pluck
Americanverb (used with object)
-
plucks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
plucked,
past participle, past
-
plucking
present participle
-
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.
- Synonyms:
- tug
-
to pull with sudden force or with a jerk.
-
to pull or move by force (often followed by away, off, orout ).
-
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)
-
plucks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
plucked,
past participle, past
-
plucking
present participle
-
to pull or tug sharply (often followed byat ).
-
to snatch (often followed byat ).
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.
- Synonyms:
- nerve, mettle, determination, boldness, bravery
verb phrase
verb
-
(tr) to pull off (feathers, fruit, etc) from (a fowl, tree, etc)
-
to pull or tug
-
archaic (tr; foll by off, away, etc) 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
-
slang (tr) 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
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
plucksimple
-
pluckssimple
-
have pluckedperfect
-
has pluckedperfect
-
am pluckingprogressive
-
are pluckingprogressive
-
is pluckingprogressive
-
have been pluckingperfect progressive
-
has been pluckingperfect progressive
Past
-
pluckedsimple
-
had pluckedperfect
-
was pluckingprogressive
-
were pluckingprogressive
-
had been pluckingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pluck
before 1000; Middle English plukken (v.), Old English pluccian, cognate with Middle Low German plucken; akin to Dutch plukken, German pflücken
Explanation
To pluck is to pick or pull a single item out of many, like a flower or a hair. As a noun, pluck is energy or enthusiasm, even when things are looking grim. Don't pluck only the best cherries off the tree: that's cherry-picking! Before you cook a goose, you need to pluck its feathers. If it looks like your goose is cooked, however, then show some pluck, and figure out a way to save yourself. Some characters who are famous for showing pluck include the Artful Dodger, Little Orphan Annie, and Benji the dog. They all kept their chins up and kept on trying, even when things looked really dark.
Vocabulary lists containing pluck
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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"The Song of Wandering Aengus" by W.B. Yeats
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The Magician's Nephew
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Ample low-hanging reform fruit is available for any politician who wants to pluck it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
He studied hydraulics, civil engineering and Shakespeare at the public library and impressed everyone with his pluck and problem-solving prowess.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Teams cannot pluck a developmental player from another team on a developmental deal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
"But I've had so many friends do Strictly, and I thought it was about time that I pluck up the courage and made my way on to the dance floor."
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
But as though he sensed the truth of her condition, and not the determined pluck of her heart, the yellow dog stepped forward.
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
"Ants, for example, this year are only available for customers who specifically ask to try them," said Atala, whose Sao Paulo restaurant D.O.M. plucks ingredients from the Amazonian wilderness to reinterpret Indigenous traditions.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
And it plucks a nerve in a country still scarred by its history of militarism.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
Plus, each claw kicks up a relatively small puff of sediment as it plucks its target off the seafloor.
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2025
On the business end, there is a 3cm metal tip that plucks a piece of skin and blubber from the whale’s body.
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2024
She plucks them off my brother’s head in one swift motion.
From "Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish" by Pablo Cartaya
They include Bara, a male orangutan plucked from the haze on Thursday, authorities told AFP.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
He has plucked talent from the worlds of fashion, entertainment and business to turn his vision into reality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
Picked by Aboriginals for tens of thousands of years, wattleseed, plucked from the native Acacia plants, is high in protein and traditionally roasted over an open fire and ground down to make bread.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026
She was on Netflix’s “Funny AF” with Kevin Hart and was plucked to open for Chelsea Handler.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
Outside the bedroom, Clare plucked a sharp-edged stone from beside the fireplace.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Keurig Dr Pepper has hired Russ Torres as chief executive of its coffee spinoff, plucking the executive from Kimberly-Clark.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
As the waves bashed the coast this week, boulders smashed into the piles of Mitchell Leib’s Malibu home, plucking them like a “guitar string” and shaking his house.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
Rescue crews in helicopters have been plucking survivors from along the valleys ravaged in the tsunami-like flow of water and debris apparently unleashed by a glacier's collapse.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
Scotland's third try was the pick of the bunch, with replacement Scott plucking Meryl Smith's pinpoint kick from the air and effortlessly stepping Kayleigh Powell to put daylight between the scores.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2026
“Is that the first time you’ve shot a horse?” he says, plucking the cigarette from the package with his teeth.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
