Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - pluck

~1 v 1 »TAKE STH« to take hold of something and remove it from somewhere by pulling it  (pluck sth from/off etc)  (She bent forward to pluck a thread off the lapel of his jacket.) 2 pluck up (the) courage to force yourself to be brave and do something you are afraid of doing  (He finally plucked up enough courage to ask her out on a date.) 3 »CHICKEN ETC« to pull the feathers off a dead chicken or other bird before cooking it 4 »FLOWER« literary to pick a flower or fruit  (Eve plucked an apple and offered it to Adam.) 5 »MUSIC« to pull sharply at the strings of a musical instrument + a  (Someone was plucking at the strings of an old guitar.) 6 »TAKE SB AWAY« T always + adv/prep to take someone away from a place or situation  (pluck sb from/off/away etc)  (She was plucked from obscurity by a film producer.) 7 pluck sth out of the air to say or suggest a number, name etc that you have just thought of without thinking about it carefully  (I'm just plucking a figure out of the air here, but let's say it'll cost about $15,000.) 8 pluck your eyebrows to pull out hairs from the edges of your eyebrows pluck at sth phr v to pull something quickly and repeatedly with your fingers  (The little boy plucked at her sleeve. | Sally was staring into space, plucking nervously at her pearl choker.) ~2 n old-fashioned courage and determination  (I really admire him for cycling to Paris on his own - it must have taken a lot of pluck.)