\Pluck\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Plucked}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Plucking}.] [AS. pluccian; akin to LG. & D. plukken, G.
pfl["u]cken, Icel. plokka, plukka, Dan. plukke, Sw. plocka.
?27.]
1. To pull; to draw.
         Its own nature . . . plucks on its own dissolution.
                                               --Je?. Taylor.
2. Especially, to pull with sudden force or effort, or to
   pull off or out from something, with a twitch; to twitch;
   also, to gather, to pick; as, to pluck feathers from a
   fowl; to pluck hair or wool from a skin; to pluck grapes.
         I come to pluck your berries harsh and crude.
                                               --Milton.
         E'en children followed, with endearing wile, And
         plucked his gown to share the good man's smile.
                                               --Goldsmith.
3. To strip of, or as of, feathers; as, to pluck a fowl.
         They which pass by the way do pluck her. --Ps.
                                               lxxx.?2.
4. (Eng. Universities) To reject at an examination for
   degrees. --C. Bront['e].
{To pluck away}, to pull away, or to separate by pulling; to
   tear away.
{To pluck down}, to pull down; to demolish; to reduce to a
   lower state.
{to pluck off}, to pull or tear off; as, to pluck off the
   skin.
{to pluck up}.
   (a) To tear up by the roots or from the foundation; to
       eradicate; to exterminate; to destroy; as, to pluck up
       a plant; to pluck up a nation. --Jer. xii. 17.
   (b) To gather up; to summon; as, to pluck up courage.

\Pluck\, v. i.
To make a motion of pulling or twitching; -- usually with at;
as, to pluck at one's gown.

\Pluck\, n.
1. The act of plucking; a pull; a twitch.
2. [Prob. so called as being plucked out after the animal is
   killed; or cf. Gael. & Ir. pluc a lump, a knot, a bunch.]
   The heart, liver, and lights of an animal.
3. Spirit; courage; indomitable resolution; fortitude.
         Decay of English spirit, decay of manly pluck.
                                               --Thackeray.
4. The act of plucking, or the state of being plucked, at
   college. See {Pluck}, v. t., 4.
5. (Zo["o]l.) The lyrie. [Prov. Eng.]