pluck at
phrasal verb
plucked at; plucking at; plucks at
: to pull part of (something) with one's fingers especially more than once
He nervously plucked at the blanket.
Examples of pluck at in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Given how Lee and Badara Traore looked against the Patriots, expect Morgan to pluck at least one tackle off the waiver wire at final cuts.
—
Joseph Person, The Athletic, 12 Aug. 2024
In the early part of the 20th century, there might not have been a more dynamic and fascinating American Olympian than the swimmer plucked at 21 years old from Honolulu’s Waikiki Beach who, despite only minimal training, won gold medals in the 100-meter freestyle at the 1912 and 1920 Olympics.
—Les Carpenter, Washington Post, 18 July 2024
In the wild, turkeys pick and pluck at many of the same forbs preferred by whitetails.
—Will Brantley, Field & Stream, 17 Apr. 2024
The earthworms beneath the soil haven’t the least idea of the frets that pluck at my heart.
—Danny Heitman, The Christian Science Monitor, 29 Nov. 2023
The fateful numbers will be plucked at 10:59 p.m. ET Wednesday.
—Holly Yan, CNN, 4 Oct. 2023
Hana has a habit of picking up feathers to give to the village chief, who makes them into quills to pluck at the strings of a harpsichord.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 4 Sep. 2023
The six coveted numbers will be plucked at 11 p.m. ET Friday.
—Holly Yan, CNN, 21 July 2023
Instead use tweezers and pluck at the site of the bite as close to the skin as possible.
—Timmy Broderick, Scientific American, 14 June 2023
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Joseph Person, The Athletic, 12 Aug. 2024
In the early part of the 20th century, there might not have been a more dynamic and fascinating American Olympian than the swimmer plucked at 21 years old from Honolulu’s Waikiki Beach who, despite only minimal training, won gold medals in the 100-meter freestyle at the 1912 and 1920 Olympics.
—Les Carpenter, Washington Post, 18 July 2024
In the wild, turkeys pick and pluck at many of the same forbs preferred by whitetails.
—Will Brantley, Field & Stream, 17 Apr. 2024
The earthworms beneath the soil haven’t the least idea of the frets that pluck at my heart.
—Danny Heitman, The Christian Science Monitor, 29 Nov. 2023
The fateful numbers will be plucked at 10:59 p.m. ET Wednesday.
—Holly Yan, CNN, 4 Oct. 2023
Hana has a habit of picking up feathers to give to the village chief, who makes them into quills to pluck at the strings of a harpsichord.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 4 Sep. 2023
The six coveted numbers will be plucked at 11 p.m. ET Friday.
—Holly Yan, CNN, 21 July 2023
Instead use tweezers and pluck at the site of the bite as close to the skin as possible.
—Timmy Broderick, Scientific American, 14 June 2023
Dictionary Entries Near pluck at
Cite this Entry
“Pluck at.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pluck%20at. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share