Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of 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. Its own nature . . . plucks on its own dissolution. --Je?. Taylor. 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. I come to pluck your berries harsh and crude. --Milton. E'en children followed, with endearing wile, And plucked his gown to share the good man's smile. --Goldsmith. 3. To strip of, or as of, feathers; as, to pluck a fowl. They which pass by the way do pluck her. --Ps. lxxx.?2. 4. (Eng. Universities) To reject at an examination for degrees. --C. Bront['e]. {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.
\Pluck\, v. i. To make a motion of pulling or twitching; -- usually with at; as, to pluck at one's gown.
\Pluck\, n. 1. The act of plucking; a pull; a twitch. 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. 3. Spirit; courage; indomitable resolution; fortitude. Decay of English spirit, decay of manly pluck. --Thackeray. 4. The act of plucking, or the state of being plucked, at college. See {Pluck}, v. t., 4. 5. (Zo["o]l.) The lyrie. [Prov. Eng.]