Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Having had feathers or hair removed: Describes something, typically a bird or animal, from which feathers or hair have been pulled out.
   • Played by pulling and releasing a string: Describes a stringed musical instrument whose sound is produced by pulling and releasing a string with a finger or a plectrum (pick).

Usage Examples

• Adjective (Feathers removed):
  • The recipe calls for a plucked chicken.
  • They found a plucked goose ready for roasting.
• Adjective (Stringed instrument):
  • The piece was written for plucked instruments like the harp and guitar.
  • He prefers the warm sound of plucked strings over bowed ones.

Advanced Usage

• Figurative Use (Courage): In informal or literary contexts, "plucked" can be used to mean having courage or spirit, derived from the idiom "pluck up (one's) courage." This usage is less common for the adjective alone.
  • He was plucked and resourceful in the face of danger. (Note: This usage is rare; "plucky" is the more common adjective.)

Variants and Related Words

• Pluck (verb): To pull out or remove (feathers, hair, etc.); to pull and release the strings of a musical instrument; to gather or remove by pulling.
• Plucky (adjective): Brave and determined.
• Plucker (noun): A person or tool that plucks.

Synonyms

• De-feathered: Having had feathers removed.
• Picked: Played by plucking (for instruments).
• Brave, Courageous: For the informal "plucky" meaning.

Related Phrasal Verbs (from the verb "pluck")

• Pluck up (courage): To summon one's courage.
  • She finally plucked up the courage to speak.
• Pluck out: To remove by pulling.
  • The gardener plucked out the weeds.

Related Idioms

• Plucked from obscurity: Taken from a state of being unknown to a state of fame or notice.
  • The young actor was plucked from obscurity to star in the film.
• Pluck at someone's heartstrings: To evoke strong feelings of pity or sympathy.
  • The charity's advert is designed to pluck at your heartstrings.

Adjective

1. having the feathers removed, as from a pelt or a fowl
   • a plucked chicken
   • an unfeathered goose
2. of a stringed instrument; sounded with the fingers or a plectrum