pluck off

pluck off

1. To grasp and remove something with one's fingers or a grasping instrument in an abrupt, forcible tug or pull. A noun or pronoun can be used between "pluck" and "off." I wanted my suit to look pristine, so I took a pair of tweezers and plucked off every little hair and bit of lint I could find. I went over the rose bush and plucked a flower off to give to Sarah.
2. To grasp something with one's fingers or a grasping instrument and pull or tug it forcibly and abruptly off of something else. A noun or pronoun is used between "pluck" and "from." He reached over and plucked the badge off her jacket. She plucked leaves off the trees to use in her diorama.
3. To remove someone from some undesirable place in order to elevate them to a better position or status. A noun or pronoun is used between "pluck" and "off." The child barely had enough to eat each day until he was plucked off the streets by a wealthy benefactor. The presidential pardon plucked the felon off of death row at the last moment.
See also: off, pluck
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

pluck something off (of) someone or something

 and pluck something off
to pick something off someone or something. (Of is usually retained before pronouns.) She plucked the mosquito off his back before it could bite him. She plucked off the bud.
See also: off, pluck
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • involve with
  • involve with (someone or something)
  • involved with
  • arrange for
  • arrange for some time
  • arrange some music for
  • back into
  • back into (someone or something)
  • add in
  • angle
References in classic literature
'Grieved as I was over the theft, I did not punish the gardener, of whose fidelity I was well assured, but I determined to pluck off all the fruit in the following year before it was ripe, as I had not much belief in the magician's warning.
Yellow Fairy Book
Plant strawberries they can pluck off the bush for a quick snack, create a sensory garden with chocolate mint plants, woolly-feel lamb's ear and sherbet-scented lemon verbena to titillate their senses, and let them paint stones with acrylic paint as seed labels.
Plant an idea; Gardening club; It's back and there are a shedload of reasons why joining our Cultivation Street campaign is a smart move for you and your community
Fight back using a nontoxic method: Pluck off and discard any affected foliage (do not compost), and apply horticultural oil monthly.
Your checklist
I like brined turkeykosher turkey is already brined, so it's easy to prepare, once you pluck off any lingering feathers.
Video: How To Make an All-American Turkey and Jewish Stuffing for Thanksgiving
Pluck off the fleshy, round, young Malabar spinach leaves or the shoot tips and leaves of New Zealand spinach.
Backyard tricks for summertime spinach
The motivation to play for that shirt is complete right now, but unlikely to last long as Europe's big spenders circle to pluck off their best players and possibly Simeone himself.
Inspired by spirit of Aragones
Don't hesitate to reach out and pluck mulberries off the trees just after you finish your flight -- it's not every day that you can pluck off berries, or any fruit for that matter, once you're back in the big city.
FOOTLOOSE IN THE HILLS
Then puts it over the trashcan provided and I watch him pluck off the feathers.
Butchering is messy business: but it isn't for everyone
Apart from Being Human emblazoned on them, you could easily mistake his ocreationso for something youAEd pluck off from the racks of a Gap or a Giordano store.
Hips donAEt lie?
Rhyme would pluck off the earthworms and sell them to local bait shops.
A life among the worms
PLUCK OFF THE IRISH Models Nadia Forde and Claire Moore launch Monster Of Rock concert yesterday in Dublin Pictures: BRIAN McEVOY; SONG BIRDS Claire and Nadia drum up support
Rock chicks play it hot
"There was not a bit of flesh to pluck off him, just bones and carcass.
BEAST OF BUCHAN IS BACK; Sheep was savaged
This way, NBC gets to scan the schedule and pluck off a dandy little matchup it would prefer to expose in prime time.
Losing Sunday afternoon
Take 12 dozens of roses, pluck off the rose petals, and use them to create a thick blanket over the top of the bed.
Rx for romance: surefire steps to keep the romantic fires burning