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View synonyms for pluck

pluck

[ pluhk ]

verb (used with object)

  1. to pull off or out from the place of growth, as fruit, flowers, feathers, etc.:

    to pluck feathers from a chicken.

  2. to give a pull at; grasp:

    to pluck someone's sleeve.

    Synonyms: tug

  3. to pull with sudden force or with a jerk.

    Synonyms: rip, tear, yank

  4. to pull or move by force (often followed by away, off, or out ).
  5. to remove the feathers, hair, etc., from by pulling:

    to pluck a chicken.

  6. Slang. to rob, plunder, or fleece.
  7. to sound (the strings of a musical instrument) by pulling at them with the fingers or a plectrum.


verb (used without object)

  1. to pull or tug sharply (often followed by at ).
  2. to snatch (often followed by at ).

noun

  1. act of plucking; a tug.
  2. the heart, liver, and lungs, especially of an animal used for food.
  3. courage or resolution in the face of difficulties.

    Synonyms: boldness, nerve, mettle, determination, bravery

verb phrase

    1. to eradicate; uproot.
    2. to summon up one's courage; rouse one's spirits:

      He always plucked up at the approach of danger. She was a stranger in the town, but, plucking up her courage, she soon made friends.

pluck

/ plʌk /

verb

  1. tr to pull off (feathers, fruit, etc) from (a fowl, tree, etc)
  2. whenintr, foll by at to pull or tug
  3. archaic.
    tr; foll by off, away, etc to pull (something) forcibly or violently (from something or someone)
  4. tr to sound (the strings) of (a musical instrument) with the fingers, a plectrum, etc
  5. tr another word for strip 1
  6. slang.
    tr to fleece or swindle
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


noun

  1. courage, usually in the face of difficulties or hardship
  2. a sudden pull or tug
  3. the heart, liver, and lungs, esp of an animal used for food
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˈplucker, noun
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Other Words From

  • plucker noun
  • half-plucked adjective
  • un·plucked adjective
  • well-plucked adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of pluck1

before 1000; Middle English plukken (v.), Old English pluccian, cognate with Middle Low German plucken; akin to Dutch plukken, German pflücken
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Word History and Origins

Origin of pluck1

Old English pluccian, plyccan; related to German pflücken
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Example Sentences

Bluetooth pairing comes with the pluck of a guitar and that button lights up too—it’s one of the easiest, best Bluetooth speaker designs to use.

The midrange, where the song breathes, was forward but never strident and the earphones presented the more delicate guitar plucks and crisp piano melodies better than my AirPods Pro.

Bergdahl, who appeared in a previous video pleading for the United States to rescue him, seems to have demonstrated no such pluck.

Pluck a pebble from a mountain and pretend the mountain is gone.

Maintaining tight eye contact, the butlers pluck out audience members for a gripping, melancholic dance.

The human urge to pluck a string and make music goes back many millennia.

The easiest thing would be to pluck another exiled oligarch out of the sin bin.

It is more advantageous to pluck the leaves when they are dry than when they are moist.

You've done a big thing to-day, and if you hadn't had more pluck and ginger than common, it's a cinch you'd have lost out.

You that hate good, and love evil: that violently pluck off their skins from them and their flesh from their bones?

And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: and will crush thy cities.

For a pen she would catch a goose, pluck a quill, and ask Billy to cut it.

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