jerked

verb

Definition of jerkednext
past tense of jerk
1
as in yanked
to move or cause to move with a sharp quick motion I jerked to one side to avoid getting hit jerked the leash to get the dog's attention

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in twitched
to make jerky or restless movements you've got to quit jerking, or the barber will nick you by accident

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in shook
to make a series of small irregular or violent movements the car jerked with every shift of the gear

Synonyms & Similar Words

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for jerked
  1. shook
  2. tossed
  3. pulled
Verb
  • Vance’s wife, Usha, and Walz’s wife, Gwen, also made their way to the stage and shook hands.
    Rebecca Morin, USA TODAY, 2 Oct. 2024
  • The image of the entire country under simultaneous attack – shared repeatedly on social media and in news reports – shook Israelis.
    Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 Oct. 2024
Definition of shook
Verb
  • Coppola snatches unassimilated ideas from current political paranoia and recent cultural catastrophes (manic news media promoting celebrity insanity), all tossed into the mix with demented incoherence.
    Armond White, National Review, 4 Oct. 2024
  • Heavy flooding tore apart structures and tossed cars in Swannanoa.
    Deon J. Hampton, NBC News, 2 Oct. 2024
Definition of tossed
Verb
  • Michigan’s largest distributor of housing vouchers hasn't pulled a name off its general waitlist in nearly a year.
    Nushrat Rahman, Detroit Free Press, 4 Oct. 2024
  • Brady and a few stringers quickly pulled together what Brady named Page Six because that’s the page where the column initially ran.
    Susan Mulcahy, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Oct. 2024
Definition of pulled
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Thesaurus Entries Near jerked

jerk around

jerked

jerked around

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Jerked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jerked. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

More from Merriam-Webster on jerked

Nglish: Translation of jerked for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of jerked for Arabic Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

8 Words with Fascinating Histories

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

10 Scrabble Words Without Any Vowels
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
little chihuahua dressing like a turkey for thanksgiving
Giving Thanks Quiz Decide which words express gratitude and which gi...