| 释义 |
▪ I. pluck, n.1|plʌk|
Forms: see pluck v.; also 5 ploke, 7 (? pl.) plux.
[f. pluck v., in a number of disconnected uses. Cf. Du., LG. pluk, plukk-, the act of plucking, that which is plucked, flock of wool, handful, LG. plock handful, flock.]
I.
1. a. An act of plucking; a sudden sharp pull, a tug, a jerk, a twitch, a snatch.
c1435Torr. Portugal 1624 Glad pluckys there he toke, Set sadly and sare. a1450Fysshynge w. an Angle (1883) 16 Þe floote plumbe hym so hevy þat þe lest ploke of any fysche may pluke hym doune yn to þe watur. 1591Percivall Sp. Dict., Atenazadas, with plucks of pincers. 1676Hobbes Iliad (1677) 246 To th' ground Patroclus fetcht him with a pluck. 1691Ray Creation ii. (1692) 58 The Plucks and Attractions of the motory Muscles. 1782F. Burney Cecilia v. i, Little dog gave it a pluck; knot slipt. 1863Woolner Beautiful Lady 92 Her breath caught with short plucks and fast, Then one hot choking strain.
b. pluck-up, the act of plucking up; a pull. † pluck-up fair, an old term for a general scramble for booty or spoil.
1573Satir. Poems Reform. xxxix. 199 Than on the morne thay maid the pluk vp fair..Vpone that spuilȝe I will spend na tyme. Ibid. 341 Quhar as he fand vs at the plukup fair. 1894Pall Mall Mag. Nov. 380 A little lugger hanging on astern [of the tug] to get a ‘pluck-up’ towards home.
†c. fig. ‘A turn, or set-to’ (Nares); a snatch; a bout; an attempt; a ‘go’, ‘a smack’. Obs.
a1529Skelton Bouge of Court 387 (ed. 1568) Let vs laugh a plucke [vr. placke] or two at nale. c1537Thersites in Hazl. Dodsley I. 413 Now with my sword have at thee a pluck! c1567Queen Elizabeth in Harington's Nugæ Ant. (ed. Park 1804) I. 114 He, of base and basterdlye mynde that wrestells a pluck with the world's order, conceyves therof an evill opynion. 1684Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 158 margin, They being come to By-path Stile, have a mind to have a pluck with Gyant Dispair. 1691Shadwell Scourers iv. i, Haste and lock em up again, I'll try a pluck with thee. 1762Goldsm. Cit. W. li, There is no work whatsoever but he can criticize..even though you wrote in Chinese, he would have a pluck at you.
d. Naut. A pull or tow.
1918Yachting Monthly Jan. 155 A pluck out of dock, a fishing permit and a light breeze. 1934‘Taffrail’ Seventy North iii. 57 ‘D'ye want a rope's end, ole pal? We'll give ye a pluck home!’ Sam's retort to this nautical insult was jocular but mostly unprintable. 1962W. Granville Dict. Sailors' Slang 89/2 Pluck, a tow or tug. 1964Roving Commissions 1963 176 A feeble little motor-boat gave us a half-hearted pluck and went away.
2. In a university or other examination: The act of plucking or rejecting a candidate; the fact of being plucked or of failing to pass an examination.
1852Mrs. Smythies Bride Elect xlvi, Visions of a pluck danced before the weary eyes of tutor and pupil. 1860Jessopp Middle-Class Exams. 12 The proportion of the plucks to the passes. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. III. 447 Nearly all American students do graduate.., the proportion of plucks in the later examinations is small.
II. Something that is plucked.
†3. ? A small rope attached to a bell-rope. (Cf. imp n. 7 a.) Obs.
1637Parish Acc. Wragby, Yorks. (MS.), Itm for two bellropes and one plucke..0. 5. 5. 1639Ibid., Itm for 5 plucks and nailes..0. 01. 7.
†4. Herring Fishery. (See quot.) Obs.
1758Descr. Thames 227 Fishers distinguish their Herrings into six different Sorts: As the Fat Herring..; the Meat Herring..; the Night Herring..; the Pluck, which has received some Damage from the Nets; the Shotten Herring..; and the Copshen.
5. Spinning. (See quot.)
1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 389 In hand-spinning, the pluck, that is, the portion plucked from the sliver or combed wool, was placed across the fingers of the left hand and from the thick part of it, the fibres were drawn, and twisted, as the hand was withdrawn from the end of the spindle, to which it had been previously attached.
III. 6. a. The heart, liver, and lungs (sometimes with other viscera) of a beast, as used for food.
1611Cotgr., Ventresque,..th'offals..of an (edible) creature; as a calues pluck. 1661Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 23 It may be boiled as that of other beasts, and eaten with butter and vineger; so the plux. a1756E. Haywood New Present (1771) 19 The pluck contains the heart, liver, lights, melt, and skirt. 1832W. Stephenson Gateshead Local Poems 95 For to make us some pottage, There'll be a sheep's head and a pluck. 1904Edin. Even. News 28 June 3 The Sheriff inquired the meaning of the word ‘pluck’. The prosecutor explained that it referred to the internal organs which could be removed at one pull or pluck, the liver, lungs, and heart.
b. In reference to human beings.
c1710in J. Ashton Soc. Life Q. Anne (1882) I. xviii. 234 [There were the purl houses, where] Tradesmen flock in their Morning gowns, by Seven, to cool their Plucks. 1710–11Swift Jrnl. to Stella 16 Mar., It vexes me to the pluck that I should lose walking this delicious day. 1764T. Bridges Homer Travest. (1797) II. 369 Boaking as if I'd bring my pluck up. 1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 467, I saw..five unpleasant-looking objects stuck on sticks. They were the livers and lungs, and in fact the plucks, of witch-doctors.
†c. fig. The inward part, essence. Obs.
1674N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 57 You must not pull out the pluck of it, and make it quite another thing from number.
7. a. colloq. (orig. app. pugilistic slang.) The heart as the seat of courage; courage, boldness, spirit; determination not to yield but to keep up the fight in the face of danger or difficulty.
1785Grose Dict. Vulg. T. s.v., He wants pluck, he is a coward. 1808Sporting Mag. XXXII. 34 Inferior in science, and what is technically called pluck, to no one. 1813Sir R. Wilson Priv. Diary in Life (1862) II. 446 If the enemy have the pluck and force which I expect to find. 1819Metropolis I. 240 He was..lauded, in the highest terms, by the mob, for what they, very genteelly, called his pluck. 1821Carlyle Early Lett. (1886) I. 359, I have no pluck in me for such things at present. 1827Scott Jrnl. 4 Sept., What is least forgiven..is want of that article blackguardly called pluck. 1835Disraeli Corr. w. Sister 9 May, All men agree I have shown pluck. 1856Emerson Eng. Traits, Manners Wks. (Bohn) II. 45 The one thing the English value is pluck. 1879Sala in Illustr. Lond. News 1 Nov. 406/1 Yes! the British word ‘pluck’ is the word to use. ‘Courage’, ‘bravery’, ‘heroism’ are all too feeble.
b. Photogr. slang. ‘Boldness’ or distinctness of effect: cf. plucky 1 b.
1889Anthony's Photogr. Bull. II. 253, I also saw other negatives of the same scenes developed with potash; they..gave pictures of greater snap, what some call ‘pluck’. 1894Brit. Jrnl. Photogr. XLI. 49 The image will have more pluck and a larger range of gradation.
c. Wine. U.S. Black slang.
1964N.Y. Times Mag. 23 Aug. 64/2 Pluck, wine. 1967Trans-Action Apr. 8/1 The dudes ‘rap’ and ‘jive’ (talk), gamble, and drink their ‘pluck’ (usually a cheap, sweet wine). 1969H. R. Brown Die Nigger Die! ii. 24 We went and got some ‘pluck’ (wine) and I told him I was in college. 1973Black World July 55/1 We want some pluck man, got any scratch? Ibid. 56/1 We was gittin away from the broke pluck bottles.
IV.
8. A two-pronged fork with the teeth at right angles to the shaft, for moving dung, etc.
1825in Jamieson. 1858in Simmonds Dict. Trade, etc.
V.
9. Special Comb.: pluck side Physical Geogr., the rough, ‘downstream’ side of a roche moutonnée from which rock has been plucked by a glacier.
1905Jrnl. Geol. XIII. 6 We will no longer call the two sides of a roche moutonnée ‘push side’ and ‘lee side’, but we prefer the expressions ‘scour side’ and ‘pluck side’ introduced by Shaler. 1942C. A. Cotton Climatic Accidents Landscape-Making xviii. 244 The lee side is termed also the ‘pluck’ side.
▪ II. pluck, n.2 Sc. dial.
[Origin obscure; cf. Gael. ploc: see ployk.]
A fish, Agonus cataphractus.
1810Neill List Fishes 9 (Jam.) Cottus Cataphractus, Pogge or Armed Bullhead; Pluck... This is often taken in oyster-dredges, and herring-nets, but is detested by the fishermen.
▪ III. pluck, v.|plʌk|
Forms: α. 1 pluccian, 4–6 plukke, pluk(e, 4–7 plucke, 6 pluc, 6– pluck. β. 1 ploccian, 2 plockien, 4 plokke(n.
[Common WGer.: late OE. ploccian, pluccian, cognate with MLG. plucken, MDu., MG. plocken, Flem. plokken; also ON. plokka, plukka (c 1200) to pluck fowls, Sw. plocka, Da. plukke. These suppose a WGer. type *plokkôn. Beside these stands ME. plicchen, OE. type *plycc(e)an (plitch) = MDu. plucken, Du. plukken, LG. plükken, MHG., Ger. pflücken (not in OHG., and still absent from Oberdeutsch dialects), which indicate an umlauted type from *plukkjan. These words are thought by some to be derived from a popular L. *piluccāre, inferred from It. piluccare to pluck (hair, feathers, grapes), Pr. pelucar to pluck (a fowl). OF. peluchier (Marie de France, c 1180), ONF. pelukier, plusquier, mod.Norm. and Picard pluquer to pick, clean, peck, Walloon ploki to pick (grain); also with ex-, Romansch spluccar to pluck out, F. éplucher to pick, sift; all from a popular L. n. *pilucca tuft of hair, deriv. of pilus hair, widely represented in the Romanic languages: see plush, peruke. (See Diez, Körting, s.v. piluccare, Kluge s.v. pflücken)
It has been suggested that the late L. or Romanic word was taken into Low German in connexion with the trade in down and feathers on the coasts of the North Sea; but, in spite of the close similarity of form and sense, there are chronological, historical, and phonetic difficulties, which are increased by the entire lack of evidence of the occurrence of either the Teutonic or the Romanic word before the 10th c. Cf. Franck s.v. plukken.]
1. a. trans. To pull off (a flower, fruit, leaf, hair, feather, etc.) from where it grows; to pick off or out; to pick, cull, gather. Also intr. for pass.
a1000Ags. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 200/6 Carpunt, uellint, plucciaþ. Ibid. 222/40 Discerpit, lacerat, toslit, i. deuorat, carpit, ploccaþ. c1000ælfric Hom. (Th.) I. 212 Þa lareowas an Godes cyrcan, þe plucciað þa cwydas ðæra apostola. c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. xii. 1 Hiᵹ ongunnun pluccian [c 1160 Hatton G. plockien] þa ear & ætan. c1350Nominale Gall.-Angl. 228 (E.E.T.S.) Man of walnote-tre plukith note. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. vi. 72 Loke þou plokke no plonte þer, for peril of þi soule. c1380Antecrist in Todd 3 Treat. Wyclif 137 Þei..leten here shep perishen, and taken of hem and plucken a wey þe wolle as non herdis. c1440Promp. Parv. 405/2 Plukkyn, or pulle frute, vellico, avello. 1567Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 165 Thay can nocht pluk ane lytill hair Furth of our heid, nor do vs deir. 1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, ii. iv. 30 Let him..From off this Bryer pluck a white Rose with me. 1611Bible Gen. viii. 11 In her mouth was an Oliue leafe pluckt off. 1704Addison Italy 2, I pluck'd above Five different Sorts..as Wild-Time, Lavender, Rosemary, Balme and Mirtle. 1871Palgrave Lyr. Poems 139 Plucking the plumes of the Spanish pride. 1945H. J. Massingham Wisdom of Fields viii. 163 It plucked dead ripe.
absol.1779J. Duché Disc. (1790) I. xv. 293 He plucks and eats but still remains unsatisfied. 1868H. Law Beacons of Bible (1869) 18 She lusted and plucked.
b. Geol. Of a glacier: to break loose (pieces of rock) by the mechanical action of ice which has formed around projections and in cavities in the rock; to erode (rock) by this process. Occas. also used of water (see quot. 1930). Freq. with advbs., esp. out.
1893Bull. Mus. Compar. Zoöl. Harvard Coll. XVI. 209 The pits which were left where masses of the rock were plucked out and borne away by the moving ice. 1915L. V. Pirsson Text-bk. Ecol. I. v. 124 The ice at the bottom of the névé fields being frozen into cracks and cavities and around projections in its stony bed, when motion begins, ‘plucks’ or quarries masses of rock and takes them forward with it. 1930C. R. Longwell Outl. Physical Geol. iv. 43 In a stream flowing over horizontal layers of rock, corrasion along joints loosens large blocks, which are then torn or ‘plucked’ away by the current. In some situations this plucking action is much more important than wear by simple rasping. 1955M. Hollander tr. Kuenen's Realms Water iv. 152 The glacier will from time to time pluck out large blocks from the lower part of the protuberance. 1971I. G. Gass et al. Understanding Earth xv. 220/2 Rocks have been plucked into characteristic glacial shapes.
c. Printing. Of ink: to detach and remove the surface of paper during printing. Also intr. for pass.
1960G. A. Glaister Gloss. Bk. 321/1 Plucking, a printing fault which is caused by the ink plucking the surface of the paper and leaving irregular white patches in printed areas. 1967E. Chambers Photolitho-Offset i. 6 If ‘washing-out’ were omitted, the resin would cause trouble by causing the paper to ‘pluck’, owing to the resin sticking to the paper when printing.
2. a. To pull or draw with a forcible effort; to drag; to snatch. With various adverbs and prepositions: to pull away, in, out, off, on, up, etc. arch. (Now usually expressed by pull.) See also 8.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 109 Þe porter vnpynned þe ȝate, And plukked in panci priueliche and lete þe remenaunt go rowme! c1440Gesta Rom. ii. 5 (Harl. MS.) Þey sawe fully the toode sitting on his brest; And none of hem might pluk it awey with no crafte. 1526Tindale Matt. v. 29 Yf thy right eye offende the plucke hym out and caste him from the. 1553T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 170 Giue hym leaue first to plucke of your spurres, ere he meddle with your bootes. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 295 They plucke vp the drawe bridge immediatlye. 1561T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer iii. (1577) Q ij b, When shee came to the ryuer..she fayned to plucke on hir shoe. a1591H. Smith Serm. (1637) 3 Sampson pluckt the house on his own head. 1594Kyd Sp. Trag. ii. v. 1 (Wks., 1901, 31), What out-cries pluck me from my naked bed. 1611Bible John x. 29 No man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 176 He plucked off his own Coat,..and gave it him. a1713T. Ellwood Autobiog. (1714) 237 Then pressing..to the place where Morgan stood, he plucked him from thence. 1877Tennyson Harold v. ii, Pluck the dead woman off the dead man, Malet! 1881‘Mark Twain’ Prince & Pauper xv. 163 He is the stranger that plucked Giles Witt out of the Thames. 1975New Yorker 19 May 120/2 After the war, the son got a job at the American Embassy, and one day in 1948 was plucked off the street and taken to prison.
b. With down: To ‘pull down’ or demolish (a building). arch.
1531Dial. on Laws Eng. ii. lv. 158 Yf a man plucke downe hys howse & sellyth yt. 1551Robinson tr. More's Utop. i. (1895) 52 They plucke downe townes; and leaue nothing stondynge. a1661Fuller Worthies, Surrey 78 Otherwise (being now plucked down) the form and fashion thereof [Palace of Richmond] had for the future been forgotten. 1847Tennyson Princ. iv. 395 A rampant heresy..which might well deserve That we this night should pluck your palace down. 1878Simpson Sch. Shaks. I. 8 He..ordered the church of Notre Dame of Boulogne to be plucked down, and a mount erected in its place.
c. To pull or tear asunder, in pieces, etc. Now rare or Obs.
1526Tindale Acts xxiii. 10 Lest Paul shuld have bene pluckte asondre off them. 1530Palsgr. 661/1, I prayed you to stretche it out a lytell, but nat to plucke it in peces. 1599Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 213 At Feluchia the marchants plucke their boats in pieces. 1674Ray Collect. Words, Notes Husb. 132 Take a Rook and plucking it limbe from limbe, cast the several limbes about your field.
d. absol. or intr. To draw or drag; to snatch or take by force, to steal; † to draw cards from the pack (obs.). Cf. pick v.1 9 b.
1340–70Alex. & Dind. 296 Ne sette solow on þe feld ne sowe none erþe, In ony place of þe plow to plokke wiþ oxen. 1494Fabyan Chron. vi. cxcvii. 204 Eueryche of theym was constrayned to plucke & stele from other. 1570Satir. Poems Reform. xvi. 3 And euerie man dois pluke and pow, And that the pure may finde. 1606Choice, Chance, etc. G j, He that wil not pluck for a card, is not worthie of a prime. a1625Fletcher & Mass. Cust. Country i. i, Would any man stand plucking for the ace of harts, With one pack of cards, all days on's life?
3. fig.
a. trans. To pull, draw, or snatch something intangible, or something from or into a state or condition; to bring (disaster, etc.) upon a person; to snatch, rescue from danger, etc. Now rare.
1387–8[see plucking vbl. n. 1]. 1534Tindale Matt. xi. 12 The kyngdome of heven suffreth violence, and they that go to it with violence pluck [1526 pull] it vnto them. 1535Coverdale Amos iii. 11 Thy strength shalbe plucte from the, and thy palaces robbed. 1549Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Rom. 18 Fleashly luste pluckyng to euyll. 1563Winȝet Wks. (S.T.S.) II. 54 Thai nocht content..euir ar desyrous to eik sum thing to religioun, to change, or to pluk fra it. 1570Billingsley Euclid i. def. vii. 2 You must conceiue them in mynde, plucking them by imagination from all matter. 1607Shakes. Cor. i. iii. 8 When yet hee was but tender-bodied..; when youth with comelinesse pluck'd all gaze his way. 1673Ess. Educ. Gentlewom. 27 One Athaliah, married to Joram, plucks ruine upon the House of Jehosaphat. 1719Young Busiris v. i, I leave a mark behind, Shall pluck the shining age from vulgar time. 1842Tennyson Two Voices 118 ‘Hard task, to pluck resolve’, I cried, ‘From emptiness and the waste wide Of that abyss, or scornful pride!’ 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. ix, The grim life out of which she had plucked her brother.
†b. With down or some equivalent: To bring down, bring low; to humble, humiliate; to ‘pull down’ (in strength). Obs.
to pluck down a side: i.e. with which a person plays.
1545R. Ascham Toxoph. (Arb.) 19 Other that neuer learned to shote,..wyll be as busie as the best, but suche one commonly plucketh doune a syde. 1555Bradford in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) III. App. xlv. 131 Other men in Ingland, whose stoutnes must be plucked lowe. 1567Trial Treas. (1850) 42 This gere I suppose will plucke downe your fleshe. 1611Beaum. & Fl. Maid's Trag. ii. i, She will pluck down a side. 1628Laud Diary 30 Sept., Tuesday, Septemb. ult., I was sore plucked with this sickness. c1672Wood Life 9 Apr. an. 1659 (O.H.S.) I. 277 A tertian ague..pluck'd downe his body much.
c. In phr. to pluck a rose: of women, to visit the lavatory; to urinate or defecate. slang.
1613Beaumont & Fletcher Knight of Burning Pestle 11, Then up and ride, Or if it will please you walke for your repose, Or sit, or if you will go plucke a rose. 1730Swift Panegyrick on the D—n in Miscellanies V. (1735) 139 The bashful Maid, to hide her Blush; shall creep no more behind a Bush; Here unobserv'd, she boldly goes, As who should say to pluck a Rose. 1745in J. R. Hetherington Selina's Aunt (1965) 21/1 Those ladies, who are so proud and lazy, that they will not be at the Pains of stepping into the Garden to pluck a Rose, but keep an odious Implement, sometimes in the Bed-chamber itself..which they make Use of to ease their worst Necessities. 1768Sterne Sent. Journ. I. 203 Grieve not, gentle traveller, to let Madame de Rambouliet p-ss on—And, ye fair mystic nymphs! Go each one pluck your rose. 1785F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue, To pluck a rose, an expression said to be used by women, for going to the necessary house, which in the country usually stands in the garden. 1800in Proc. Amer. Antiquarian Soc. (1897) XII. 248 Mrs. M. having occasion to pluck a rose as is usual with delicate women after a ride of 22 miles. 1937Partridge Dict. Slang 641/1 Pluck a rose, to visit the privy.
d. U.S. Mil. slang. To cashier or retire (an officer).
1941Sun (Baltimore) 5 Aug. 11/3 There are numerous retirements under way. However, it is highly unlikely that the army will make announcement of the officers who are being ‘plucked’ under the recent act permitting the Secretary of War to retire those whom a board has decreed to be ‘unsuited for further active duty’. 1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §888/5 Pluck, to retire an officer.
4. a. To give a pull at; to pull abruptly or with a jerk; to twitch; to sound (the strings of a musical instrument) by doing this, to twang. Also, to pull (a person or animal) by some part of the body or dress.
to pluck the Proctor's gown, the means formerly used (and understood to be still usable) to challenge the granting of a degree to a person, notwithstanding his having passed the requisite examinations. See J. Wells Oxford Degree Ceremony (1906) 5, 9–10; also N. & Q. 9th ser. VI. 74.
14..Erasmus in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 202 (Bedf. MS.), [Passion] xxviti was plukkyng his flesshe withe fullers combes. a1450Knt. de la Tour (1868) 23 They..plucked eche other bi the here of the hede. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 154 b, To make them feerce and curst, you must plucke them by the eares. 1605Shakes. Lear iii. vii. 36 By the kinde Gods, 'tis most ignobly done To plucke me by the Beard. 1653H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xxiii. 85 Some of his friends pluckt him two or three times by the surplis for to make him give over. 1770Goldsm. Des. Vill. 184 Children..pluck'd his gown. 1879Stainer Music of Bible 52 Strings which, when the keys were pressed down, were plucked by quills. 1879F. Taylor in Grove Dict. Mus. II. 7/1 In the so-called Musical Box..a series of metal tongues are plucked by pins or studs fixed in a revolving barrel.
1846[see sense 7]. 1853‘C. Bede’ Verdant Green i. xi. note, The proctor then walks once up and down the room, so that any person who objects to the degree being granted may signify the same by pulling or ‘plucking’ the proctor's robes. 1900T. Fowler in N. & Q. 9th Ser. VI. 74, I believe..that I was the last proctor who was the subject of this ceremony. During my procuratorial year [1862–3]..the ‘pen-wiper’, a small piece of folded silk which is attached to the back of the proctor's gown (not ‘the proctor's sleeve’..) was duly plucked on each successive degree day, the college dean..informing me in a whisper to which candidate he objected.
b. intr. To pull sharply or forcibly, to tug (at something). Also, to make a sudden movement in order to lay hold of something; to snatch at.
c1410Hoccleve Mother of God 20 Þat with his handes tweye, And his might, plukke wole at the balance. 1481Caxton Reynard viii. (Arb.) 15 He [the bear] wrastled and plucked so harde and so sore that he gate out his heed. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen IV, iv. i. 208 Plucking to vnfixe an Enemie, Hee doth vnfasten so, and shake a friend. c1672Wood Life 14 May an. 1657 (O.H.S.) I. 219 However he plucked at them [bell-ropes] often with some of his fellow-colleagues for recreation sake. 1864Tennyson En. Ard. 366 But when the children pluck'd at him to go, He laugh'd, and yielded readily to their wish.
c. trans. To disentangle and straighten (wool) by means of a plucker.
1695J. Edwards Perfect. Script. 258 Those who deal about combing or plucking the wool.
5. a. To pull off the feathers, hair, fruit, etc. from; to strip or make bare; esp. to strip (a bird) of feathers by pulling them off.
a crow to pluck: see crow n.1 3 b.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xii. 249 So is possessioun payne..To alle hem þat it holdeth, til her taille be plukked. c1440Promp. Parv. 405/2 Plukkyn bryddys, excatheriso. a1450Knt. de la Tour (1868) 70 That ye plucke no browes, nother temples, nor forhed. 1560Bible (Genev.) Ps. lxxix. [lxxx.] 12 All thei, whiche passe by the waie, haue plucked her. 1598Shakes. Merry W. v. i. 26 Since I pluckt Geese, plaide Trewant, and whipt Top. 1692R. L'Estrange Fables vii. 6 If you dispute [the matter]..we must e'en Pluck a Crow about it. 1841H. Ainsworth Old St. Paul's II. 300 He had just..commenced plucking one of the geese. 1860Reade Cloister & H. lv, These monks would pluck Lucifer of his wing feathers. 1890[see plucked ppl. a. 2].
b. To shape or thin (the eyebrows) by removing hairs.
c1450Bk. of Knight of La Tour-Landry (1868) 67 She hadde..plucked her browes, front, and forehed, to haue awey the here, to make her selff the fayrer to the plesinge of the worlde. 1926F. Scott Fitzgerald Great Gatsby ii. 35 Her eyebrows had been plucked and then drawn on again at a more rakish angle. 1932S. Gibbons Cold Comfort Farm xxii. 291 You shall not find me plucking my eyebrows, nor dieting. 1935C. Isherwood Mr. Norris changes Trains ix. 147 He spent ten minutes..thinning his eyebrows with a pair of pincers. (‘Thinning, William: not plucking’). 1974Times 22 Jan. 11/6 Whether you pluck your eyebrows depends on your type of looks.
6. fig. To rob; to plunder; to swindle, fleece.
to pluck a pigeon: see pigeon n. 3 b.
c1400Rom. Rose 5989 He shal, in a fewe stoundes, Lese alle his markes & his poundes..Our maydens shal eek plukke him so. 1569Reg. Privy Council Scot. II. 70 To pluk and use piracie upoun the trew marchandis. 1604Dekker Honest Wh. Wks. 1873 II. 169, I did pluck those Ganders, did rob them. 1805Sporting Mag. XXVI. 55 Her amiable companion..instead of helping to pluck her grace, never played for a guinea in the course of her life. 1816Ibid. XLVIII. 218 A noble Duke or Lord, would have as little scruple in plucking a pigeon as their inferiors. 1843Le Fevre Life Trav. Phys. III. iii. x. 210 To allow a fair profit to the proprietor without plucking the traveller.
7. To reject (a candidate) as not reaching the required standard in his examination; usually pass. to be plucked, to fail to pass in an examination. Also transf. (Originally in the universities, whence generally.)
The origin of this is doubtful; originally a candidate might be plucked or refused his degree on other grounds than an unsatisfactory examination. See quot. 1846, and the note under sense 4.
1713Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) IV. 172 Dr. Lancaster, when Batchelor of Arts, was pluck'd for his Declamation. 1721Amherst Terræ Fil. No. 50 (1754) 273 Mr. Scurlock, A.B. fellow of Jesus-college, and a member of the constitution-club was pluck'd, (i.e. disgraced, and forbid to proceed in performing his exercise) for mentioning the word king in his declamation. 1772Nugent tr. Hist. Fr. Gerund I. 538 Notwithstanding his having been plucked three times in the examination for the subdiaconate. 1820Gentl. Mag. XC. i. 32/2 To expend vast sums in the education of sons, who when they apply for degrees, are plucked (as failure upon Examination is denominated). 1846McCulloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) II. 338 Those who fail in showing such an amount of proficiency as, in the opinion of the examiners, entitles them to their degree, are said, in the language of the place, to be ‘plucked’; a phrase which originates in an ancient custom by which any one, who objected to a degree about to be conferred in congregation, notified his dissent by plucking the sleeve of the proctor's gown. 1885E. W. Hamilton Diary 10 June (1972) II. 880 Several Baronetcies are to be made. One or two claims were put aside; those who were not to the fore in the Division List on Monday were ‘plucked’, e.g. Mr. Palmer, which I regret because he has at other times rendered good service. 1886Stubbs Lect. Med. & Mod. Hist. xvii. 386, I have never plucked a candidate..without giving him every opportunity of setting himself right. 1894Sala London up to Date ii. 31 If you had to pass an examination for the post..you would in all probability be plucked.
8. pluck up. (See also 2.)
a. to pluck up (one's) heart, spirits, courage, etc.: to summon up courage, take courage, rouse one's spirits, cheer up.
13..Sir Beues (A.) 632 Þo his bodi be-gan to smerte, He gan plokken vp is hertte. 13..Seuyn Sag. (W.) 2325 Pluk up thi cher. 1562Pilkington Expos. Abdyas Pref. 9 Let us therefore pluck vp stomackes, and pray with S. Augustine. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. iii. 38 Plucke vp thy spirits, looke cheerfully vpon me. 1719De Foe Crusoe (1840) I. xii. 210 Plucking up my spirits as well as I could. 1775Sheridan Duenna ii. i, I'll pluck up resolution. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. I. v. 376 æthelred seems now to have plucked up a little heart. 1869Trollope He Knew lv, She could not pluck up courage to speak a word in Italian.
b. To pull up; to pull (something) out of the ground or place in which it is planted or set; to uproot, eradicate; to raze, demolish. Also fig. Now rare or arch.
1484Caxton Fables of æsop i. xx, [The swallow said] Come with me ye al & lete vs plucke vp al this [flax]. 1490― Eneydos iv. 18 To arache or plucke vp a gretter tree. 1535Coverdale Eccl. iii. 1 There is a tyme to plant, and a tyme to plucke vp the thinge, yt is planted. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 158 All fortresses and defences by them there made, were plucked vp and destroyed. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. iv. 205 Vnto the tyme quhen hæresie pluked vpe al monumentes of pietie in Scotland. 1680New Hampshire Prov. Papers (1867) I. 391 Whosoever shall willfully pluck up, remove or deface any Landmark or bound betweene propertie and propertie. 1759tr. Duhamel's Husb. ii. i. (1762) 110 He plucked up..some of the most thriving plants. 1844Mrs. Browning Lady Geraldine's Courtship lxxiv, I plucked up her social fictions.
c. intr. or absol. To recover strength or vigour; to ‘pick up’ (pick v.1 21 o). Also, to get new courage, to take heart again. (Cf. 3 b.)
1841H. Ainsworth Old St. Paul's II. 305 Her better health..Heaven be praised! she has plucked up a little since we came here. 1842Dickens Amer. Notes I. ii. 20 Even those passengers who were most distrustful of themselves plucked up amazingly. 1890W. C. Russell Marriage at Sea I. i. 10 But she had plucked up as she drew towards the close of her letter. 1901G. B. Shaw Caesar & Cleopatra iii. 153 He eats another date, and plucks up a little.
9. In phrasal combinations: † pluck at the crow (Sc. craw): name of an old sport, in which a person appears to have been pulled about by the rest; † pluck-buffet, app. a competition between archers, in which he who missed or failed ‘caught’ a buffet from his competitor; † pluck-crow a., got by plucking a crow; † pluck-penny, name of some gambling game.
1563Winȝet Wks. (S.T.S.) II. 81 Gif thai..imagin thame to rug of his clathis, as thai war playng with him,—*pluk at the craw. 1570Satir. Poems Reform. xxii. 58, I traist in God that anis sall cum the day, Pluk at the Craw quhen barnis sall with yis bird.
c1510Gest Robyn Hode viii. 27 And they shote *plucke-buffet, As they went by the way And many a buffet owr kinge wan of Robin Hode that day.
1593G. Harvey Pierce's Super. Wks. (Grosart) II. 18 Shrew Prose, thy *pluckcrow implements addresse, And pay the hangman pen his double fee.
1643[Heylin] Theeves, Theeves 2 He that is once so skilled in the Art of gaming, as to play at *Pluck-penny, will quickly come to Sweep-stake. |