pluck

verb (REMOVE)

/plʌk/

Definition

› [T] to pull something, especially with a sudden movement, in order to remove it: Caged birds sometimes pluck out their breast feathers. He plucked the letter from/out of my hand, and ran off with it. Do you pluck your eyebrows (= remove some of the hairs from them to give them a better shape)?PullingRemoving and extracting › [T] to remove the feathers from a chicken or other bird so that it can be cooked and eatenPreparing animals and fish for cooking › [T usually passive] to remove someone suddenly from a situation that is ordinary: He was plucked from obscurity to star in the film.Preserving and savingDefending and protecting › [T] to remove someone quickly from a dangerous or difficult situation: The last passengers were plucked from the ship just seconds before it sank.Preserving and savingDefending and protecting › [T] Indian English to collect flowers by breaking or cutting their stems; pick

(Definition of pluck verb (REMOVE) from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)