. Hence, plucky (1842).
"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." [F. Grose, "Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1785]
This euphemistic use is attested from 1613.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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