From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpluckpluck1 /plʌk/ ●○○ verb 1 pull something [transitive] writtenTAKE something FROM SOMEWHERE to pull something quickly in order to remove itpluck something from/off etc something He plucked a couple of plastic bags from the roll. Reaching up, she plucked an apple off the tree.2 → pluck your eyebrows3 take somebody/something away [transitive always + adverb/preposition]TAKE something FROM SOMEWHERE to take someone away from a place or situation that is dangerous or unpleasant in a quick and unexpected waypluck somebody/something from/out of something Some refugee children were plucked out of the country in a number of mercy missions. She was plucked from obscurity (=made suddenly famous) by a Hollywood film producer. Three survivors were plucked to safety after being in the sea for 7 hours.4 chicken [transitive]DFC to pull the feathers off a dead chicken or other bird before cooking it5 → pluck up (the) courage (to do something)6 music [intransitive, transitive]APM to pull the strings of a musical instrumentpluck at Someone was plucking at the strings of an old guitar.7 → pluck something out of the air → pluck at something→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
pluck• They finished their drinks and as they got up from the table Fernando plucked a sprig of jasmine from the pergola.• Gently I reach to the side and pluck an apple off the tree, then drop it.• They are the cache that geologists seek, and must be carefully plucked from the ocean bed.• She did not even like to pluck her eyebrows in his presence.• She senses rather than sees a pass, plucking it from the air even as she looks the other way.• When the Guardian arrived half an hour later, she plucked it from the letter-box with impatient hands.• Dinah plucked out her handkerchief again, dabbed at her eyes and cleared her nose.• She plucked the green scarf from the throat of her raincoat, spread it on top of the heap of boulders.pluck somebody/something from/out of something• Roy tries an overhead pass, but the long arm of a Stanford player plucks it out of the air.pluck at• Someone was plucking at the strings of an old guitar.pluckpluck2 noun [uncountable] old-fashionedBRAVE courage and determination It takes a lot of pluck to stand up to a bully.Examples from the Corpus
pluck• All pluck and pomp, it rang throughout the hall in dulcet tones as never before.• Reality's raw challenge, especially if it engaged muscle and pluck, was his more favoured companion.• But luck was replaced by pluck and you won't see a finer display of it than last night.• Collier and Leighton gush a bit too much for my taste, as though anyone with enough pluck can publish a book.• The focus is on gallantry, derring-do, honest pluck.• Even Isay unbent a little, and grinned at a raven-haired wench when she made a lewd pluck at his staff.• It takes a lot of pluck to do what he's done.• But, while Owens was a symbol of pluck during the flood, she also was a symbol of the flood.• Like the relievers, hitters Steve Finley and Greg Vaughn showed pluck.Origin pluck1 Old English pluccian 