pluck
2 ENTRIES FOUND:
plucks;
plucked;
plucking
plucks;
plucked;
plucking
Britannica Dictionary definition of PLUCK
1
[+ object]
:
to pull (something) quickly to remove it
-
My sister plucked a white hair from my head.
-
The hunter plucked the bird's feathers.
-
plucking petals off/from a flower
-
pluck [=pick] a lemon from the tree
2
[+ object]
:
to remove some or all of the feathers or hairs from (something)
-
They plucked a chicken.
-
She plucks her eyebrows. [=she regularly removes some of the hairs in her eyebrows to make her eyebrows have a particular shape]
3
always followed by an adverb or preposition
[+ object]
a
:
to take (someone or something) away from a place or situation suddenly or by force
-
Firefighters plucked the child from the top floor of the burning building.
-
He'd been plucked from obscurity and thrust into the national spotlight.
-
a cat that was plucked off the city's streets last winter
b
:
to select or take (something) usually from a group, container, or place
-
We plucked [=chose] passages at random from the book and read them aloud.
-
He plucked a stone out of the river.
4
a
:
to pull and release (a string on a musical instrument) with your fingers in order to make a sound
[+ object]
-
pluck a guitar string
[no object]
-
pluck on a guitar string
b
:
to play (a guitar, banjo, etc.) by pulling and releasing the strings with your fingers
[+ object]
-
She was softly plucking a banjo.
[no object]
-
plucking on/at a banjo
pluck at
[phrasal verb]
pluck at (something)
:
to pull part of (something) with your fingers especially more than once
-
He nervously plucked at the blanket.
pluck up (the) courage
◊ If you pluck up (the) courage to do something, you become brave enough to do it.
-
He finally plucked up the courage to ask her out on a date.
2
pluck
/ˈplʌk/
noun
2
pluck
/ˈplʌk/
noun
Britannica Dictionary definition of PLUCK
[noncount]
old-fashioned + informal
:
a quality that makes you continue trying to do or achieve something that is difficult
:
courage and determination
-
It takes pluck to do what she did.
-
She showed pluck in getting up on stage.
