pluck



From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:


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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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:


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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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:


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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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:


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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