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.
      [1913 Webster]

            Its own nature . . . plucks on its own dissolution.
                                                  --Je?. Taylor.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

            I come to pluck your berries harsh and crude.
                                                  --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

            E'en children followed, with endearing wile,
            And plucked his gown to share the good man's smile.
                                                  --Goldsmith.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To strip of, or as of, feathers; as, to pluck a fowl.
      [1913 Webster]

            They which pass by the way do pluck her. --Ps.
                                                  lxxx.?2.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. (Eng. Universities) To reject at an examination for
      degrees. --C. Bront['e].
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
          [1913 Webster]

	

	Pluck \Pluck\, v. i.
   To make a motion of pulling or twitching; -- usually with at;
   as, to pluck at one's gown.
   [1913 Webster]

	

	Pluck \Pluck\, n.
   1. The act of plucking; a pull; a twitch.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Spirit; courage; indomitable resolution; fortitude.
      [1913 Webster]

            Decay of English spirit, decay of manly pluck.
                                                  --Thackeray.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. The act of plucking, or the state of being plucked, at
      college. See Pluck, v. t., 4.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. (Zool.) The lyrie. [Prov. Eng.]
      [1913 Webster]

	

	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.
   [1913 Webster]

	

	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]

	

	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