pluck

verb

\ ˈplək

plucked; plucking; plucks

Definition of pluck

(Entry 1 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to pull or pick off or out

2a : to remove something (such as hairs) from by or as if by plucking pluck one's eyebrows

b : rob, fleece

3 : to move, remove, or separate forcibly or abruptly plucked the child from the middle of the street

4a : to pick, pull, or grasp at

b : to play by sounding the strings with the fingers or a pick

intransitive verb

: to make a sharp pull or twitch

pluck

noun

Definition of pluck (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : an act or instance of plucking or pulling

2 : the heart, liver, lungs, and trachea of a slaughtered animal especially as an item of food

3 : courageous readiness to fight or continue against odds : dogged resolution

Other Words from pluck Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about pluck

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Examples of pluck in a Sentence

Verb

My sister plucked a white hair from my head. The hunter plucked the bird's feathers. plucking petals off a flower 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 He plucked a stone out of the river.

Noun

It takes pluck to do what she did. She showed pluck in getting up on stage.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Persephone, the Greek goddess of harvest and fertility, and a daughter of Zeus, is walking through a field plucking wildflowers one day when Hades, the god of the Underworld, whisks her away to his subterranean realm. — Rachel Syme, The New Yorker, "Amber Gray’s Ferocious Twist on the Goddess Persephone in “Hadestown”," 6 June 2019 YouTube had curated the videos from across its archives, at times plucking out the otherwise innocuous home movies of unwitting families, the researchers say. — Amanda Taub, New York Times, "On YouTube’s Digital Playground, an Open Gate for Pedophiles," 3 June 2019 Graze on Waiheke’s gastronomic specialties during a private tour of the island, with stops to taste olive oil at an award-winning mill, pluck and shuck oysters, and sip Syrah at intimate vineyards. — Alena Hadley, National Geographic, "Taste What's Cooking Across the Globe: 10 Edible Trips," 8 Apr. 2019 But little by little, the voyage reveals itself to be plucking at unexamined emotional bonds between the two. — Todd Vanderwerff, Vox, "Ralph Breaks the Internet is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but for the internet," 21 Nov. 2018 His eyes have a perpetual twinkle about them, as if God plucked two stars from the sky and gave them the distinct honor of starring in a long-running USA network series. — Gabriella Paiella, The Cut, "I Simply Love Tony Shalhoub," 19 June 2018 Dua Lipa, Tom Jones, and Mariah Carey all took the stage, with Carey earning such acclaim from the crowd that piles of roses were lobbed her way—plucked from the table centerpieces. — Zachary Weiss, Vogue, "It Was Super Yachts, Champagne, and Endless Tulle at the amfAR Cannes Gala," 24 May 2019 Teen Spirit stars Elle Fanning as Violet, a young girl plucked from obscurity for a singing competition. — Christopher Rosa, Glamour, "From Teen Spirit to A Star Is Born: What's With All the Movies About Pop Stars?," 19 Apr. 2019 Lien played live, bowing, plucking and looping her instrument to mesmerizing effect; her spoken exposition was less compelling than her musicianship. — Claudia Bauer, SFChronicle.com, "SF choreographer Amy Seiwert’s risky Sketch lab pays off," 29 June 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Although she’s been married four times already, Debra launches herself on her benign manhunt with all the pluck of someone who’s never seen an online dating montage. — John Anderson, WSJ, "‘Dirty John’ Review: It Sounded Better in the Original," 21 Nov. 2018 These women have always lived here, through the reincarnations of the barrio named for Manuela Malasaña, a 15-year-old girl who defended her honor to the death, with pluck and a pair of scissors, against occupying Napoleonic forces. — Elizabeth Wellington, Vogue, "Where to Eat and Shop in Malasaña, the Williamsburg of Madrid," 22 July 2018 But the trend doesn’t pluck at the heartstrings of all. — Meredith Goldstein, BostonGlobe.com, "Wedding bells are ringing, but justices of the peace aren’t getting the call," 18 June 2018 While national Democratic organizations admire O’Rourke’s pluck, most appear disinclined to divert resources to Texas, and O’Rourke made a show of spurning one of his party’s top PAC donors, Tom Steyer. — Andrew Rice, Daily Intelligencer, "Can a Democrat Ever Win in Texas?," 10 July 2018 Despite the odds and the incoming ordnance, the citizens of Vicksburg retained their pluck and defiance to the bitter end. — Russell S. Bonds, WSJ, "‘Vicksburg’ Review: The Falling Tide of Gray," 20 June 2018 If Friedenberg begins the play with refreshing pluck and sass for a part usually played for woebegone submission, her Ophelia goes jarringly musical theater in her own scene of madness. — Lily Janiak, San Francisco Chronicle, "Youth gives some new energy to Marin Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet,’ but not enough," 2 June 2018 And behind the scenes, some White House advisers applauded these lawmakers’ pluck. — Philip Elliott, Time, "The House GOP Is in Chaos," 21 May 2018 Their helpers, village women in colorful head wraps, used the yard to scrub clothes and pluck chicken feathers. — Hedia Anvar, Longreads, "How To Build An Intellectual," 23 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pluck.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.