JERK

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does jerk mean? 

• JERK (noun)
  The noun JERK has 6 senses:

1. a dull stupid fatuous person

2. an abrupt spasmodic movement

3. (mechanics) the rate of change of acceleration

4. meat (especially beef) cut in strips and dried in the sun

5. raising a weight from shoulder height to above the head by straightening the arms

6. a sudden abrupt pull

  Familiarity information: JERK used as a noun is common.

• JERK (verb)
  The verb JERK has 5 senses:

1. pull, or move with a sudden movement

2. move with abrupt, seemingly uncontrolled motions

3. make an uncontrolled, short, jerky motion

4. jump vertically, with legs stiff and back arched

5. throw or toss with a quick motion

  Familiarity information: JERK used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• JERK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A dull stupid fatuous person

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

dork; jerk

Hypernyms ("jerk" is a kind of...):

misfit (someone unable to adapt to their circumstances)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "jerk"):

schmo; schmuck; shmo; shmuck ((Yiddish) a jerk)

Derivation:

jerky (having or revealing stupidity)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An abrupt spasmodic movement

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

jerk; jerking; jolt; saccade

Hypernyms ("jerk" is a kind of...):

motility; motion; move; movement (a change of position that does not entail a change of location)

Derivation:

jerk (make an uncontrolled, short, jerky motion)

jerk (throw or toss with a quick motion)

jerk (pull, or move with a sudden movement)

jerk (jump vertically, with legs stiff and back arched)

jerk (move with abrupt, seemingly uncontrolled motions)

jerky (lacking a steady rhythm)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(mechanics) the rate of change of acceleration

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Hypernyms ("jerk" is a kind of...):

rate (a magnitude or frequency relative to a time unit)

Domain category:

mechanics (the branch of physics concerned with the motion of bodies in a frame of reference)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Meat (especially beef) cut in strips and dried in the sun

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Synonyms:

jerk; jerked meat; jerky

Hypernyms ("jerk" is a kind of...):

meat (the flesh of animals (including fishes and birds and snails) used as food)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "jerk"):

beef jerky (strips of dried beef)

biltong (meat that is salted and cut into strips and dried in the sun)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Raising a weight from shoulder height to above the head by straightening the arms

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("jerk" is a kind of...):

weightlift; weightlifting (bodybuilding by exercise that involves lifting weights)

Holonyms ("jerk" is a part of...):

clean; clean and jerk (a weightlift in which the barbell is lifted to shoulder height and then jerked overhead)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A sudden abrupt pull

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

jerk; tug

Hypernyms ("jerk" is a kind of...):

pull; pulling (the act of pulling; applying force to move something toward or with you)

Derivation:

jerk (move with abrupt, seemingly uncontrolled motions)

jerk (pull, or move with a sudden movement)

• JERK (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they jerk    ... he / she / it jerks   
Past simple: jerked   
Past participle: jerked   
-ing form: jerking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Pull, or move with a sudden movement

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

jerk; yank

Context example:

He turned the handle and jerked the door open

Hypernyms (to "jerk" is one way to...):

draw; pull (cause to move by pulling)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

jerk (a sudden abrupt pull)

jerk (an abrupt spasmodic movement)

jerker (someone who gives a strong sudden pull)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Move with abrupt, seemingly uncontrolled motions

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

jerk; twitch

Context example:

The patient's legs were jerkings

Hypernyms (to "jerk" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Verb group:

jerk; twitch (make an uncontrolled, short, jerky motion)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

jerk (a sudden abrupt pull)

jerk; jerking (an abrupt spasmodic movement)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make an uncontrolled, short, jerky motion

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

jerk; twitch

Context example:

his face is twitching

Hypernyms (to "jerk" is one way to...):

move involuntarily; move reflexively (move in an uncontrolled manner)

Verb group:

jerk; twitch (move with abrupt, seemingly uncontrolled motions)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "jerk"):

fibrillate (make fine, irregular, rapid twitching movements)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody's (body part) ----s

Derivation:

jerk; jerking (an abrupt spasmodic movement)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Jump vertically, with legs stiff and back arched

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

buck; hitch; jerk

Context example:

the yung filly bucked

Hypernyms (to "jerk" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

jerk (an abrupt spasmodic movement)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Throw or toss with a quick motion

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

flick; jerk

Context example:

jerk his head

Hypernyms (to "jerk" is one way to...):

force; push (move with force)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

jerk (an abrupt spasmodic movement)

 Context examples 

These jerking movements were in unison with the recurrent spasms that attacked the throat, each spasm severer and more intense than the preceding one.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Hans snubbed the rope around the tree, and Buck and Thornton were jerked under the water.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

“I’ve got him here,” he whispered, jerking his thumb over his shoulder; “he’s all right.”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The boat-puller obeyed, taking a turn around the little forward thwart and paying the line as it jerked taut.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

“I would umbly ask, sir,” returned Uriah, with a jerk of his malevolent head, “for leave to write again to mother.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“One moment—one moment!” cried a querulous voice, and we looked up to find a queer little old man, jerking and twitching in the doorway.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"I'm glad of it!" muttered Jo, tying on her hat with a jerk.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He jerked his shoulder petulantly away from the grip of his questioner.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

These last I broke through with a sudden jerk, and then regained the deck by the starboard shrouds.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

He jerked backwards with his thumb.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)