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Spunk vs Pluck - What's the difference?

spunk | pluck | Related terms |

Spunk is a related term of pluck.


As nouns the difference between spunk and pluck

is that spunk is (countable|obsolete) a spark while pluck is an instance of plucking.

As verbs the difference between spunk and pluck

is that spunk is (slang|vulgar) to ejaculate while pluck is (lb) to pull something sharply; to pull something out.

spunk

English

Noun

(en-noun)
  • (countable, obsolete) A spark.
  • * 1886 , , 2009, page 109,
    • “That?s none such an entirely bad little man, yon little man with the red head,” said Alan. “He has some spunks of decency.”
  • (uncountable) Touchwood; tinder.
  • * 1646 , (Thomas Browne), Pseudodoxia Epidemica , II.5:
    • Spunk , or Touch-wood prepared, might perhaps make it Russet: and some, as Beringuccio affirmeth, have promised to make it Red.
  • (countable, chiefly, Scotland, obsolete) A piece of tinder, sometimes impregnated with sulphur; a match.
  • * 1829 , Society for Relief of the Destitute Sick (Edinburgh), Report , page 7,
    • At present, her only means of procuring subsistence for herself and children, is by making spunks or matches, which, either she or her eldest child, a girl about six years of age, sells from door to door.
  • * 1843 , John Wilson, John Gibson Lockhart, William Maginn, James Hogg, The Noctes Ambrosianæ of “Blackwood” , Volume IV, page 396,
    • “Spunks' — '''spunks''' — '''spunks''' — who will buy my ' spunks ?” — cried an errant voice with a beseeching earnestness.
  • (uncountable) Courage; spirit; mettle; determination.
  • * 1920 August, Edward Leonard, Old Zeke?s Mule'', '' , 55,
    • “I reckon I?m as good as a mule,” he declared. “Maria knows what that desert is as well as we do, but she?s got more spunk' than either of us. I'm not going to let any mule show more ' spunk than me.”
  • * 1991 , Lindsey Hanks, (copyright Linda Chesnutt, Georgia Pierce), Long Texas Night , Zebra Books, US, page 26,
    • “You've got spunk', missy, I?ll have to say that for you. Maybe with your ' spunk and my good looks we can get this place in shape again.”
    It was Sarah?s turn to laugh.
  • *
  • (countable, UK, Australia, New Zealand, slang) An attractive person (normally male).
  • * 2005 , Sue Austin, Women?s Aggressive Fantasies: A Post-Jungian Exploration of Self-Hatred, Love and Agency , Routledge, UK, page 166,
    • We are welcomed by 20 year old spunks , as we make a last valiant attempt with our bodies - gasp, gasp - and try to get back in shape.
  • (uncountable, chiefly, UK, vulgar, slang) Semen.
  • * 2007 , Debra Hyde, Kidnapped'', Violet Blue (editor), ''Lust: Erotic Fantasies for Women , 2010, ReadHowYouWant, page 188,
    • It was runny stuff and, as she felt Brain loosen his hold on the drawstrings, Cackle's spunk dripped onto the shelf of her chin.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (slang, vulgar) To ejaculate.

    • Anagrams

    *

    pluck

    English

    Verb

  • (lb) To pull something sharply; to pull something out
  • :
  • *1900 , , Ch.I:
  • *:The girl stooped to pluck a rose, and as she bent over it, her profile was clearly outlined.
  • To gently play a single string, e.g. on a guitar, violin etc.
  • :
  • (lb) To remove feathers from a bird.
  • *
  • *:Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the rickyard, and said she would pluck the pigeon that very night after work. She was always ready to do anything for us boys; and we could never quite make out why they scolded her so for an idle hussy indoors. It seemed so unjust.
  • (lb) To rob, fleece, steal forcibly
  • :
  • (lb) To play a string instrument pizzicato
  • :
  • (lb) To pull or twitch sharply.
  • :
  • To reject at an examination for degrees.
  • *1847 , , (Jane Eyre)
  • *:He went to college, and he got— plucked , I think they call it: and then his uncles wanted him to be a barrister, and study the law.

    • Derived terms

    * plucker * plucking * pluck up

    Noun

    (-)
  • An instance of plucking
    • ''Those tiny birds are hardly worth the tedious pluck
  • The lungs, heart with trachea and often oesophagus removed from slaughtered animals.
  • Guts, nerve, fortitude or persistence.
    • He didn't get far with the attempt, but you have to admire his pluck .

    Derived terms

    * plucky

    References

    * * *

    Anagrams

    *