yank

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It was one of the harder commands for me to learn because the word yank didn't say anything to me.

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Definitions (16)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. transitive verb To pull with a quick, strong movement; jerk: yanked the emergency cord.
  2. transitive verb Slang To extract or remove abruptly: yanked the starting pitcher early in the game.
  3. intransitive verb To pull on something suddenly. See Synonyms at jerk1.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (6)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

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Examples (50)

  • I was in a rush this morning, so I gave it a real yank, and what do you know, out pops this piece of paper. —  The African Quest
  • Clem gaffed it, pulled it close, grabbed ahold of the pot-warp with both hands, gave a good yank, and fell over backward. —  F ;SF - vol 105 issue 01 - July 2003
  • He gave the stick a yank, the noose tightened more, and punch-hunter Kit Merrimore began to act like a chicken which had suddenly lost its head Every ian low-caste emitted a brother-greeting howl and sprang to the attack. —  054 - Ost
  • The blue human spider who held it started to yank, but was himself yanked forward against Doc's fist. —  054 - Ost
  • But with a jerk and a yank, she finally got it over her breasts. —  NaughtyAllNight
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This word has been looked up 89 times.

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Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

swipe ·  shove ·  tug ·  jab ·  whack ·  twitch ·  jerk ·  heave ·  jolt ·  lurch ·  tighten ·  slash

Used in the same contextWord Family

yank:   Yank ·  yanked ·  yanking
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Origin unknown.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Perhaps a nasalized form of yack, found in sense of ‘talk fast’, prob. orig. move quickly, from Swedish dial. jakka, rove about, a secondary form of Ieel. jaga, move about, = Swedish jaga = Danish jage, hunt, chase, hurry, = Dutch jagen = German jagen, hunt: see yacht. The Swedish Danish sense ‘hunt’ appears to be due to G., and the word does not seem to be old in Scandinavian, or to exist in Anglo-Saxon, etc. Yank has prob. been confused in part, as to meaning, with yark, yerk; and the whole series to which it belongs is dialectal, and without early record.
  2. from yank, v.
 

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/yæŋk/
by American Heritage

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