pluck

1 of 2

verb

ˈplək 

plucked; plucking; plucks

transitive verb

1

: to pull or pick off or out

2

a

: 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

4

a

: 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

plucker noun

pluck

2 of 2

noun

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

Synonyms

Verb

• beat
• bilk
• bleed
• cheat
• chisel
• chouse
• con
• cozen
• defraud
• diddle
• do
• do in
• euchre
• fiddle
• fleece
• flimflam
• gaff
• hose [slang]
• hustle
• mulct
• nobble [British slang]
• ream
• rip off
• rook
• screw
• shake down
• short
• shortchange
• skin
• skunk
• squeeze
• stick
• stiff
• sting
• sucker
• swindle
• thimblerig
• victimize

Noun

• draw
• haul
• jerk
• pull
• tug
• wrench
• yank

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

In Tivat, travelers can order plates of fish plucked from the sea just minutes before making their way to the table. —Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 15 July 2024

Blossom-end rot shows up as brown or black lesions at the ends of the earliest fruit promoted by inconsistent watering and nutrient movement in plants; simply pluck the bad ones. —Betty Cahill, The Denver Post, 13 July 2024

Noun

Hopeful piano and bouncy guitar plucks comfort Lam’s grand search, looking for direction in angel numbers, running water, and the sound of breathing. —Margaret Farrell, SPIN, 12 July 2024

The opening acoustic guitar plucks received good resonance in the lower frequencies while letting string texture shine in the higher frequencies. —PCMAG, 24 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English, from Old English pluccian; akin to Middle High German pflücken to pluck

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing pluck

• pluck at
• pluck up (the) courage

Kids Definition

pluck

1 of 2 verb

ˈplək 

1

a

: to pull or pick off or out

pluck a flower

b

: to remove something (as feathers) from by or as if by plucking

pluck a chicken

2

: to move or separate forcibly : snatch

plucked the child from danger

3

: to play by pulling the strings

pluck a guitar

plucker noun

pluck

2 of 2 noun

1

: a sharp pull : tug

2

: courage, spirit