plucks

verb

1. 1

   To pull something sharply; to pull something out

   “She plucked the phone from her bag and dialled.”

2. 2

   To take or remove (someone) quickly from a particular place or situation.

3. 3

   To gently play a single string, e.g. on a guitar, violin etc.

   “Whereas a piano strikes the string, a harpsichord plucks it.”

4. 4

   To remove feathers from a bird.

5. 5

   To rob, fleece, steal forcibly

   “The horny highwayman plucked his victims to their underwear, or attractive ones all the way.”

6. 6

   To play a string instrument pizzicato.

   “Plucking a bow instrument may cause a string to break.”

7. 7

   To pull or twitch sharply.

   “to pluck at somebody's sleeve”

8. 8

   (university slang) To be rejected after failing an examination for a degree.

9. 9

   Of a glacier: to transport individual pieces of bedrock by means of gradual erosion through freezing and thawing.