American English

Definition of pluck verb from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary



    Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they pluck
    he / she / it plucks
    past simple plucked
    -ing form plucking
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  1. 1[transitive] pluck something (out) to pull out hairs with your fingers or with tweezers She plucked out a gray hair. expertly plucked eyebrows
  2. chicken, etc.
  3. 2[transitive] pluck something to pull the feathers off a dead bird, for example a chicken, in order to prepare it for cooking
  4. musical instrument
  5. 3(also pick) [transitive, intransitive] pluck (at) something to play a musical instrument, especially a guitar, by pulling the strings with your fingers to pluck the strings of a violin He took the guitar and plucked at the strings.
  6. remove someone or something
  7. 4[transitive] pluck somebody (from something) (to something) to remove someone from a place or situation, especially one that is unpleasant or dangerous Police plucked a drowning girl from the river yesterday. Survivors of the wreck were plucked to safety by a helicopter. She was plucked from obscurity to instant stardom.
  8. 5[transitive] pluck something (from something) to take hold of something and remove it by pulling it He plucked the wallet from the man's grasp.
  9. fruit/flower
  10. 6[transitive] pluck something (from something) (old-fashioned or literary) to pick a fruit, flower, etc. from where it is growing I plucked an orange from the tree.
  11. Idioms
    pluck something out of the air
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    to say a name, number, etc. without thinking about it, especially in answer to a question I just plucked a figure out of the air and said, “Would $1,000 seem reasonable to you?”
    pluck up (the) courage (to do something)
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    to make yourself do something even though you are afraid to do it I finally plucked up the courage to ask her for a date.
    Phrasal Verbspluck at something
See the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary entry: pluck