Thesaurus results for PLUCKING

plucking

verb

present participle of pluck

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

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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 Archive footage viewed on old VHS tapes and Super-8 film reveals that Cook was a talented and charismatic musician, plucking away at his Gibson while singing blues standards or original material. —

Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 19 Feb. 2026 Broten remembers Pavelich plucking his guitar and singing Neil Young songs on bus rides. —

Stephen Whyno, Twin Cities, 10 Feb. 2026 According to its website, Butcher & Singer is an homage to the glitz and class of 1940s Hollywood, reaching into the past, plucking the best and brightest aspects of a bygone era. —

Courtney Cherry, CBS News, 6 Feb. 2026 The Bills scooped up a second Broncos assistant in as many days, plucking Jim Leonhard to lead Joe Brady’s defense. —

Torrey Hart, New York Times, 1 Feb. 2026 This is also why disabusing new believers of such opinions can feel like plucking shell fragments from a cooking omelet. —

Emil Steiner, Forbes.com, 30 Jan. 2026 At the piece’s debut, Kurdi performed these notes by plucking out a bass line on a piano’s inner strings. —

Olivia Giovetti, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026 Or plucking Tater Tots straight off the baking sheet and then wiping your hands on your pants. —

Alyssa Brandt, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026 Caitlin Looby Last August, Lauren Isbell dove around Mott Island Dock at Isle Royale National Park, plucking invasive zebra mussels from the lakebed – sometimes with her fingers, other times with a credit-card sized piece of plastic attached to a lanyard on her wrist. —

Caitlin Looby, jsonline.com, 20 Jan. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for plucking

Verb

Abruscato got his own table nearby, while Coogan and Hays sat across from me, squeezing into a small wooden booth.

— Diego Lasarte, New Yorker, 25 Feb. 2026
Hoshoryu, at six foot two and around 330 pounds, dispatched his first adversary handily, squeezing him like an accordion and dancing him out of the ring.

— Joshua Hunt, Harpers Magazine, 24 Feb. 2026