Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An act denoted by the verb pluck; specifically in geology, the process by which blocks of bed-rock are torn from their ledges by moving ice. The term is applied especially to this effect on the downward slopes, where the dragging action of ice seems to be of importance, as indicated in the term. Plucking is the process involved in the head-ward extension of glacial valleys and of the excavation of cirques.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Present participle of pluck.
  • noun An act in which something is plucked

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word plucking.

Examples

  • This method of plucking, known as _dry plucking_, is preferable when the skin must be kept intact and the poultry kept for any length of time.

    Woman's Institute Library of Cookery Volume 3: Soup; Meat; Poultry and Game; Fish and Shell Fish

  • There's great satisfaction in plucking a future star late in the draft, but with so many different prospect lists circulating before the season even starts, the odds of a rookie living up to his preseason hype are slim.

    Fantasy Extra: Rookies may take time to blossom 2008

  • There's great satisfaction in plucking a future star late in the draft, but with so many different prospect lists circulating before the season even starts, the odds of a rookie living up to his preseason hype are slim.

    Fantasy extra: Rookies may take time to blossom 2008

  • I relax back into the chair only to begin plucking lint off my polyester robe-turned - "attrape tout".

    French Word-A-Day: 2007

  • Helicopter pilots flying from its deck were some of the first to begin plucking stranded New Orleans residents.

    Hurricane Katrina 2007

  • I relax back into the chair only to begin plucking lint off my polyester robe-turned - "attrape tout".

    French Word-A-Day: 2007

  • I relax back into the chair only to begin plucking lint off my polyester robe-turned - "attrape tout".

    solidaire - French Word-A-Day 2007

  • Then he resolved to visit the Hammam, that he might dispel doubt by supplying certainty; and when he entered, Abu Sir doffed his dress and betaking himself as of wont to the service of the King, proceeded to glove him; after which he said to him, “O King of the age, I have made a drug which assisteth in plucking out the lower hair.”

    The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night 2006

  • Helicopter pilots flying from its deck were some of the first to begin plucking stranded New Orleans residents.

    Boing Boing: September 4, 2005 - September 10, 2005 Archives 2005

  • Helicopter pilots flying from its deck were some of the first to begin plucking stranded New Orleans residents.

    Damn them « BuzzMachine 2005

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • The mechanical removal of pieces of rock from a bedrock face that is in contact with glacier ice. Blocks are quarried and prepared for removal by the freezing and thawing of water in cracks, joints, and fractures. The resulting pieces are frozen into the glacier ice and transported.

    November 18, 2008