Emily Dickinson Lexicon

pluck (-ed, -ing, -s), v. [Late OE ploccian, to pluck feathers.] (webplay: fatherless, hand, lights, nation, pluck away, pluck out, pluck up).

1. Pick; harvest; gather; seize; take; carry off; remove; pull off (a tree) or out of the ground; separate from the source of physical life; [fig.] remove from mortal existence; take to another sphere.
2. Pull; grasp; clutch; grab.
3. Phrase. “Pluck away”: seize; take away; carry off; [fig.] remove from mortal existence; take to another sphere.
4. Phrase. “Pluck up”: gather; pull out; remove from the ground.