The Wordsmith Dictionary

Pluck, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plucked; p. pr. & vb. n. Plucking. ] Etym: [AS. pluccian; akin to LG. & D. plukken, G. pflücken, Icel. plokka, plukka, Dan. plukke, Sw. plocka.

1. To pull; to draw. Its own nature. .. plucks on its own dissolution. Je

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.I come to pluck your berries harsh and crude. Milton. E'en children followed, with endearing wile, And plucked his gown to share the good man's smile. Goldsmith.

3. To strip of, or as of, feathers; as, to pluck a fowl. They which pass by the way do pluck her. Ps. lxxx.

4. (Eng. Universities )

Defn: To reject at an examination for degrees. C. Bronté. 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 pluk up a nation. Jer. xii. 17. (b ) To gather up; to summon; as, to pluck up courage.

PLUCK

PLUCK Pluck, v. i.

Defn: To make a motion of pulling or twitching; -- usually with at; as, to pluck at one's gown.

PLUCK

PLUCK Pluck, n.

1. The act of plucking; a pull; a twitch.

2. Etym: [Prob. so called as being plucked out after the animal is killed; or cf. Gael. & Ir. pluc a lump, a knot, a bunch. ]

Defn: The heart, liver, and lights of an animal.

3. Spirit; courage; indomitable resolution; fortitude. Decay of English spirit, decay of manly pluck. Thackeray.

4. The act of plucking, or the state of being plucked, at college. See Pluck, v. t., 4.

5. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The lyrie. [Prov. Eng. ]

PLUCKED

PLUCKED Plucked, a.

Defn: Having courage and spirit. [R.]

PLUCKER

PLUCKER Pluck "er, n.

1. One who, or that which, plucks. Thou setter up and plucker down of kings. Shak.

2. A machine for straightening and cleaning wool.

PLUCKER TUBE

PLUCKER TUBE Plück "er tube. [So named after Julius Plücker, a German physicist. ](Physics ) (a ) A vacuum tube, used in spectrum analysis, in which the part through which the discharge takes place is a capillary tube, thus producing intense incandescence of the contained gases. (b ) Crookes tube.

PLUCKILY

PLUCKILY Pluck "i *ly, adv.

Defn: In a plucky manner.

PLUCKINESS

PLUCKINESS Pluck "i *ness, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being plucky.

PLUCKLESS

PLUCKLESS Pluck "less, a.

Defn: Without pluck; timid; faint-hearted.

PLUCKY

Pluck "y, a. [Compar. Pluckier; superl. Pluckiest.]

Defn: Having pluck or courage; characterized by pluck; displaying pluck; courageous; spirited; as, a plucky race. If you're plucky, and not over subject to fright. Barham.

New American Oxford Dictionary

pluck

pluck |plək plək | ▶verb [ with obj. ] 1 take hold of (something ) and quickly remove it from its place; pick: she plucked a blade of grass | he plucked a tape from the shelf. • catch hold of and pull quickly: she plucked his sleeve | [ no obj. ] : brambles plucked at her jeans. • pull the feathers from (a bird's carcass ) to prepare it for cooking. • pull some of the hairs from (one's eyebrows ) to make them look neater. 2 quickly or suddenly remove someone from a dangerous or unpleasant situation: the baby was plucked from a grim foster home. 3 sound (a musical instrument or its strings ) with one's finger or a plectrum. ▶noun 1 spirited and determined courage. 2 the heart, liver, and lungs of an animal as food. PHRASAL VERBS pluck up courage see courage. DERIVATIVES pluck er noun [ usu. in combination ] : a goose-plucker ORIGIN late Old English ploccian, pluccian, of Germanic origin; related to Flemish plokken; probably from the base of Old French (es )peluchier ‘to pluck. ’ Sense 1 of the noun is originally boxers' slang.

plucky

pluck y |ˈpləkē ˈpləki | ▶adjective ( pluckier, pluckiest ) having or showing determined courage in the face of difficulties. DERIVATIVES pluck i ly |ˈpləkəlē |adverb, pluck i ness noun

Oxford Dictionary

pluck

pluck |plʌk | ▶verb [ with obj. ] 1 take hold of (something ) and quickly remove it from its place: she plucked a blade of grass | he plucked a tape from the shelf. • catch hold of and pull quickly: she plucked his sleeve | [ no obj. ] : brambles plucked at her jeans. • pull the feathers from (a bird's carcass ) to prepare it for cooking. • pull some of the hairs from (one's eyebrows ) to make them look neater. • Geology (of glacier ice ) break off (pieces of rock ) by mechanical force. 2 quickly or suddenly remove someone from a dangerous or unpleasant situation: the baby was plucked from a grim orphanage. 3 sound (a musical instrument or its strings ) with one's finger or a plectrum. ▶noun [ mass noun ] 1 spirited and determined courage. 2 the heart, liver, and lungs of an animal as food. PHRASES pluck up courage see courage. DERIVATIVES plucker noun [ usu. in combination ] : a goose-plucker ORIGIN late Old English ploccian, pluccian, of Germanic origin; related to Flemish plokken; probably from the base of Old French ( es )peluchier ‘to pluck ’. Sense 1 of the noun is originally boxers' slang.

plucky

plucky |ˈplʌki | ▶adjective ( pluckier, pluckiest ) having or showing determined courage in the face of difficulties. DERIVATIVES pluckily adverb, pluckiness noun

American Oxford Thesaurus

pluck

pluck verb 1 he plucked a thread from his lapel: remove, pick (off ), pull (off /out ), extract, take (off ). 2 she plucked at his T-shirt: pull (at ), tug (at ), clutch (at ), snatch (at ), grab, catch (at ), tweak, jerk; informal yank. 3 the turkeys have been plucked: deplume, remove the feathers from. 4 Jen plucked the guitar strings: strum, pick, plunk, thrum, twang; play pizzicato. ▶noun saying those things to her took a lot of pluck: courage, bravery, nerve, backbone, spine, daring, spirit, intrepidity, fearlessness, mettle, grit, true grit, determination, fortitude, resolve, stout-heartedness, dauntlessness, valor, heroism, audacity; informal guts, spunk, gumption, moxie.

plucky

plucky adjective these plucky young players are still about the game, not about the money: brave, courageous, bold, daring, fearless, intrepid, spirited, game, valiant, valorous, stouthearted, dauntless, resolute, determined, undaunted, unflinching, audacious, unafraid, doughty, mettlesome; informal gutsy, spunky. ANTONYMS timid.

Oxford Thesaurus

pluck

pluck verb 1 Jane plucked a thread from the lapel of his coat: remove, pick off, pick, pull, pull off /out, extract, take, take off. 2 she plucked at his T-shirt: pull (at ), tug (at ), clutch (at ), snatch (at ), take hold of, grab, seize, catch (at ), tweak, twitch, jerk; informal yank. 3 the turkeys are plucked and cleaned: remove the feathers from, strip of feathers; rare deplume, displume. 4 he picked up the guitar and began to pluck the strings: strum, pick, thrum, twang, plunk, finger; play pizzicato. ▶noun it must have taken a lot of pluck to go there alone: courage, bravery, nerve, pluckiness, boldness, courageousness, braveness, backbone, spine, daring, spirit, intrepidness, intrepidity, fearlessness, mettle, determination, fortitude, resolve, resolution, stout-heartedness, hardihood, dauntlessness, valour, doughtiness, heroism, audacity; informal grit, guts, spunk, gutsiness, gumption; Brit. informal bottle, ballsiness; N. Amer. informal moxie, cojones, sand; vulgar slang balls.

plucky

plucky adjective plucky staff defeat armed raiders: brave, courageous, bold, daring, fearless, intrepid, spirited, game, valiant, valorous, lionhearted, heroic, gallant, stout-hearted, stout, dauntless, resolute, determined, gritty, stalwart, undaunted, indomitable, unflinching, audacious, unafraid, doughty, mettlesome; informal gutsy, ballsy, spunky, have-a-go, feisty. ANTONYMS cowardly, timid, timorous.

Sanseido Wisdom Dictionary

pluck

pluck /plʌk /動詞～s /-s /; ～ed /-t /; ～ing 他動詞 1 ｟書｠ «…から » 〈物〉を引きちぎる, むしる «from , out of , off » ; 〈鳥の羽〉を (料理用に )むしる , むしり取る ; ｟書文｠ «…から » 〈花果物葉〉を摘む , もぎとる «from » ▸ pluck wrapping paper 包装紙を引き破る ▸ pluck feathers from a bird 鳥の羽をむしり取る ▸ pluck a fowl 鶏の羽をむしる ▸ pluck an apple from a tree 木からリンゴをもぎとる ▸ pluck one's eyebrows (毛抜きで )眉毛（まゆげ）を抜く ▸ pluck flowers [weeds ]花を摘む [草むしりをする ].2 【場所状況から】〈人物〉を引き離す, (ぎゅっと )引っぱる [引く ] «from , off , away » ▸ pluck a book from A's hands Aの手から (無理やり )本を取る .3 〈弦楽器〉をかき鳴らす ▸ pluck the guitar ギターを弾く .4 〖通例be ～ed 〗【無名の状態から /重要な地位に】〈人が〉抜擢（ばつてき）される , 引き抜かれる «from /to » ▸ be plucked from obscurity 無名の状態から引き上げられる .5 〖通例be ～ed 〗 «危険困難から /…へ » 〈人が〉救助される «from /to » ▸ be plucked to safety 無事救出される .自動詞 1 «…を » ぐいと引く , 引っぱる , つかむ «at » .2 【楽器を】かき鳴らす «at » .pl ù ck A out of the [th ì n ] á ir A 〈数名前日付〉を (熟慮せずにあまり考えずに )口にする ; Aを急に思いつく .名詞 U 1 U ｟やや古｠(危険困難に立ち向かう )勇気 (courage ); 決断力 .2 C 【物を】ぐいと引くこと «at » ▸ give a pluck at A Aをぐいと引く 3 U 〖the ～〗(動物の )臓物 , もつ .

plucky

pluck y /plʌ́ki /形容詞勇気のある (brave ), 大胆な .