pluck up
Britishverb
-
to pull out; uproot
-
to muster (courage, one's spirits, etc)
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.
But Ecclesiastes got it right about everything having a season, “a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.”
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 10, 2025
"In my case, I was 14 and 15, for me to pluck up the courage - I didn't even tell my family," he said.
From BBC • Nov. 9, 2021
Shrewd pumpkin pickers will pluck up the best of the lot the first or second weekend in October, the grower said, but last weekend’s rains probably reduced the crowds.
From Washington Times • Oct. 24, 2020
Helicopters were brought in to pluck up survivors while crews waded in to drag or carry out others even though they weren’t sure whether they would be hit with another slide.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 10, 2018
But Beth, though yearning for the grand piano, could not pluck up courage to go to the ‘Mansion of Bliss’, as Meg called it.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
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.
