as in squeezing
to rob by the use of trickery or threats
the Internet opened up a whole new medium for con artists to pluck the gullible
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of plucking
For some, working with soil evokes nostalgia for childhood summers, smelling thorny roses in bloom and plucking ripe tomatoes off the vine.
—
Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 20 Apr. 2026
Brawley hires football coach After a months-long search, Brawley High School has hired a football coach, plucking Rick Stewart away from Calipatria.
—John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Apr. 2026
The United States pulled off a daring rescue of two aviators whose fighter jet was shot down by Iran, plucking the pilot from behind enemy lines before setting off a complicated extraction of the second service member who hid deep in the mountains as Tehran called for Iranians to help capture him.
—Seung Min Kim, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2026
Michigan coach Dusty May had made the most of the transfer portal, plucking players out of it in each of his two years to remarkably rebuild a program that lost a school-record 24 games two years ago before firing former Fab Five player Juwan Howard.
—ABC News, 2 Apr. 2026
My niece requested an extra five minutes to say goodbye to the chickens and my nephew insisted on plucking just one more lemon from the yard.
—Lara Kramer, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 Apr. 2026
When not plucking away at a keyboard, Madison teaches yoga and mountain bikes with her two Australian shepherds, Cholla and Poppy, through Missoula's Rattlesnake Wilderness.
—Madison Dapcevich, Outside, 28 Mar. 2026
The fairy-tale qualities continue as Betty shows off the contents of her bedraggled herb garden to her new ward, plucking out an edible flower for Laura to sample.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 23 Mar. 2026
String player Matt Worley often stole the spotlight, making his banjo sound like a mandolin, while cellist Barney Morse-Brown ably covered the bass role, plucking the strings more often than bowing them.
—Thor Christensen, Dallas Morning News, 19 Mar. 2026
Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 20 Apr. 2026
Brawley hires football coach After a months-long search, Brawley High School has hired a football coach, plucking Rick Stewart away from Calipatria.
—John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Apr. 2026
The United States pulled off a daring rescue of two aviators whose fighter jet was shot down by Iran, plucking the pilot from behind enemy lines before setting off a complicated extraction of the second service member who hid deep in the mountains as Tehran called for Iranians to help capture him.
—Seung Min Kim, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2026
Michigan coach Dusty May had made the most of the transfer portal, plucking players out of it in each of his two years to remarkably rebuild a program that lost a school-record 24 games two years ago before firing former Fab Five player Juwan Howard.
—ABC News, 2 Apr. 2026
My niece requested an extra five minutes to say goodbye to the chickens and my nephew insisted on plucking just one more lemon from the yard.
—Lara Kramer, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 Apr. 2026
When not plucking away at a keyboard, Madison teaches yoga and mountain bikes with her two Australian shepherds, Cholla and Poppy, through Missoula's Rattlesnake Wilderness.
—Madison Dapcevich, Outside, 28 Mar. 2026
The fairy-tale qualities continue as Betty shows off the contents of her bedraggled herb garden to her new ward, plucking out an edible flower for Laura to sample.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 23 Mar. 2026
String player Matt Worley often stole the spotlight, making his banjo sound like a mandolin, while cellist Barney Morse-Brown ably covered the bass role, plucking the strings more often than bowing them.
—Thor Christensen, Dallas Morning News, 19 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for plucking
Verb
-
From truckers to commuters, gasoline prices are squeezing budgets across the country.—
Jessica Guynn,
USA Today,
29 Apr. 2026
-
The university is scheduled to replace the turf in July, squeezing into a tight window of summer events.—
Shaun Goodwin,
Idaho Statesman,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Captain Ethan Ampadu is one of the survivors of that stinging 2024 play-off final defeat.—
Beren Cross,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2026
-
Trump was the butt of several stinging jokes made by both President Barack Obama and comedian Seth Meyers.—
Brian Stelter,
CNN Money,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Over the past few years, Google has been hustling to reinvent its business for the AI age, trying to keep consumers in the habit of going to its search page as chatbots from startups such as OpenAI and Anthropic become more popular.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
29 Apr. 2026
-
An agent is seen grabbing Vance by his jacket and hustling him off stage.—
Bill Hutchinson,
ABC News,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Fred, their oldest surviving child, was suspended from Princeton for cheating, then caught embezzling from his Seattle employer to feed, Church suspected, a gambling habit.—
Sebastian Smee,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
-
Court documents state the Matthews were there to get the children after a fight between Ashley and Pouncey over cheating.—
Meredith Colias-Pete,
Chicago Tribune,
3 May 2026
Verb
-
At one point, Davies can be seen sticking her head out of the open window and waving to park officials below.—
Natalia Senanayake,
PEOPLE,
24 Apr. 2026
-
For most of her first two seasons, the league treated her like just another player, sticking her on the back of posters and leaving her out of promos.—
Bobby Burack OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The sun was beating down on me.—
Jennifer Wilson,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
-
The Wild’s penalty-killers pounced, starting a rush the other way that ended with Marcus Foligno beating Scott Wedgewood for a 5-4 Wild lead — Minnesota’s third straight goal and its third of the period.—
Sean Keeler,
Denver Post,
4 May 2026
Verb
-
Finally, the professional will install hangers to reinforce your gutters before screwing the mesh guard on top.—
Faith Wakefield,
USA Today,
4 May 2026
-
Remove the shower head by screwing it off counterclockwise.—
Hallie Milstein,
Southern Living,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The Santa Fe burrito is a genuine pleasure—more restrained, built on a smaller scale, with green chile doing the complex, vegetal, low-burning work that other versions might leave to salsa—though, again, the tortilla serves its contents, rather than the hosannas going the other way.—
Helen Rosner,
New Yorker,
3 May 2026
-
Deserted mall ‘semi-apocalyptic’ While there have been no signs of mass social unrest in Russia, and other malls including the giant Aviapark in northwest Moscow appear to be doing good business, several workers at Goodzone described to CNN with concern the increasingly minimal foot traffic there.—
Zahra Ullah,
CNN Money,
2 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Plucking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plucking. Accessed 8 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
