pluck

[pluhk]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pluck ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to pull off or out from the place of growth, as fruit, flowers, feathers, etc.: to pluck feathers from a chicken.

to give a pull at; grasp: to pluck someone's sleeve.

to pull with sudden force or with a jerk.

to pull or move by force (often followed by away, off, or out).

to remove the feathers, hair, etc., from by pulling: to pluck a chicken.

Slang. to rob, plunder, or fleece.

to sound (the strings of a musical instrument) by pulling at them with the fingers or a plectrum.

verb (used without object)

to pull or tug sharply (often followed by at).

to snatch (often followed by at).

noun

act of plucking; a tug.

the heart, liver, and lungs, especially of an animal used for food.

courage or resolution in the face of difficulties.

Verb Phrases

pluck up,

to eradicate; uproot.
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 of pluck

before 1000; Middle English plukken (v.), Old English pluccian, cognate with Middle Low German plucken; akin to Dutch plukken, German pflücken

Related formspluck·er, nounhalf-plucked, adjectiveun·plucked, adjectivewell-plucked, adjective

Synonyms for pluck

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pluck ON THESAURUS.COM

2. tug. 3. yank, tear, rip. 12. bravery, boldness, determination, mettle, nerve.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for pluck

guts, spunk, moxie, grit, bravery, cull, clutch, snatch, strum, harvest, yank, heart, boldness, nerve, backbone, spirit, determination, intrepidity, resolution, mettle

Examples from the Web for pluck

Contemporary Examples of pluck

Pluck a pebble from a mountain and pretend the mountain is gone.
The Crazy Way Creationists Try To Explain Human Tails Without Evolution
Karl W. Giberson
June 1, 2014
The human urge to pluck a string and make music goes back many millennia.
Was The Beatles’ Music Really That Unique? Yeah, It Totally Was.
Michael Tomasky
February 2, 2014
The easiest thing would be to pluck another exiled oligarch out of the sin bin.
Putin Needs an Enemy After Berezovsky’s Death
Peter Pomerantsev
March 25, 2013
I pluck the daisies as they grow, and take them home,' said the old woman after a short silence. '
Charles Dickens' Enduring Insights on Human Loss and Suffering
David Frum
February 18, 2013
So obviously the Obama campaign will be able to pluck many counter-examples from its file and probably fight this one to a draw.
Romney's Campaign Is Smart
Michael Tomasky
May 29, 2012

Historical Examples of pluck

Cut off my arm and pluck out my eye, so that the other may be better.
The Imaginary Invalid
Molire
Rima was not there to pluck the rage from my heart and save his evil life.
Green Mansions
W. H. Hudson
Then you have to do the best you can, and prove the pluck that is in you.
The Forest
Stewart Edward White
Now I must be permitted to celebrate by a little the pluck of Dick.
The Forest
Stewart Edward White
Why should you aspire to pluck the flower which has grown up amongst us?
Micah Clarke
Arthur Conan Doyle

British Dictionary definitions for pluck

pluck

verb

(tr) to pull off (feathers, fruit, etc) from (a fowl, tree, etc)

(when intr, foll by at) to pull or tug

(tr; foll by off, away, etc) archaic to pull (something) forcibly or violently (from something or someone)

(tr) to sound (the strings) of (a musical instrument) with the fingers, a plectrum, etc

(tr) another word for strip 1 (def. 7)

(tr) slang to fleece or swindle

noun

courage, usually in the face of difficulties or hardship

a sudden pull or tug

the heart, liver, and lungs, esp of an animal used for food

Derived Formsplucker, noun

Word Origin for pluck

Old English pluccian, plyccan; related to German pflücken

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pluck

late Old English ploccian, pluccian "pull off, cull," from West Germanic *plokken (cf. Middle Low German plucken, Middle Dutch plocken, Dutch plukken, Flemish plokken, German pflücken), perhaps from Vulgar Latin *piluccare (cf. Old French peluchier, late 12c.; Italian piluccare), a frequentative, ultimately from Latin pilare "pull out hair," from pilus "hair" (see pile (n.3)). But despite the similarities, OED finds difficulties with this and cites gaps in historical evidence. Related: Plucked; plucking.

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 1610s. To pluck up "summon up" is from c.1300.

c.1400, "act of plucking," from pluck (v.). Meaning "courage, boldness" (1785), originally in pugilism slang, is a figurative use from earlier meaning "heart, viscera" (1610s) as that which is "plucked" from slaughtered livestock. Perhaps influenced by figurative use of the verb in pluck up (one's courage, etc.), attested from c.1300.