pluck

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To pull or take something quickly and sharply from a place.

   She plucked the phone from her bag and answered it.

2. 2
   verb

   To pull the feathers off a bird before cooking it.

   He plucked and cleaned the chicken for dinner.

3. 3
   verb

   To play a stringed instrument by pulling and releasing the strings.

   She gently plucked the strings of her guitar.

Simplified etymology

Pluck is attested from Old English, but its deeper origin is obscure. It belongs to a group of old words for short, sharp actions, alongside pull and the later word snatch.

From Middle English plucken, plukken, plockien, from Old English pluccian, ploccian (“to pluck, pull away, tear”), also Old English plyċċan ("to pluck, pull, snatch; pluck with desire"), from Proto-West Germanic *plukkōn, from Proto-Germanic *plukkōną, *plukkijaną (“to pluck”), of uncertain and disputed origin. Perhaps related to Old English pullian (“to pull, draw; pluck off; snatch”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian plukje (“to pluck”), West Frisian plôkje (“to pick, pluck”), Dutch plukken (“to pluck”), Limburgish plógte (“to pluck”), Low German plukken (“to pluck”), German pflücken (“to pluc…

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External links

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