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
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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
-
Higher oil prices have sharply increased operating expenses for shipping firms, squeezing margins and forcing governments, including Hong Kong, to step in with temporary support.—
Lee Ying Shan,Emily Tan,
CNBC,
16 Apr. 2026
-
At the same time, China has rapidly expanded capacity in its drive to become more self-sufficient, contributing to a global glut of product and squeezing European companies.—
Marilen Martin,
Bloomberg,
15 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The verdict is a stinging rebuke to the Department of Justice, which settled with Live Nation early in the trial, leaving it to the states to litigate to a verdict.—
Gene Maddaus,
Variety,
16 Apr. 2026
-
Live Nation ain’t turning the other cheek to a stinging jury verdict today that labeled the Ticketmaster-owning concert and talent promoter a monopoly.—
Dominic Patten,
Deadline,
15 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Braves players worked on hustling first to third on a soft single to the outfield, or breaking toward home on a dribbler in the infield.—
Chad Bishop,
AJC.com,
20 Mar. 2026
-
Meanwhile, McCutchen walked for the fourth straight game and beat out an infield single, hustling hard to first on a squibber down the third base line.—
Evan Grant,
Dallas Morning News,
15 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Naumann also did Loughlin’s hair for this March outing, which marked the mother and daughters’ first red-carpet appearance together since the 2019 college admissions cheating scandal.—
Bailey Richards,
PEOPLE,
18 Apr. 2026
-
Just days before the Love Island USA Season 7 reunion aired, cheating rumors began circulating online.—
Allison DeGrushe,
StyleCaster,
16 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Another part of the campus has dozens of roofs just sticking above the ground as the shingles freeze and bake and are soaked by Mother Nature sometimes for more than a decade for more testing.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
21 Apr. 2026
-
However, not everyone is sticking the landing on this.—
Matt Reigle OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
21 Apr. 2026
Verb
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On the throw home, Williams advanced to second, beating a tag, and Brown raced home from third to score the third run.—
Matt Le Cren,
Chicago Tribune,
20 Apr. 2026
-
Deni Avdija had 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the Blazers, who advanced to the playoffs for the first time since 2021 by beating the Phoenix Suns in the Play-In Tournament.—
Christian Clark,
New York Times,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
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To make a profit from their business, American companies sent their manufacturing facilities overseas, screwing American workers by incurring smaller labor costs, therefore profiting rich investors who never had to work for it and used their money to make more money off the American consumer.—
Jay Reddick,
The Orlando Sentinel,
10 Mar. 2026
-
All the setup required was screwing in the legs.—
Noah Kaufman,
Architectural Digest,
7 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Even the Altitude Edition with the black wheels -- at the time no one was really doing that.—
Morgan Korn,
ABC News,
12 Apr. 2026
-
The authority on gardening in the South loved doing live shows and meeting his fans.—
Rodney Ho,
AJC.com,
11 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Plucking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plucking. Accessed 24 Apr. 2026.
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