pluck up
To remove or acquire by plucking from, for example, the groundTo remove or acquire by plucking from, for example, the ground; to pick up.
» Tom plucked up the courage to kiss Mary.
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
3 senses(transitive)To remove or acquire by plucking from, for example, the ground; to pick up.
(intransitive)To become more cheerful.
(transitive)To summon positive emotion (especially courage); to muster.
Examples
20 sentencesTom plucked up the courage to kiss Mary.
Tom eventually plucked up the courage and went into the cave.
Tom plucked up the courage to kiss her.
ruТом набрался храбрости и поцеловал её. — marafon
The man plucked up courage and pulled the trigger.
He plucked up his courage and proposed to her.
deEr nahm seinen ganzen Mut zusammen und machte ihr einen Heiratsantrag. — raggione
Forms
plucks up, plucking up, plucked up, plucked up| Base form | pluck up · to pluck up |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | plucks up |
| Present participle | plucking up |
| Past simple | plucked up |
| Past participle | plucked up |
irregular
Phrasal verbs
2 phrasal verbsSynonyms
3 synonymsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Phrasal verbs: introduction — Because it is a phrasal verb
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.