jerk

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To give a sudden quick thrust, push, pull, or twist to.
2. v. To throw or toss with a quick abrupt motion.
3. v. To utter abruptly or sharply: jerked out the answer.
4. v. To make and serve (ice-cream sodas, for example) at a soda fountain.
5. v. Sports To press (a weight) overhead from shoulder height in a quick motion.
6. v. To move in sudden abrupt motions; jolt: The train jerked forward.
7. v. To make spasmodic motions: My legs jerked from fatigue.
8. n. A sudden abrupt motion, such as a yank or twist.
9. n. A jolting or lurching motion.
10. n. Physiology A sudden reflexive or spasmodic muscular movement.
11. n. Involuntary convulsive twitching often resulting from excitement. Often used with the.
12. n. Slang A foolish, rude, or contemptible person.
13. n. Sports A lift in which the weight is heaved overhead from shoulder height with a quick motion.
14. jerk off Vulgar Slang To masturbate.
15. jerk around To take unfair advantage of, deceive, or manipulate.
16. v. To cut (meat) into long strips and dry in the sun or cure by exposing to smoke.
17. adj. Being or relating to a method of barbecuing meat that has been seasoned and wrapped in leaves of the allspice tree: jerk chicken; jerk pork.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To strike or beat, as with a whip or rod; strike smartly.
2. To pull or thrust with sudden energy; act upon with a twitching or snatching motion; move with quick, sharp force: of ten with a word or words of direction: as, to jerk open a door; the horse jerked out his heels.
3. To throw with a quick, sharp motion; specifically, to throw with the hand lower than the elbow, with an impulse given by sudden collision of the forearm with the hip: as, to jerk a stone.
4. To make a sudden spasmodic motion; give a start; move twitchingly.
5. To sneer; carp; speak sarcastically.
6. n. A short, sharp pull, thrust, or twitch; a sudden throw or toss; a jolt; a twitching or spasmodic motion.
7. n. A sudden spring or bound; a start; a leap; a sally.
8. n. An involuntary spasmodic contraction of a muscle, due to reflex action resulting from a blow or other external stimulus. Thus, a blow upon the ligament of the patella, below the knee-cap, produces spasmodic contraction of the extensor muscles of the leg, which is straightened with a jerk. This is technically called knee-jerk, and the same action in other parts receives qualifying terms, as chin-jerk, etc.
9. n. plural The paroxysms or violent spasmodic movements sometimes resulting from excitement in connection with religious services. Specifically called the jerks.
10. n. A sneer; sarcasm.
11. In the English custom-house, to search, as a vessel, for unentered goods.
12. n. Meat cut into strips and cured by drying it in the open air.
13. To cure, as meat, especially beef, by cutting into long thin pieces and drying in the sun.
14. n. In golf, a stroke in which the club-head, after striking the ball, digs into the ground.
15. n. An abrupt witticism; a sudden sally of wit.
16. n. plural Chorea or tic.

Wiktionary

1. n. Caribbean A rich, spicy Jamaican marinade
2. n. Caribbean Meat cured by jerking; charqui.
3. v. To cure (meat) by cutting it into strips and drying it, originally in the sun.
4. n. A sudden, often uncontrolled movement, especially of the body.
5. n. A quick, often unpleasant tug or shake.
6. n. US, slang, pejorative A dull or stupid person.
7. n. US, slang, pejorative A person with unlikable or obnoxious qualities and behavior, typically mean, self-centered, or disagreeable.
8. n. physics, engineering The rate of change in acceleration with respect to time.
9. n. obsolete A soda jerk.
10. n. weightlifting A lift in which the weight is taken with a quick motion from shoulder height to a position above the head with arms fully extended and held there for a brief time.
11. v. intransitive To make a sudden uncontrolled movement.
12. v. transitive To give a quick, often unpleasant tug or shake.
13. v. US, slang, vulgar To masturbate.
14. v. obsolete To beat, to hit.
15. v. obsolete To throw.
16. v. weightlifting To lift using a jerk.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To cut into long slices or strips and dry in the sun. See charqui.
2. v. obsolete To beat; to strike.
3. v. To give a quick and suddenly arrested thrust, push, pull, or twist, to; to yerk
4. v. To throw with a quick and suddenly arrested motion of the hand.
5. v. To make a sudden motion; to move with a start, or by starts.
6. v. To flout with contempt.
7. n. A short, sudden pull, thrust, push, twitch, jolt, shake, or similar motion.
8. n. A sudden start or spring.
9. n. Slang A foolish, stupid, or otherwise contemptible person.
10. n. (Sport) The lifting of a weight, in a single rapid motion, from shoulder height until the arms are outstretched above the head; distinguished from press in that the motion in a jerk is more rapid, and the body may be moved under the weight to assist completion of the movement.
11. n. British Calisthenic exercises, such as push-ups or deep knee bends; also called physical jerks.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. move with abrupt, seemingly uncontrolled motions
2. v. jump vertically, with legs stiff and back arched
3. v. pull, or move with a sudden movement
4. n. raising a weight from shoulder height to above the head by straightening the arms
5. n. (mechanics) the rate of change of acceleration
6. n. a sudden abrupt pull
7. v. throw or toss with a quick motion
8. n. meat (especially beef) cut in strips and dried in the sun
9. n. a dull stupid fatuous person
10. v. make an uncontrolled, short, jerky motion
11. n. an abrupt spasmodic movement