pluck
pluck definition
pluck (pluk)
transitive verb
- to pull off or out; pick
- to drag or snatch; grab
- to pull feathers or hair from to pluck a chicken, pluck eyebrows
- to pull at (the strings of a musical instrument) and release quickly with little jerking movements of the fingers
- Slang to rob or swindle
Etymology: ME plukken < OE pluccian, akin to Ger pflücken < VL *piluccare, to pull out (> Fr éplucher), for L pilare, to deprive of hair < pilus, hair: see pile
intransitive verb
- to pull; tug; snatch: often with at
- to pluck a musical instrument
noun
- an act of pulling; tug
- an animal's heart, liver, lungs, and windpipe, used for food
- courage to meet danger or difficulty; fortitude
Related Forms:
- plucker pluck′er noun
pluck Idioms
pluck up
to rouse one's (courage)
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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