to pluck down

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

1.To pull; to draw. [1913 Webster]

Its own nature . . . plucks on its own dissolution.— Je?. Taylor.[1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

I come to pluck your berries harsh and crude.— Milton.[1913 Webster]

E'en children followed, with endearing wile, And plucked his gown to share the good man's smile.— Goldsmith.[1913 Webster]

3.To strip of, or as of, feathers; as, to pluck a fowl. [1913 Webster]

They which pass by the way do pluck her.— Ps. lxxx.?2.[1913 Webster]

4.(Eng. Universities) To reject at an examination for degrees. --C. Bront['e]. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]