pluck

UK: /ˈplʌk/ US: /plʌk/ ,(pluk)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

pluck /plʌk/   v. 

1. to pull off from the place of growth, as fruit, flowers, or feathers:
   [~ + object] She plucked the feathers from the chicken.
2. to remove feathers or hair from by pulling:
   [~ + object] to pluck a chicken.
3. to grasp or grab: [~ + object]
   He plucked her sleeve until she answered him.
   [~ + at + object]
   He kept plucking at her sleeve.
4. to pull out or remove with sudden force:
   [~ + object] plucking her eyebrows.
5. Music and Dance to sound (the strings of a musical instrument) by pulling at them with the fingers or a plectrum:
   [~ + object] sat there plucking his harp.

n. 

6. [countable] the act of plucking;
   a tug.
7. courage;
   a desire not to give up or surrender:
   [uncountable] showed a lot of pluck by staying in the game.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

pluck  (pluk), v.t. 

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.
3. to pull with sudden force or with a jerk.
4. to pull or move by force (often fol. by away, off, or out).
5. to remove the feathers, hair, etc., from by pulling:
   to pluck a chicken.
6. Slang Terms to rob, plunder, or fleece.
7. Music and Dance to sound (the strings of a musical instrument) by pulling at them with the fingers or a plectrum.

v.i. 

8. to pull or tug sharply (often fol. by at).
9. to snatch (often fol. by at).
10. pluck up:
    • to eradicate;
      uproot.
    • 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.

n. 

11. act of plucking;
    a tug.
12. Food the heart, liver, and lungs, esp. of an animal used for food.
13. courage or resolution in the face of difficulties.

• bef. 1000; Middle English plukken (verb, verbal), Old English pluccian, cognate with Middle Low German plucken; akin to Dutch plukken, German pflücken

pluck′er, n. 
Synonyms

• 2. tug.
• 3. yank, tear, rip.
• 13. bravery, boldness, determination, mettle, nerve.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

pluck / plʌk/ verb

1. (transitive) to pull off (feathers, fruit, etc) from (a fowl, tree, etc)
2. when intr, followed by at: to pull or tug
3. (tr; followed by off, away, etc) to pull (something) forcibly or violently (from something or someone)
4. (transitive) to sound (the strings) of (a musical instrument) with the fingers, a plectrum, etc
5. (transitive)
   another word for strip17
6. (transitive) to fleece or swindle

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

Etymology: Old English pluccian, plyccan; related to German pflücken

ˈplucker noun