Dictionary-Definition.com :: Pluck definition

Definition of 'pluck'

noun

The trait of showing courage and determination in spite of possible loss or injury [syn: gutsiness, pluck, pluckiness] [ant: gutlessness]

noun

The act of pulling and releasing a taut cord

verb

Pull or pull out sharply; "pluck the flowers off the bush" [syn: pluck, tweak, pull off, pick off]

verb

Sell something to or obtain something from by energetic and especially underhanded activity [syn: hustle, pluck, roll]

verb

Rip off; ask an unreasonable price [syn: overcharge, soak, surcharge, gazump, fleece, plume, pluck, rob, hook] [ant: undercharge]

verb

Pull lightly but sharply with a plucking motion; "he plucked the strings of his mandolin" [syn: pluck, plunk, pick]

verb

Strip of feathers; "pull a chicken"; "pluck the capon" [syn: pluck, pull, tear, deplume, deplumate, displume]

verb

Look for and gather; "pick mushrooms"; "pick flowers" [syn: pick, pluck, cull]

From: GCIDE

Pluck \Pluck\, v. i. To make a motion of pulling or twitching; -- usually with at; as, to pluck at one's gown. [1913 Webster]

From: GCIDE

Pluck \Pluck\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plucked; p. pr. & vb. n. Plucking.] [AS. pluccian; akin to LG. & D. plukken, G. pfl["u]cken, Icel. plokka, plukka, Dan. plukke, Sw. plocka. ?27.]
1. To pull; to draw. [1913 Webster]
Its own nature . . . plucks on its own dissolution. --Je?. Taylor. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
I come to pluck your berries harsh and crude. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
E'en children followed, with endearing wile, And plucked his gown to share the good man's smile. --Goldsmith. [1913 Webster]
3. To strip of, or as of, feathers; as, to pluck a fowl. [1913 Webster]
They which pass by the way do pluck her. --Ps. lxxx.?2. [1913 Webster]
4. (Eng. Universities) To reject at an examination for degrees. --C. Bront['e]. [1913 Webster]
To pluck away, to pull away, or to separate by pulling; to tear away.
To pluck down, to pull down; to demolish; to reduce to a lower state.
to pluck off, to pull or tear off; as, to pluck off the skin.
to pluck up. (a) To tear up by the roots or from the foundation; to eradicate; to exterminate; to destroy; as, to pluck up a plant; to pluck up a nation. --Jer. xii. 17. (b) To gather up; to summon; as, to pluck up courage. [1913 Webster]

From: GCIDE

Pluck \Pluck\, n.
1. The act of plucking; a pull; a twitch. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
3. Spirit; courage; indomitable resolution; fortitude. [1913 Webster]
Decay of English spirit, decay of manly pluck. --Thackeray. [1913 Webster]
4. The act of plucking, or the state of being plucked, at college. See Pluck, v. t., 4. [1913 Webster]
5. (Zool.) The lyrie. [Prov. Eng.] [1913 Webster]

From: GCIDE

Lyrie \Ly"rie\ (l[imac]"r[i^]), n. [Icel. hl[=y]ri a sort of fish.] (Zool.) A European fish (Peristethus cataphractum), having the body covered with bony plates, and having three spines projecting in front of the nose; -- called also noble, pluck, pogge, sea poacher, and armed bullhead. [1913 Webster]