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pluck
pluck / plək/ • v. [tr.] take hold of (something) and quickly remove it from its place; pick: she plucked a blade of grass he plucked a tape from the shelf. ∎ catch hold of and pull quickly: she plucked his sleeve | [intr.] brambles plucked at her jeans. ∎ quickly or suddenly remove someone from a dangerous or unpleasant situation: the baby was plucked from a grim foster home. ∎ pull the feathers from (a bird's carcass) to prepare it for cooking. ∎ pull some of the hairs from (one's eyebrows) to make them look neater. ∎ sound (a musical instrument or its strings) with one's finger or a plectrum. ∎ select for a move to a new job or position: many managers were plucked from the company's overseas operations. • n. spirited and determined courage; guts. ∎ the heart, liver, and lungs of an animal as food. PHRASAL VERBS: pluck up couragesee courage.DERIVATIVES: pluck·er n. [usu. in comb.] a goose-plucker. |
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Cite this article
"pluck." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "pluck." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-pluck.html "pluck." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-pluck.html |
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pluck
pluck
A. pull off, draw forcibly XIV; B. reject (a candidate) in an examination XVIII. Late OE. ploccian, pluccian, corr. to MLG. plucken, MDu. plocken, ON. plokka, plukka :- Gmc. *plukkōn, *-ōjan, a parallel form with mutation *plukkjan being repr. by OE. *plyċċan (ME. plicchen), (M)Du. plukken, (M)HG. pflücken; prob. all to be referred to Rom. *piluccāre, whence OF. peluchier, etc., obscurely f. L. pīlus hair, PILE3. The origin of sense B is obscure. Hence pluck sb. act of plucking XV; heart, liver, and lungs of a beast, as being ‘plucked’ out of the carcass XVII; (orig. pugilistic slang) ‘heart’, courage, ‘guts’; cf pluck up heart, etc. XVIII. |
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T. F. HOAD. "pluck." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "pluck." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-pluck.html T. F. HOAD. "pluck." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-pluck.html |
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Pluck
Pluckof shawmers: a company of shawm players—Bk. of St. Albans, 1486; (a shawm is a medieval stringed musical instrument). Examples : shawmer, a player of the shawm, 1505; a flourish of shawms, 1641. |
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"Pluck." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Pluck." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2505301132.html "Pluck." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2505301132.html |
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pluck
pluck spirited and determined courage; recorded as a term in boxing from the 18th century, and deriving from the literal sense of the word ‘the heart, liver, and lungs of an animal’.
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "pluck." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "pluck." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-pluck.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "pluck." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-pluck.html |
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pluck
pluck Butchers' term for heart, liver, and lungs of an animal.
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Cite this article
DAVID A. BENDER. "pluck." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. DAVID A. BENDER. "pluck." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O39-pluck.html DAVID A. BENDER. "pluck." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O39-pluck.html |
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pluck
pluck •buck, Canuck, chuck, cluck, cruck, duck, fuck, luck, muck, pluck, puck, ruck, schmuck, shuck, struck, stuck, suck, truck, tuck, upchuck, yuck
•blackbuck • reedbuck • sawbuck
•roebuck • bushbuck • megabuck
•woodchuck • shelduck • Habakkuk
•stagestruck • awestruck • moonstruck
•dumbstruck • thunderstruck
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Cite this article
"pluck." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "pluck." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-pluck.html "pluck." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-pluck.html |
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