JERK • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Jerk

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/dʒərk/ Listen

noun

Jerk n.

1.

A short, sudden pull, thrust, push, twitch, jolt, shake, or similar motion. "His jade gave him a jerk."

2.

A sudden start or spring. "Lobsters... swim backwards by jerks or springs."

3.

A foolish, stupid, or otherwise contemptible person. (Slang)

Synonyms: jerkoff.

4.

(Sport) The lifting of a weight, in a single rapid motion, from shoulder height until the arms are outstretched above the head; distinguished from press in that the motion in a jerk is more rapid, and the body may be moved under the weight to assist completion of the movement; as, a clean and jerk of two hundred pounds.

5.

Calisthenic exercises, such as push-ups or deep knee bends; also called physical jerks. (British)

verb

Jerk v. t. To cut into long slices or strips and dry in the sun; as, to jerk beef. See Charqui.

Jerk v. t. (past & past part. jerked; pres. part. jerking)

1.

To beat; to strike. (Obs.)

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 v. i.

1.

To make a sudden motion; to move with a start, or by starts.

2.

To flout with contempt.

See images of 'Jerk'

Etymology of 'Jerk'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Jerk" Quotes from Famous Books

... One jerk of his strong arms pulled her toward him, and the next instant he had seized her, and by passing one arm around her neck clapped his hand over her mouth, thus ...

— A Woman at Bay - A Fiend in Skirts • Nicholas Carter

... we try, Miss Stevens,' and before I could speak he turned his horses into the narrow part of the road! I looked down the side of the mountain, and it made me feel so sick and giddy that I put out my hands and caught the lines; this gave them a sudden jerk, the near horse started, and began to back—Abby screamed, and that frightened him more—I felt the wheel going over the edge—the bushes were close on the other side of the wagon—there was no place to jump—Ned dropped the lines and sprang out at the back—I remember seeing something break ...

— Continental Monthly, Vol. 4, No 3, September 1863 - Devoted to Literature and National Policy • Various

... pipe on the back of the hairy fist. 'They say 'Ell's 'otter than that,' said he, as Mulvaney swore aloud. 'You be warned so. Look yonder!'—he pointed across the river to a ruined temple—'Me an' you an' 'im'—he indicated me by a jerk of his head—'was there one day when Hi made a bloomin' show o' myself. You an' 'im stopped me doin' such—an' Hi was on'y wishful for to desert. You are makin' a bigger bloomin' ...

— Soldiers Three • Rudyard Kipling

... as they did plenty more in those times—cattle and what not. I'd forgive them the theft, if they hadn't spoilt the tune with a nasty jerk or two that murders the tender grace ...

— We and the World, Part II. (of II.) - A Book for Boys • Juliana Horatia Ewing

... opened the door, forgetting to announce my approach as I ought to have done, I saw Wynnie leaning over Connie, and Connie's arm round her waist. Wynnie started back, and Connie gave a little cry, for the jerk thus occasioned had hurt her. Wynnie had turned her head away, but turned it again at Connie's cry, and I saw ...

— The Seaboard Parish Vol. 3 • George MacDonald

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