JERK • FREE-TRANSLATOR.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

... over, particularly about the head and neck. These parts were covered with a dirty grizzle of mixed hues. She was badly wind-broken; and at stated intervals of several minutes each, her back, from the spasmodic action of the lungs, heaved up with a jerk, as though she were trying to kick with her hind legs, and couldn't. She was as thin as a rail, and carried her head below the level of her shoulders; but there was something in the twinkle of her solitary eye (for she had but one), that told you she had no intention of giving up for ...

— The Scalp Hunters • Mayne Reid

... She were one of them dressed-up baggages with long earrings and a yeller handkercher round her head, a-telling fortunes; coming round the poor, silly gals with her long tongue and sly ways. She went in here, too.' Mr Robins guessed, though he could not see the jerk of the thumb in his direction. 'Mrs Sands told me so herself—the organist's listening was quickened to yet sharper attention—'she says she had quite a job to get rid of her, and thought she were after the spoons belike. But she says as she'd ...

— Zoe • Evelyn Whitaker

... his armpit. There is a deadly determination and deliberation in every movement that he makes. WILL jumps to his feet and looks at him. The revolver is uplifted in the air, as a Western man handles a gun, so that when it is snapped down with a jerk the deadly shot can be fired. LAURA is terror-stricken, but before the shot is fired she takes a step forward and extends one hand ...

— The Easiest Way - Representative Plays by American Dramatists: 1856-1911 • Eugene Walter

... temper and again shook his head negatively. The chief then seized the bridle, gave it a jerk that scared the horse, and nearly brought Mr. Stuart to the ground. Mr. Stuart immediately drew his pistol and presented it at the head of the impudent savage. Instantly his bullying ended, and he dodged behind the horse to get ...

— The Great Salt Lake Trail • Colonel Henry Inman

... he gave an impatient jerk to the carriage door, a movement which, like all his gestures, sprang from the nervous energy that found its outlet in the magnetism of his personality. People sometimes said that he resembled Perry Bridewell, who was, in fact, his distant cousin, but the likeness ...

— The Wheel of Life • Ellen Anderson Gholson Glasgow

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