Definitions for: Pluck


[n] the act of pulling and releasing a taut cord
[n] the trait of showing courage and determination in spite of possible loss or injury
[v] pull lightly but sharply with a plucking motion, as of guitar strings; "he plucked the strings of his mandolin"
[v] look for and gather; "pick mushrooms"; "pick flowers"
[v] strip of feathers; "pull a chicken"; "pluck the capon"
[v] pull or pull out sharply; "pluck the flowers off the bush"
[v] rip off; ask an unreasonable price
[v] sell something to or obtain something from by energetic and esp. underhanded activity



Webster (1913) Definition: 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, v. i.
To make a motion of pulling or twitching; -- usually with at;
as, to pluck at one's gown.


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.]

Synonyms: cull, deplumate, deplume, displume, fleece, gazump, gutsiness, hook, hustle, overcharge, pick, pluckiness, plume, plunk, pull, rob, roll, soak, surcharge, tear

Antonyms: gutlessness, undercharge

See Also: beat, berry, bill, catch, charge, cheat, chisel, collect, cull out, discover, draw, extort, fearlessness, find out, force, garner, gather, get a line, get wind, get word, gouge, hear, learn, mushroom, pick off, pick over, pick up, pluck, pull, pull off, pull together, pulling, rack, receive, rip off, see, sieve out, steal, strip, twang, tweak, tweeze, wring

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