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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

PLUCK, v., n.¹ Also plukk (Jak.); plook (Sc. 1827 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1863) I. 347), plouk; ¶plick (Crm. 1933 D. A. Mackenzie Stroopie Well 5). Sc. forms and usages:

I. v. 1. As in Eng. Sc. comb., and deriv.: (1) plucker, n., a kind of spoke-shave, a tool for planing a curved surface such as the outside of a barrel, a head- or side-plane (Sc. 1899 A. Mathieson & Sons Catalogue 74; Bnff., Abd. 1966); (2) plucking-pin, ploukan-, the cord-handle used by weavers for pulling or pushing the shuttle across the loom (Rnf. a.1850 Crawfurd MSS. (N.L.S.) P. 54; Sc. 1911 S.D.D.). Cf. poukan-pin, id., s.v. Pouk, v.¹, and II. 2. below.(1) Sc. 1884 W. S. Miln Herring Fishing 13:
Head and side planes, or pluckers; adze for notching hoops.Bnff. 1953 Bnff. Herald (2 May):
Cooper's Tools, including Croses, Heading Knives, Hammers, Adzes, Drivers, Anvil, Jointers, Pluckers.

2. To take (turnips) out of the ground with a pluck, see II. 7. (ne.Sc. 1966).Abd. 1956 G. S. Morris Bothy Ball. I. 14:
Bit mind ye've neeps tae pluck and nowt tae muck.

3. tr. To attack, fight.Ags. 1894 J. F. Mills J. Donaldson 9:
I've kent o' growin' men . . . get twa brats o' laddies tae pluck ither on the street for a penny.

II. n. 1. As in ‡Eng., that which has been or can be plucked up; specif. a mouthful of grass or the like taken by an animal as food (Sh., ne.Sc., Wgt. 1966), “the first sprouting grass in spring, short immature corn, esp. along the edge . . . of a strip of field” (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928), plukk, Sh. 1966). Also fig., of human food.Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 86:
Our beasties here will take their e'ening pluck.Slk. 1818 Hogg B. of Bodsbeck vii.:
[We'll] let ye [sheep] tak a pluck an' fill yoursels or we turn ye back up to your cauld lairs again.Gall. 1843 J. Nicholson Tales 128:
A pluck o' girse, or a wap o' strae to your bit beastie.Sh. 1897 Shetland News (7 Aug.):
Ta see if hit widna trive faster apo' da green pluck aboot da doors.Uls. 1966:
Take a wee pluck o' that.

2. As in Eng., a plucking, a twitching; a tap, a slight nudge or push (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928), Sh. 1966); hiccup (Ork. 1929 Marw.). Combs. pluck-shaft (Rnf. 1910), -stick, = plucking pin s.v. I. 1. (2).Ayr. 1841 J. Paton Songs 34:
Shuttles, brogues, pluck stick, drivers.

3. Fig, an attempt to snatch at a prize, specif. an eager demand for a commodity, a scramble, a “rush” on something (Bnff. 1966); a bonus payment on increased production or the like (Lnk. 1966). Comb. pluck-up, (1) id., “a rise in price of an article owing to its scarcity” (Sc. 1911 S.D.D.); (2) transf., the person or commodity in demand (see 1921 quot.). Cf. O.Sc. pluck-up fair, a scramble, 1573.Ags. 1858 People's Jnl. (9 Oct.):
Then they must go and convoy home their lasses, and when there is not one to every one of them, then the “pluck” begins, and Meg is almost torn limb from limb among two or three of them.(1) Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 131:
There wiz a riglar pluck-up for tickets t' the Penny Readins.(2) Fif. 1921:
Pluck-up. Said of a lad or lass who from personal appearance or other attractive quality is very popular with the other sex: — “He or she is a fair pluck-up!”

4. In herring fishing: a fish which has been damaged in being disentangled from the net (Kcd. 1911). Obs. in Eng. in 18th c.Cai. 1903 E.D.D.:
Pluck. Herring when stuck so fast in the net that they cannot be shaken out, have to be plucked out by hand. In doing this their heads are often taken off, or they are otherwise injured.

5. The viscera of an animal, esp. the heart, liver and lungs, as used for food, “the stomach of a sheep” (Ork. 1929 Marw.), see 1904 quot. Gen.Sc.; also jocularly of the internal organs of human beings. Now only dial. in Eng.Per. 1737 Ochtertyre Ho. Bk. (S.H.S.) 38:
The vealls pluek and fraize.Lnk. a.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) I. 188:
A sheep's pluck on a wooden spit.Ayr. 1822 Galt Sir A. Wylie lxxxvii.:
We hae only a head and pluck, and a cauld hen.Edb. 1828 D. M. Moir Mansie Wauch xviii.:
Tripe, trotters, steaks, cows-cheek, pluck, hough, spar-rib, jigget, or so forth.Sc. 1903 E. W. Kirk Tried Favourites Cookery Bk. 51:
Procure the large stomach bag of a sheep, also one of the smaller bags called “King's Hood,” together with the pluck, which is the lights, liver, and heart.Sc. 1904 Edb. Ev. News (28 June):
The Sheriff inquired the meaning of the word “pluck”. The prosecutor explained that it referred to the internal organs which could be removed at one pull or pluck, the liver, lungs, and heart.Abd. 1913 W. R. Melvin Caller Herrin' 32:
A'll tak' the pluck o' the last wan o' ye.

6. A moulting state in fowls or animals (Ork., Cai., Mry., Kcb. 1966). Phr. to hae (tak, be or go in) the pluck, to be moulting, dropping feathers or hair (Cai. 1903 E.D.D.; Ork. 1929 Marw., Ork. 1948). Cf. Pouk, n.¹Ork. 1920 H. Campbell Island Folk Song 12:
The hens wis either i' the pluck, Or food wis up.

7. An implement of the mattock type with two prongs set at right angles to the shaft, used for a variety of jobs, e.g. for lifting turnips from hard ground and forking dung (Abd. 1825 Jam.; ne.Sc. 1966, (neep-) pluck); a quarrier's tool of a sim. sort. Combs. pluck-graip, id. (Abd. 1930), pluck-stick, ? Cf. plocker, s.v. Plock.Fif. 1868 St. Andrews Gazette (28 Nov.):
Quarry Plant . . . consisting of . . . 90 Wedges; 7 Plouks; 4 Drag Chains; 40 Picks.Rs. 1877 Trans. Highl. Soc. 86:
A croman or half-mattock, like a pluck for turnips, but much larger.Abd. 1906 Banffshire Jnl. (12 June) 2:
I see ye raxin wi' the pluck An' haulin' oot the strong neep muck.Abd. 1951 Abd. Press & Jnl. (11 Jan.):
The laborious howkin' for neeps with an old-fashioned “pluck” from frost-bound and iron-hard ground.

8. A sudden reversal in fortune, a mishap, hitch, reverse (Sc. 1911 S.D.D.).