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jerk - 13 dictionary results
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jerk

1  [jurk]
Use jerk in a Sentence
–noun
1. a quick, sharp pull, thrust, twist, throw, or the like; a sudden movement: The train started with a jerk.
2. a spasmodic, usually involuntary, muscular movement, as the reflex action of pulling the hand away from a flame.
3. any sudden, quick movement of the body, as in dodging something.
4. Slang. a contemptibly naive, fatuous, foolish, or inconsequential person.
5. (in weightlifting) the raising of a weight from shoulder height to above the head by straightening the arms.
6. jerks, British Informal. physical jerks.
7. a dance, deriving from the twist, in which the dancers alternately thrust out their pelvises and their shoulders.
8. the jerks, paroxysms or violent spasmodic muscular movements, as resulting from excitement evoked by some religious services.
–verb (used with object)
9. to pull, twist, move, thrust, or throw with a quick, suddenly arrested motion: She jerked the child by the hand.
10. to utter in a broken, spasmodic way.
11. Informal. to prepare, dispense, and serve (sodas, ice cream, etc.) at a soda fountain.
–verb (used without object)
12. to give a jerk or jerks.
13. to move with a quick, sharp motion; move spasmodically.
14. to talk in a broken, spasmodic way.
15. Informal. to work as a soda jerk.
16. to dance the jerk.
—Verb phrase
17. jerk off, Slang: Vulgar. to masturbate.
Origin:
1540–50; 1935–40 for def. 4; perh. dial. var. of yerk to draw stitches tight (shoemaker's term), thus making the shoe ready to wear, OE gearcian to prepare, make ready

Related forms:
jerker, noun
jerk⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

jerk

2  [jurk]
–verb (used with object)
1. to preserve (meat, esp. beef) by cutting in strips and curing by drying in the sun.
–adjective
2. being or containing a spicy seasoning mixture flavored with allspice, used esp. in Jamaican cooking: jerk sauce.
3. prepared with jerk flavorings, esp. by barbecuing or grilling: jerk chicken.
Origin:
1700–10; back formation from jerky 2

jer⋅ky

2  [jur-kee]
–noun
meat, esp. beef, that has been cut in strips and preserved by drying in the sun; jerked meat.
Also, jerk.

Origin:
1840–50, Americanism; alter. of charqui
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To jerk
jerk 1   (jûrk)   
v.   jerked, jerk·ing, jerks

v.   tr.
  1. To give a sudden quick thrust, push, pull, or twist to.
  2. To throw or toss with a quick abrupt motion.
  3. To utter abruptly or sharply: jerked out the answer.
  4. To make and serve (ice-cream sodas, for example) at a soda fountain.
  5. Sports To press (a weight) overhead from shoulder height in a quick motion.
v.   intr.
  1. To move in sudden abrupt motions; jolt: The train jerked forward.
  2. To make spasmodic motions: My legs jerked from fatigue.
n.  
  1. A sudden abrupt motion, such as a yank or twist.
  2. A jolting or lurching motion.
  3. Physiology A sudden reflexive or spasmodic muscular movement.
  4. jerks Involuntary convulsive twitching often resulting from excitement. Often used with the.
  5. Slang A foolish, rude, or contemptible person.
  6. Sports A lift in which the weight is heaved overhead from shoulder height with a quick motion.
Phrasal Verb(s):
jerk off Vulgar Slang To masturbate.
jerk aroundTo take unfair advantage of, deceive, or manipulate.

[Origin unknown.]
jerk'er n., jerk'ing·ly adv.
Synonyms: These verbs mean to move with a sudden short, quick motion: jerked the rope twice to pull it taut; snapped the lock shut; was twitching her mouth nervously; wrenched the stick out of his hand; yanks the door open.
jerk 2   (jûrk)   
tr.v.   jerked, jerk·ing, jerks
To cut (meat) into long strips and dry in the sun or cure by exposing to smoke.
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.

[Back-formation from jerky2.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Jerk

Jerk\, v. t. [Corrupted from Peruv. charqui dried beef.] To cut into long slices or strips and dry in the sun; as, jerk beef. See Charqui.

Jerk

Jerk\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Jerked; p. pr. & vb. n. Jerking.] [Akin to yerk, and perh. also to yard a measure.]

1. To beat; to strike. [Obs.] --Florio.

2. To give a quick and suddenly arrested thrust, push, pull, or twist, to; to yerk; as, to jerk one with the elbow; to jerk a coat off.

3. To throw with a quick and suddenly arrested motion of the hand; as, to jerk a stone.

Jerk

Jerk\, v. i. 1. To make a sudden motion; to move with a start, or by starts. --Milton.

2. To flout with contempt.

Jerk

Jerk\, n. 1. A short, sudden pull, thrust, push, twitch, jolt, shake, or similar motion.

His jade gave him a jerk. --B. Jonson.

2. A sudden start or spring.

Lobsters . . . swim backwards by jerks or springs. --Grew.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : jerk
Spanish: sacudida,
German: der Ruck,
Japanese: 急な動き
More Translations »

jerk  (v.)
1550, "to lash, strike as with a whip," of uncertain origin, perhaps echoic. Noun sense of "sudden sharp pull or twist" first recorded 1575. Meaning "involuntary spasmodic movement of limbs or features" first recorded 1805. As the name of a popular dance, it is attested from 1966. Sense in soda jerk attested from 1883, from the pulling motion required to work the taps.

jerk  (n.)
1935, "tedious and ineffectual person," Amer.Eng. carnival slang, perhaps from jerkwater town (1878), where a steam locomotive crew had to take on boiler water from a trough or a creek because there was no water tank. This led 1890s to an adj. use of jerk as "inferior, insignificant." Probably also infl. by verb jerk off, slang for "perform male masturbation" (first recorded 1916). Jerk off (n.) as an emphatic form of jerk (n.) first attested 1968.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: jerk
Pronunciation: 'j&rk
Function: noun
: an involuntary spasmodic muscular movement due to reflex action; especially : oneinduced by an external stimulus —see KNEE JERK
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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jerk 1 (jûrk)
v. jerked, jerk·ing, jerks
To make spasmodic motions. n.

  1. A sudden reflexive or spasmodic muscular movement. See deep reflex.
  2. jerks Involuntary convulsive twitching often resulting from excitement. Often used with the.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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