[syn: pick, pluck, cull]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Pluck \Pluck\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plucked; p. pr. & vb. n.
Plucking.] [AS. pluccian; akin to LG. & D. plukken, G.
pfl["u]cken, Icel. plokka, plukka, Dan. plukke, Sw. plocka.
?27.]
1. To pull; to draw.
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Its own nature . . . plucks on its own dissolution.
--Je?. Taylor.
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2. Especially, to pull with sudden force or effort, or to
pull off or out from something, with a twitch; to twitch;
also, to gather, to pick; as, to pluck feathers from a
fowl; to pluck hair or wool from a skin; to pluck grapes.
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I come to pluck your berries harsh and crude.
--Milton.
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E'en children followed, with endearing wile,
And plucked his gown to share the good man's smile.
--Goldsmith.
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3. To strip of, or as of, feathers; as, to pluck a fowl.
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They which pass by the way do pluck her. --Ps.
lxxx.?2.
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4. (Eng. Universities) To reject at an examination for
degrees. --C. Bront['e].
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To pluck away, to pull away, or to separate by pulling; to
tear away.
To pluck down, to pull down; to demolish; to reduce to a
lower state.
to pluck off, to pull or tear off; as, to pluck off the
skin.
to pluck up.
(a) To tear up by the roots or from the foundation; to
eradicate; to exterminate; to destroy; as, to pluck up
a plant; to pluck up a nation. --Jer. xii. 17.
(b) To gather up; to summon; as, to pluck up courage.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Pluck \Pluck\, v. i.
To make a motion of pulling or twitching; -- usually with at;
as, to pluck at one's gown.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Pluck \Pluck\, n.
1. The act of plucking; a pull; a twitch.
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2. [Prob. so called as being plucked out after the animal is
killed; or cf. Gael. & Ir. pluc a lump, a knot, a bunch.]
The heart, liver, and lights of an animal.
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3. Spirit; courage; indomitable resolution; fortitude.
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Decay of English spirit, decay of manly pluck.
--Thackeray.
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4. The act of plucking, or the state of being plucked, at
college. See Pluck, v. t., 4.
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5. (Zool.) The lyrie. [Prov. Eng.]
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Lyrie \Ly"rie\ (l[imac]"r[i^]), n. [Icel. hl[=y]ri a sort of
fish.] (Zool.)
A European fish (Peristethus cataphractum), having the body
covered with bony plates, and having three spines projecting
in front of the nose; -- called also noble, pluck,
pogge, sea poacher, and armed bullhead.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
pluck
n 1: the trait of showing courage and determination in spite of
possible loss or injury [syn: gutsiness, pluck,
pluckiness] [ant: gutlessness]
2: the act of pulling and releasing a taut cord
v 1: pull or pull out sharply; "pluck the flowers off the bush"
[syn: pluck, tweak, pull off, pick off]
2: sell something to or obtain something from by energetic and
especially underhanded activity [syn: hustle, pluck,
roll]
3: rip off; ask an unreasonable price [syn: overcharge,
soak, surcharge, gazump, fleece, plume, pluck,
rob, hook] [ant: undercharge]
4: pull lightly but sharply with a plucking motion; "he plucked
the strings of his mandolin" [syn: pluck, plunk, pick]
5: strip of feathers; "pull a chicken"; "pluck the capon" [syn:
pluck, pull, tear, deplume, deplumate, displume]
6: look for and gather; "pick mushrooms"; "pick flowers" [syn:
pick, pluck, cull]