to pull off from the place of growth, as fruit, flowers, or feathers:[~ + object]She plucked the feathers from the chicken.
to remove feathers or hair from by pulling:[~ + object]to pluck a chicken.
to grasp or grab: [~ + object]He plucked her sleeve until she answered him.[~ + at + object]He kept plucking at her sleeve.
to pull out or remove with sudden force:[~ + object]plucking her eyebrows.
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.
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.
to pull with sudden force or with a jerk.
to pull or move by force (often fol. by away, off, or out).
to remove the feathers, hair, etc., from by pulling:to pluck a chicken.
Slang Termsto rob, plunder, or fleece.
Music and Danceto sound (the strings of a musical instrument) by pulling at them with the fingers or a plectrum.
v.i.
to pull or tug sharply (often fol. by at).
to snatch (often fol. by at).
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.
act of plucking; a tug.
Foodthe heart, liver, and lungs, esp. of an animal used for food.
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.
2.See corresponding entry in Unabridged tug.
3.See corresponding entry in Unabridged yank, tear, rip.
13.See corresponding entry in Unabridged bravery, boldness, determination, mettle, nerve.