yank

/jæŋk/

/jeɪŋk/

Other forms: yanked; yanking; yanks

To yank is to pull or move suddenly and sharply. You might reach for a pan on the stove and then yank your hand away when you realize the handle is hot.

Your little sister might yank at your arm to get your attention, while a bully might yank your hair just to be mean. In both cases, they're tugging abruptly, and you can call the pull itself a yank. Don't confuse this noun with the yank that serves as a slightly offensive nickname for Americans, or even more specifically, for New Englanders. Dutch settlers in then New Amsterdam first used this word to insult English colonists in Connecticut.

Definitions of yank

1. verb

   pull, or move with a sudden movement
   synonyms: jerk

   type of:

   draw, force, pull

   cause to move by pulling
2. noun

   a sudden abrupt pull
   synonyms: jerk, tug

   type of:

   pull, pulling

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