pluck

verb

/plʌk/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they pluck	/plʌk/ /plʌk/
he / she / it plucks	/plʌks/ /plʌks/
past simple plucked	/plʌkt/ /plʌkt/
past participle plucked	/plʌkt/ /plʌkt/
-ing form plucking	/ˈplʌkɪŋ/ /ˈplʌkɪŋ/

Idioms Phrasal Verbs

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hair毛发

[transitive] pluck something (out) to pull out hairs with your fingers or with tweezers摘；拔

She plucked out a grey hair.她拔掉了一根灰白头发。
expertly plucked eyebrows拔得精巧的眉毛

chicken, etc.鸡等

[transitive] pluck something to pull the feathers off a dead bird, for example a chicken, in order to prepare it for cooking拔掉，煺去（死禽的毛）Topics Cooking and eatingc2

musical instrument乐器

(North American English also pick)

[transitive, intransitive] pluck (at) something to play a musical instrument, especially a guitar, by pulling the strings with your fingers弹，弹拨（乐器的弦）

to pluck the strings of a violin弹拨小提琴的弦
He took the guitar and plucked at the strings.他拿起吉他拨动起琴弦来。

Topics Musicc1

remove somebody/something移开人／物

[transitive] pluck somebody (from something) (to something) to remove somebody from a place or situation, especially one that is unpleasant or dangerous解救；搭救

Police plucked a drowning girl from the river yesterday.昨天警方从河里救起了一名溺水少女。
Survivors of the wreck were plucked to safety by a helicopter.沉船的幸存者被直升机营救脱险。
She was plucked from obscurity to instant stardom.她得到提携，从默默无闻转瞬成为明星。

[transitive] pluck something (from something) to take hold of something and remove it by pulling it抢夺

He plucked the wallet from the man's grasp.他抢走了那个男人紧抓着的钱包。

fruit/flower果；花

[transitive] pluck something (from something) (old-fashioned or literary) to pick a fruit, flower, etc. from where it is growing摘；掐；采摘

I plucked an orange from the tree.我从树上摘了一个橙子。

Word Originlate Old English ploccian, pluccian, of Germanic origin; related to Flemish plokken; probably from the base of Old French (es)peluchier ‘to pluck’.

Idioms

pluck something out of the air

to say a name, number, etc. without thinking about it, especially in answer to a question脱口而出；随意回答
- I just plucked a figure out of the air and said : ‘Would £1 000 seem reasonable to you?’我随口说出一个数字问道：“你看 1 000 英镑合适吗？”

pluck up (the) courage (to do something)

to make yourself do something even though you are afraid to do it鼓起勇气（做某事）
- I finally plucked up the courage to ask her for a date.我终于鼓起勇气约她出去。

pluck

noun

/plʌk/

[uncountable] (old-fashioned, informal)

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the quality of being brave and determined 胆识；胆量；意志
- It takes a lot of pluck to do what she did.她这么做需要很大的胆量。
- It takes some pluck to stand up to bullies like that.对抗那样的恶霸需要一些勇气。
Topics Personal qualitiesc2
Word Originlate Old English ploccian, pluccian, of Germanic origin; related to Flemish plokken; probably from the base of Old French (es)peluchier ‘to pluck’.