*luck*

n. 1. The call of a hen to her chickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A click. See 3d Click, 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Clucked p pr. & vb. n. Clucking. ] [ AS. cloccian; cf. D. klokken, G. glucken, glucksen, LG. klukken, Dan. klukke; all prob. of imitative origin. ] To make the noise, or utter the call, of a brooding hen. Ray. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The noise or call of a brooding hen. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Akin to D. luk, geluk, G. glück, Icel. lukka, Sw. lycka, Dan. lykke, and perh. to G. locken to entice. Cf. 3d Gleck. ] That which happens to a person; an event, good or ill, affecting one's interests or happiness, and which is deemed casual; a course or series of such events regarded as occurring by chance; chance; hap; fate; fortune; often, one's habitual or characteristic fortune; as, good, bad, ill, or hard luck. Luck is often used by itself to mean good luck; as, luck is better than skill; a stroke of luck. [ 1913 Webster ]

If thou dost play with him at any game,
Thou art sure to lose; and of that natural luck,
He beats thee 'gainst the odds. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Luck penny, a small sum given back for luck to one who pays money. [ Prov. Eng. ] --
To be in luck, to receive some good, or to meet with some success, in an unexpected manner, or as the result of circumstances beyond one's control; to be fortunate. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ From Lucky. ] In a lucky manner; by good fortune; fortunately; -- used in a good sense; as, they luckily escaped injury. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The state or quality of being lucky; as, the luckiness of a man or of an event. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Good fortune; favorable issue or event. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Being without luck; unpropitious; unfortunate; unlucky; meeting with ill success or bad fortune; as, a luckless gamester; a luckless maid. [ 1913 Webster ]

Prayers made and granted in a luckless hour. Dryden.

-- Luck"less*ly, adv. -- Lock"less*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A city in India, the site of the Indian Mutiny (1857) when the British were beseiged. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Compar. Luckier superl. Luckiest. ] 1. Favored by luck; fortunate; meeting with good success or good fortune; -- said of persons; as, a lucky adventurer. “ Lucky wight.” Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Producing, or resulting in, good by chance, or unexpectedly; favorable; auspicious; fortunate; as, a lucky mistake; a lucky cast; a lucky hour. [ 1913 Webster ]

We doubt not of a fair and lucky war. Shak.

Syn. -- Successful; fortunate; prosperous; auspicious. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>n. (Zool.) See Fatherlasher. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Ill luck; misfortune. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Plucked p. pr. & vb. n. Plucking. ] [ AS. pluccian; akin to LG. & D. plukken, G. pflücken, Icel. plokka, plukka, Dan. plukke, Sw. plocka. &unr_;27. ] 1. To pull; to draw. [ 1913 Webster ]

Its own nature . . . plucks on its own dissolution. Je&unr_;. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

I come to pluck your berries harsh and crude. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

E'en children followed, with endearing wile,
And plucked his gown to share the good man's smile. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To strip of, or as of, feathers; as, to pluck a fowl. [ 1913 Webster ]

They which pass by the way do pluck her. Ps. lxxx.&unr_;2. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Eng. Universities) To reject at an examination for degrees. C. Bronté. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. (a) 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. (b) To gather up; to summon; as, to pluck up courage. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To make a motion of pulling or twitching; -- usually with at; as, to pluck at one's gown. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of plucking; a pull; a twitch. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. [ Prob. so called as being plucked out after the animal is killed; or cf. Gael. & Ir. pluc a lump, a knot, a bunch. ] The heart, liver, and lights of an animal. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Spirit; courage; indomitable resolution; fortitude. [ 1913 Webster ]

Decay of English spirit, decay of manly pluck. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The act of plucking, or the state of being plucked, at college. See Pluck, v. t., 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Zool.) The lyrie. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having courage and spirit. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, plucks. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou setter up and plucker down of kings. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A machine for straightening and cleaning wool. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ So named after Julius Plücker, a German physicist. ] (Physics) (a) A vacuum tube, used in spectrum analysis, in which the part through which the discharge takes place is a capillary tube, thus producing intense incandescence of the contained gases. (b) Crookes tube. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

adv. In a plucky manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being plucky. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Without pluck; timid; faint-hearted. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. Pluckier superl. Pluckiest. ] Having pluck or courage; characterized by pluck; displaying pluck; courageous; spirited; as, a plucky race. [ 1913 Webster ]

If you're plucky, and not over subject to fright. Barham. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Whatever may chance to be in the pot, or may be provided for a meal. [ 1913 Webster ]

A woman whose potluck was always to be relied on. G. Eliot. [ 1913 Webster ]

To take potluck, to take what food may chance to be provided. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an unlucky manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Quality or state of being unlucky. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Not lucky; not successful; unfortunate; ill-fated; unhappy; as, an unlucky man; an unlucky adventure; an unlucky throw of dice; an unlucky game. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This word is properly applied to incidents in which failure results from chance or fortuity, as in games of hazard, rather than from lack or feebleness of effort. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Bringing bad luck; ill-omened; inauspicious. [ 1913 Webster ]

Haunt me not with that unlucky face. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Mischievous; as, an unlucky wag. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]