pluck Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the trait of showing courage and determination in spite of possible loss or injury
    pluckiness; gutsiness.
  2. noun the act of pulling and releasing a taut cord
  3. verb pull or pull out sharply
    tweak; pick off; pull off.
    • pluck the flowers off the bush
  4. verb sell something to or obtain something from by energetic and especially underhanded activity
    roll; hustle.
  5. verb rip off; ask an unreasonable price
    fleece; soak; plume; hook; overcharge; rob; gazump; surcharge.
  6. verb pull lightly but sharply with a plucking motion
    plunk; pick.
    • he plucked the strings of his mandolin
  7. verb strip of feathers
    deplumate; pull; tear; deplume; displume.
    • pull a chicken
    • pluck the capon
  8. verb look for and gather
    cull; pick.
    • pick mushrooms
    • pick flowers

WordNet

Pluck transitive verb
Etymology
AS. pluccian; akin to LG. & D. plukken, G. pflücken, Icel. plokka, plukka, Dan. plukke, Sw. plocka. 27.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Plucked ; present participle & verbal noun Plucking
Definitions
  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. Bronté.
Pluck intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To make a motion of pulling or twitching; -- usually with at; as, to pluck at one's gown.
Pluck noun
Definitions
  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. (Zoöl.) The lyrie. Prov. Eng.

Webster 1913