pluck

pluck
    n 1: the trait of showing courage and determination in spite of
         possible loss or injury [syn: {gutsiness}, {pluck},
         {pluckiness}] [ant: {gutlessness}]
    2: the act of pulling and releasing a taut cord
    v 1: pull or pull out sharply; "pluck the flowers off the bush"
         [syn: {pluck}, {tweak}, {pull off}, {pick off}]
    2: sell something to or obtain something from by energetic and
       especially underhanded activity [syn: {hustle}, {pluck},
       {roll}]
    3: rip off; ask an unreasonable price [syn: {overcharge},
       {soak}, {surcharge}, {gazump}, {fleece}, {plume}, {pluck},
       {rob}, {hook}] [ant: {undercharge}]
    4: pull lightly but sharply with a plucking motion; "he plucked
       the strings of his mandolin" [syn: {pluck}, {plunk}, {pick}]
    5: strip of feathers; "pull a chicken"; "pluck the capon" [syn:
       {pluck}, {pull}, {tear}, {deplume}, {deplumate}, {displume}]
    6: look for and gather; "pick mushrooms"; "pick flowers" [syn:
       {pick}, {pluck}, {cull}]
    

Pluck \Pluck\, v. i.
   To make a motion of pulling or twitching; -- usually with at;
   as, to pluck at one's gown.
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Pluck \Pluck\, n.
   1. The act of plucking; a pull; a twitch.
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   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.
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   3. Spirit; courage; indomitable resolution; fortitude.
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            Decay of English spirit, decay of manly pluck.
                                                  --Thackeray.
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   4. The act of plucking, or the state of being plucked, at
      college. See {Pluck}, v. t., 4.
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   5. (Zool.) The lyrie. [Prov. Eng.]
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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.
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            Its own nature . . . plucks on its own dissolution.
                                                  --Je?. Taylor.
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   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.
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            I come to pluck your berries harsh and crude.
                                                  --Milton.
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            E'en children followed, with endearing wile,
            And plucked his gown to share the good man's smile.
                                                  --Goldsmith.
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   3. To strip of, or as of, feathers; as, to pluck a fowl.
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            They which pass by the way do pluck her. --Ps.
                                                  lxxx.?2.
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   4. (Eng. Universities) To reject at an examination for
      degrees. --C. Bront['e].
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   {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.
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Lyrie \Ly"rie\ (l[imac]"r[i^]), n. [Icel. hl[=y]ri a sort of
   fish.] (Zool.)
   A European fish ({Peristethus cataphractum}), having the body
   covered with bony plates, and having three spines projecting
   in front of the nose; -- called also {noble}, {pluck},
   {pogge}, {sea poacher}, and {armed bullhead}.
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177 Moby Thesaurus words for "pluck":
      accumulate, amass, assemble, avulse, backbone, bare, bleed,
      bleed white, bob, boldness, bottle, bottom, bravery, bring in,
      bring together, bust, catch at, chutzpah, collect, courage, crop,
      crop herbs, cull, cut, cut out, dauntlessness, denudate, denude,
      deplume, deracinate, despoil, determination, dig, dig out, dig up,
      disentangle, displume, divest, drain, draw, draw out, dredge,
      dredge up, dry, eradicate, evolve, evulse, excavate, excise,
      exhaust, expose, exsect, extract, extricate, fail, flay, fleece,
      flick, flip, flirt, flounce, flunk, flunk out, fortitude, gameness,
      gather, gather in, get in, get out, get together, glean, gouge out,
      grab, grabble, grit, grub, grub up, guts, gutsiness, guttiness,
      hardiness, harvest, hay, heart, heart of oak, hitch, impoverish,
      intestinal fortitude, intrepidity, jerk, jig, jigger, jigget,
      jiggle, jog, joggle, lay bare, lay open, mettle, mettlesomeness,
      milk, mine, mow, moxie, nerve, nut, pick, pick clean, pick out,
      pick up, pith, pluck out, pluck up, pluckiness, plunk, pull,
      pull out, pull up, quarry, rake out, rake up, reap, reap and carry,
      remove, resolution, resolve, rip out, root out, root up, round up,
      sand, scare up, scrape together, scrape up, shear, skin, snake,
      snatch, spirit, spunk, spunkiness, stamina, start, steadfastness,
      stout heart, stoutness, strip, strip bare, strum, sturdiness,
      suck dry, sudden pull, sweep the strings, take out, take up,
      tear out, thrum, toughness, true grit, twang, tweak, twitch,
      uncloak, uncover, unearth, unravel, unsheathe, unveil, uproot,
      vellicate, wash out, weed out, withdraw, wrench, wrest out, yank,
      yerk