What is "to pluck away"

Pluck \Pluck\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plucked; p. pr. & vb. n. Plucking.] [AS. pluccian; akin to LG. & D. plukken, G. pfl["u]cken, Icel. plokka, plukka, Dan. plukke, Sw. plocka. ?27.]

1. To pull; to draw.

   Its own nature . . . plucks on its own dissolution.
   --Je?. Taylor.

2. Especially, to pull with sudden force or effort, or to pull off or out from something, with a twitch; to twitch; also, to gather, to pick; as, to pluck feathers from a fowl; to pluck hair or wool from a skin; to pluck grapes.

   I come to pluck your berries harsh and crude.
   --Milton.

   E'en children followed, with endearing wile, And plucked his gown to share the good man's smile.
   --Goldsmith.

3. To strip of, or as of, feathers; as, to pluck a fowl.

   They which pass by the way do pluck her.
   --Ps. lxxx.?2.

4. (Eng. Universities) To reject at an examination for degrees. --C. Bront['e]. To pluck away, to pull away, or to separate by pulling; to tear away. To pluck down, to pull down; to demolish; to reduce to a lower state. to pluck off, to pull or tear off; as, to pluck off the skin. to pluck up.

   1. To tear up by the roots or from the foundation; to eradicate; to exterminate; to destroy; as, to pluck up a plant; to pluck up a nation.
      --Jer. xii. 17.

   2. To gather up; to summon; as, to pluck up courage.