as in pull
the act or an instance of applying force on something so that it moves in the direction of the force
had to give the shoe a good yank to get it off
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to jerk
to move or cause to move with a sharp quick motion
she stupidly yanked the wheel while I was driving
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in to pull
to draw out by force or with effort
yanked out a tooth with a pair of pliers
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to grab
to separate or remove by forceful pulling
grab the other one, and let's see if we can't yank these two grocery carriages apart
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Examples Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of yank
Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 4 May 2023
Happy to help, Marsh popped over, entered the combination and gave it a good yank — success.
—Jonathan Edwards, Washington Post, 4 May 2023
Jason Clayworth, Axios, 22 Nov. 2024
But also Christopher seems to be thriving, so does Eddie really want to yank him out of that environment?
—Andy Swift, TVLine, 21 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for yank 
Noun
Her teacher promptly pulled her back into line with a yank whose mildness astonished me.
—Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 4 May 2023
Happy to help, Marsh popped over, entered the combination and gave it a good yank — success.
—Jonathan Edwards, Washington Post, 4 May 2023
Verb
Multiple communities have yanked their membership to DART in the last two years due to budget constraints or low ridership, a decision that ends services to their cities and puts more strain on those left participating in DART.
—Jason Clayworth, Axios, 22 Nov. 2024
But also Christopher seems to be thriving, so does Eddie really want to yank him out of that environment?
—Andy Swift, TVLine, 21 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for yank
Recent Examples of Synonyms for yank
Noun
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After all these years, the elemental pull of Dumas’s tale remains irresistible.Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 20 Dec. 2024
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Paredes, under club control for the next three seasons, is a notorious pull hitter and perfect fit for Minute Maid Park.Ken Rosenthal, The Athletic, 15 Dec. 2024
Verb
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Your limbs, or even your entire upper body, may jerk or thrash in the process.Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 13 Nov. 2024
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Yanking a zipper shut is more likely to break teeth or jerk the slider off the track.Joe Jackson, Outside Online, 17 Oct. 2024
Verb
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When the clock strikes midnight, grab one of these eight crackers and pop it to show your excitement for the start of 2025.Christopher Murray, Fox News, 26 Dec. 2024
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So grab another beer from your golf bag en route to the 19th hole and have a look at the Happy Gilmore 2 teaser below.Erik Pedersen, Deadline, 25 Dec. 2024
Noun
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But to get there, the spacecraft has taken a spiraling route through the inner solar system, using the gravitational tug of Earth (once), Venus (twice), and Mercury (six times) to get itself on the right course at the right speed to end up in orbit around Mercury.Kiona N. Smith, Space.com, 19 Dec. 2024
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The melting occurred as the moon was moving away from the Earth, the authors say, when the planet’s constant gravitational tugs warped the moon in a way that caused it to super-heat.Denise Chow, NBC News, 18 Dec. 2024
Verb
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As the omen begins to descend onto Karen’s house, the hairs of the mermaids’ arms stand up; their scales twitch in fear.Shamira Ibrahim, Vulture, 16 Dec. 2024
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Not the American economy, which twitched from panic to triumph to panic and, in 1907, had to be bailed out with private funds from Morgan and his associates.Jackson Arn, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2024
Verb
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Idiosyncratic boutique hotels are sprouting up, too, complete with creature comforts and artwork plucked from booming art scenes.Arati Menon, Condé Nast Traveler, 9 Dec. 2024
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Trump is plucking several House lawmakers to serve in his administration, creating vacancies that will be filled in April or beyond.David Sivak, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 7 Dec. 2024
Verb
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Andy Roddick, the last American man to win a Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open in 2003, ripped the NCAA rule on social media.Adam Zagoria, Forbes, 26 Dec. 2024
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There was Novak Djokovic coming clean about his true identity as the actor Bert Critchley, practising ripping his shirt in front of a bathroom mirror and discussing his process of getting into character.Charlie Eccleshare, The Athletic, 26 Dec. 2024
Verb
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The crew called the lead flight attendant onboard, but within a few seconds, the airplane lurched.Alexandra Skores, CNN, 13 Dec. 2024
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In the end, UnitedHealth paid a bitcoin ransom worth some twenty-two million dollars, and the system lurched back online.Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, 12 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near yank
Cite this Entry
“Yank.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/yank. Accessed 31 Dec. 2024.
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