Pluck

Pluck (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plucked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Plucking.] [AS. pluccian; akin to LG. & D. plukken, G. pflücken, Icel. plokka, plukka, Dan. plukke, Sw. plocka. ?27.] 1. To pull; to draw.

Its own nature . . . plucks on its own dissolution.

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.

E'en children followed, with endearing wile,
And plucked his gown to share the good man's smile.

3. To strip of, or as of, feathers; as, to pluck a fowl.

They which pass by the way do pluck her.

4. (Eng. Universities) To reject at an examination for degrees. C. Bronté.

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, 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.

4. The act of plucking, or the state of being plucked, at college. See Pluck, v. t., 4.

5. (Zoöl.) The lyrie. [Prov. Eng.]

Pluck, v. i. To make a motion of pulling or twitching; -- usually with at; as, to pluck at one's gown.