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.
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Slang. to rob, plunder, or fleece.
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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
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(tr) to pull off (feathers, fruit, etc) from (a fowl, tree, etc)
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to pull or tug
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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
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(tr) another word for strip 1
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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
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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:
But don’t let the relatable career-girl pluck of the movie dilute the fact that this song is pissed off about capitalism, even as its hooks make the grind of working life more bearable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
She said finding the courage to contact police was difficult and it "took me a few days just to pluck up the courage".
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
Once Chaplin’s character disembarks, though, a bit of pluck and a stranger’s generosity pull him out of a possible pit, and a new American life is born.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
If you take the three releases and pluck the best tracks from each—a half-dozen songs from both “Iceman” and “Maid,” and one from “Habibti”—you have a strong Drake record with a lot of variety.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
Many of the Japanese would scoop up or pluck the aromatic leaves and boil them and inhale the steam, claiming that it was good for colds; others felt that camphor steam could be harmful.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
The worker plucks the items out of the bin and places them on another robot that resembles a toy Tonka truck.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 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
“May December” — Samy Burch, Alex Mechanik Holiday hit “The Holdovers” from David Hemingson should take this — the film is popular and plucks the heartstrings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2024
In short, Radan ignores Story’s actual arguments, plucks out one sentence and then falsely claims that his argument isn’t clear.
From Salon ● Dec. 16, 2023
He plucks the top paper from the stack.
From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Before Chris could block it, the sender attached a photo plucked from the public Facebook account of his 24-year-old daughter, Allyson.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
The birds are gutted, plucked and salted on Sula Sgeir before being taken by boat to Lewis where they are counted by a NatureScot official.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
As the smoke from France's worst wildfire in over 75 years rose over the Bassin d'Arcachon, a pair of nearby firefighters tucked into a plate of oysters plucked from the bay west of Bordeaux.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
We plucked three healthy tomato plants and three pots.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026
He plucked a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at his forehead, wiped his fingertips.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
"One of my recent tricks is to find any weird chord that may intrigue me," plucking the opening notes of As You Lie There on an acoustic guitar.
From BBC ● May 27, 2026
It bursts with insights that mix journalistic acumen with gossip, backed by a score generously seasoned with mischievous violin string plucking.
From Salon ● Mar. 14, 2026
She’s over wasting time plucking chin hairs, searching for brain fog-induced lost reading glasses and — most of all — withholding her opinions so as not to offend others.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 20, 2026
Raffy, Diouf and ambitious young Pistache sat at the top of a baobab, plucking a breakfast of fruit that they cracked open with a whack-whack-whack against the branches.
From Barron's ● Jan. 15, 2026
We are sitting in the kitchen, plucking the tails off the bean sprouts Grandma is making for dinner.
From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh
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.
