Definition of PLUCK

pluck

Plural: plucks

Noun

  • the trait of showing courage and determination in spite of possible loss or injury
  • the act of pulling and releasing a taut cord
  • An instance of plucking or pulling sharply.
  • The lungs, heart with trachea and often oesophagus removed from slaughtered animals.
  • Guts, nerve, fortitude or persistence.
  • Cheap wine.

Verb

  • pull or pull out sharply
    • "pluck the flowers off the bush"
  • sell something to or obtain something from by energetic and especially underhanded activity
  • rip off; ask an unreasonable price
  • pull lightly but sharply with a plucking motion
    • "he plucked the strings of his mandolin"
  • strip of feathers
    • "pluck the capon"
  • look for and gather
  • To pull something sharply; to pull something out
  • To take or remove (someone) quickly from a particular place or situation.
  • To play (a single string on a musical instrument) by pulling and then releasing it, such as on a guitar.
  • To remove feathers from (a bird).
  • To rob, steal from; to cheat or swindle (someone).
  • To play a string instrument pizzicato.
  • To pull or twitch sharply.
  • To reject (a student) after they fail an examination for a degree.
  • Of a glacier: to transport individual pieces of bedrock by means of gradual erosion through freezing and thawing.

Examples

  • "He didn't get far with the attempt, but you have to admire his pluck."
  • "Plucking a bow instrument may cause a string to break."
  • "She plucked the phone from her bag and dialled."
  • "Those tiny birds are hardly worth the tedious pluck."
  • "to pluck at somebody's sleeve"
  • "Whereas a piano strikes the string, a harpsichord plucks it."

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English plucken, plukken, plockien, from Old English pluccian, ploccian (“to pluck, pull away, tear”), also Old English plyċċan ("to pluck, pull, snatch; pluck with desire"), from Proto-West Germanic *plukkōn, from Proto-Germanic *plukkōną, *plukkijaną (“to pluck”), of uncertain and disputed origin.
Perhaps related to Old English pullian (“to pull, draw; pluck off; snatch”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian plukje (“to pluck”), West Frisian plôkje (“to pick, pluck”), Dutch plukken (“to pluck”), Limburgish plógte (“to pluck”), Low German plukken (“to pluck”), German pflücken (“to pluck, pick”), Danish and Norwegian plukke (“to pick”), Swedish plocka (“to pick, pluck, cull”), Icelandic plokka, plukka (“to pluck, pull”). More at pull.
An alternative etymology suggests Proto-Germanic *plukkōną, *plukkijaną may have been borrowed from an assumed Vulgar Latin *pilūc(i)cāre, a derivative of Latin pilāre (“deprive of hair, make bald, depilate”), from pilus (“hair”). The Oxford English Dictionary, however, finds difficulties with this and cites gaps in historical evidence.
The noun sense of "heart, liver, and lights of an animal" comes from it being plucked out of the carcass after the animal is killed; the sense of "fortitude, boldness" derives from this meaning, originally being a boxing slang denoting a prize-ring, with semantic development from "heart", the symbol of courage, to "fortitude, boldness".

Scrabble Score: 13

pluck is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
pluck is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
pluck is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 17

pluck is a valid Words With Friends word