Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Jerk
Jerk
(jẽrk)
, Verb.
T.
[Corrupted from Peruv.
charqui
dried beef.] To cut into long slices or strips and dry in the sun;
as, to
. See jerk
beefCharqui
. Jerk
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Jerked
(jẽrkt)
; 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 stoneJerk
,Verb.
I.
1.
To make a sudden motion; to move with a start, or by starts.
Milton.
2.
To flout with contempt.
Jerk
,Noun.
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 1828 Edition
Jerk
JERK
,Verb.
T.
1.
To thrust out; to thrust with a sudden effort; to give a sudden pull, twitch, thrust or push, as, to jerk one under the ribs; to jerk one with the elbow.2.
To throw with a quick, smart motion; as, to jerk a stone. We apply this word to express the mode of throwing to a little distance by drawing the arm back of the body, and thrusting it forward against the side or hip, which stops the arm suddenly.JERK
,Verb.
T.
JERK
,Noun.
His jade gave him a jerk,
1.
A sudden spring. Lobsters swim by jerks.
Definition 2024
jerk
jerk
English
Alternative forms
Noun
jerk (plural jerks)
- A sudden, often uncontrolled movement, especially of the body.
- 1856, Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, Part III Chapter X, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling
- The black cloth bestrewn with white beads blew up from time to time, laying bare the coffin. The tired bearers walked more slowly, and it advanced with constant jerks, like a boat that pitches with every wave.
- 1856, Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, Part III Chapter X, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling
- A quick, often unpleasant tug or shake.
- When I yell "OK," give the mooring line a good jerk!
- (US, slang, pejorative) A dull or stupid person.
- (US, slang, pejorative) A person with unlikable or obnoxious qualities and behavior, typically mean, self-centered, or disagreeable.
- I finally fired him, because he was being a real jerk to his customers, even to some of the staff.
- You really are a jerk sometimes.
- (physics, engineering) The rate of change in acceleration with respect to time.
- (obsolete) A soda jerk.
- (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.
Usage notes
- Jerk is measured in metres per second cubed (m/s3) in SI units, or in feet per second cubed (ft/s3) in imperial units.
Synonyms
- (sudden movement): jolt, lurch, jump
- (quick tug): yank
- (stupid person): numbskull
- (unlikable person): ****, bastard, twat, knobhead, tosser, wanker, git, dick.
- (physics, change in acceleration): jolt (British), surge, lurch
Derived terms
Translations
sudden, uncontrolled movement
|
quick, often unpleasant tug or shake
unlikable person
|
|
change in acceleration with respect to time
|
soda jerk — see soda jerk
See also
Verb
jerk (third-person singular simple present jerks, present participle jerking, simple past and past participle jerked)
- (intransitive) To make a sudden uncontrolled movement.
- 1877, Anna Sewell, Black Beauty Chapter 23
- York came to me first, whilst the groom stood at Ginger's head. He drew my head back and fixed the rein so tight that it was almost intolerable; then he went to Ginger, who was impatiently jerking her head up and down against the bit, as was her way now.
- 1877, Anna Sewell, Black Beauty Chapter 23
- (transitive) To give a quick, often unpleasant tug or shake.
- (US, slang, vulgar) To ****.
- (obsolete) To beat, to hit.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Florio to this entry?)
- (obsolete) To throw with a quick and suddenly arrested motion of the hand.
- to jerk a stone
- (usually transitive, weightlifting) To lift using a jerk.
- (obsolete) To flout with contempt.
Translations
intransitive: to make a sudden uncontrolled movement
transitive: to give a quick, often unpleasant tug or shake
|
Derived terms
Etymology 2
From American Spanish charquear, from charqui, from Quechua ch'arki.
Noun
jerk (uncountable)
- (Caribbean) A rich, spicy Jamaican marinade
- (Caribbean) Meat cured by jerking; charqui.
- Jerk chicken is a local favorite.
Translations
A rich, spicy Jamaican marinade; a dish made with such a marinade
Related terms
Verb
jerk (third-person singular simple present jerks, present participle jerking, simple past and past participle jerked)
- To cure (meat) by cutting it into strips and drying it, originally in the sun.
- 2011, Dominic Smith, Bright and Distant Shores, page 106:
- The Lemakot in the north strangled widows and threw them into the cremation pyres of their dead husbands. If they defeated potential invaders the New Irish hanged the vanquished from banyan trees, flensed their windpipes, removed their heads, left their intestines to jerk in the sun.
- 2011, Dominic Smith, Bright and Distant Shores, page 106:
Translations
to cure by cutting into strips and drying