pluck
verb
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Definition of pluck
(Entry 1 of 2)
pluck
nounDefinition of pluck (Entry 2 of 2)
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Synonyms & Antonyms for pluck
Synonyms: Verb
beat, bilk, bleed, cheat, chisel, chouse, con, cozen, defraud, diddle, do, do in, euchre, fiddle, fleece, flimflam, gaff, gyp, hose [slang], hustle, mulct, nobble [British slang], ream, rip off, rook, screw, shake down, short, shortchange, skin, skunk, squeeze, stick, stiff, sting, sucker, swindle, thimblerig, victimize
Synonyms: Noun
draw, haul, jerk, pull, tug, wrench, yank
Antonyms: Noun
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Examples of pluck in a Sentence
Verb
My sister plucked a white hair from my head. The hunter plucked the bird's feathers. plucking petals off a flower Firefighters plucked the child from the top floor of the burning building. He'd been plucked from obscurity and thrust into the national spotlight. a cat that was plucked off the city's streets last winter He plucked a stone out of the river.Noun
It takes pluck to do what she did. She showed pluck in getting up on stage.
Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Hummingbirds will also pluck insects directly off of flowers, shrubs and trees. — Jessica Pollock, The Conversation, "Curious kids: Why don’t hummingbirds get fat or sick from drinking sugary nectar?," 23 Aug. 2019 Elderly volunteers, plucking weeds from a flower bed at the train station, wear pink vests that express their support for the Games. — Los Angeles Times, "Can 2020 Summer Olympics help Fukushima rebound from nuclear disaster?," 12 Aug. 2019 Cruyff also plucked Ronald Koeman from his old Ajax team and added Hristo Stoichkov and Michael Laudrup. — SI.com, "Johan Cruyff: The Visionary Who Became the Most Important Man in the History of Football," 9 Aug. 2019 Thousands of children have served as little chicks through the years, most of them plucked randomly from the stands to participate. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "San Diego Chicken feeling young again with return to Petco Park," 27 July 2019 In the meantime, Kentucky plucked some of the state's top talent from the city of Louisville. — Cameron Teague Robinson, The Courier-Journal, "Josh Minkins Jr. symbolizes Louisville football's localized recruiting approach," 2 July 2019 One empty-handed straggler plucked a few roses from a bush on his way to greet his graduate. — Rebecca Lurye, courant.com, "Danny Glover receives honorary degree at Goodwin College commencement; student speaker shares lesson from his years of addiction, homelessness," 8 June 2019 In one summer, another cousin plucked me from a mood, unfolded and draped my back across an anthill. — Justin Phillip Reed, The New Republic, "This Is Really Happening," 6 June 2019 When the sales representative looked away briefly, Hubel plucked a 2-carat diamond worth $26,339 and a 4-carat diamond worth $132,722 while covering the box with his price sheet, police said. — Paige Fry And Rosemary Sobol, chicagotribune.com, "How 2 diamonds worth nearly $160,000 were stolen in plain sight from Jewelers Row," 28 June 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
His mother, instead, plucks and offers a large grape from the vine. — Erica Hellerstein, The Mercury News, "In Santa Cruz, a clandestine food bank draws hundreds of farmworkers," 24 Aug. 2019 One of the best places to look for leadership is in the explorers who have persisted through the most dire of situations—and there are few pioneers with more pluck than Sir Ernest Shackleton. — Tim Jarvis, Quartz, "Ernest Shackleton’s story teaches us leadership—and also how to fight climate change," 23 Aug. 2019 Credit a unique combination of talent, pluck, luck, determination and the perpetually defiant sneers Richards and Jagger appear to have honed almost since birth. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Rolling Stones rocking on with Mick Jagger’s new heart valve, largely sober Keith Richards," 18 Aug. 2019 In a tiny space, chef Monta Rozenburga creates vegan favorites with pluck and precision worth taking to go for a picnic. — Elizabeth Wellington, Vogue, "Plan a Summer Stay in Salesas, Madrid’s Smallest Neighborhood," 25 May 2019 The character’s biggest surge in popularity occurred around 2001; like Depression-era America delighted by the pluck of Mickey Mouse, SpongeBob brought laughter and lightness of heart into American households when they were needed most. — Darryn King, Longreads, "The Young Man and the Sea Sponge," 13 Aug. 2019 And that pluck was also a precursor of things to come. — Khadrice Rollins, SI.com, "Eight Things That Made Kevin Durant’s Rucker Park Mixtape Legendary," 2 Aug. 2019 Over delicate violin plucks and snaps, Michaelson makes the case for boldness. — Time, "5 Songs You Need to Listen to This Weekend," 21 June 2019 Juana 's parents didn 't grumble about the work at the factory, where hundreds of workers lined up in rows to perform a task -- stun, slaughter, pluck feathers, clean, cut or debone. — Author: Jenny Jarvie, Anchorage Daily News, "Mississippi raids split families and leave children adrift: ‘I just want my mom and dad’," 11 Aug. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pluck.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.