yanked; yanking; yanks
: to pull on something with a quick vigorous movement
1
: to pull or extract with a quick vigorous movement
2
: to remove in or as if in an abrupt manner
yanked the story from the evening edition
Synonyms
Examples of yank in a Sentence
Verb
He yanked the door shut.
She yanked on the dog's leash.
Noun (1)
had to give the shoe a good yank to get it off
Recent Examples on the Web
Kylie Robison, Fortune, 12 Apr. 2024
Among them were a woman in her 60s and her 11-year-old grandson, yanked from their apartment windows by strong wind together with their mattresses, according to CCTV citing media reports.
—Chris Lau, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024
In her new story, Smith said Lightbourne yanked her from the bathroom to the living room couch, the warrant states.
—Omar Rodríguez Ortiz, Miami Herald, 4 Apr. 2024
Photo agencies quickly deemed the picture manipulated and it was yanked from four news wire services.
—Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Mar. 2024
This three-in-one unit is designed to start easily without spending time yanking on the starter cord.
—Rachel Ahrnsen, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 Feb. 2024
Erik Spoelstra ran two actions to try to get Adebayo a 10th assist before yanking him for good with 59 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 30 Mar. 2024
Indeed, meetings—often over Zoom these days, though occasionally used as an excuse to yank people into an office—are ineffective at disseminating information, encouraging collaboration, and accomplishing tasks a whopping 72% of the time.
—Jane Thier, Fortune, 21 Mar. 2024
In its complaint to the European Commission, Epic accused Apple of yanking its approval of a developer account because of Epic’s past history of criticizing the iPhone maker.
—Brian Fung, CNN, 8 Mar. 2024
Sean Evans, Robb Report, 5 Apr. 2024
Now the big question is whether all the regulators pulling on the buckles and loops of Boeing’s straitjacket, with a potential yank from Justice to come, will seriously delay what looked like the start of strong comeback.
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 4 Mar. 2024
Her teacher promptly pulled her back into line with a yank whose mildness astonished me.
—Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 4 May 2023
Happy to help, Marsh popped over, entered the combination and gave it a good yank — success.
—Jonathan Edwards, Washington Post, 4 May 2023
As Fillies President Barb Wainwright gave the carnival-style wheel a vigorous yank, the five princesses crossed their fingers until the wheel slowed its rotations and came to a stop.
—Kirby Adams, The Courier-Journal, 16 Apr. 2023
Payakan gives the cable one final, powerful yank, launching Scoresby in one direction and his disembodied arm in another.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 20 Dec. 2022
The string yank method usually works best on hooks that are embedded past the barb at a downward angle, but not so deep that the hook point is turned upward.
—Matt Williams, Dallas News, 4 June 2022
At first the rider throws a rope around the neck of the small animal, stopping it mid-run with a forceful yank, which often tops the animal over.
—Susanne Ruststaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 13 Nov. 2022
Verb
There’s an interesting twist in the ongoing drama between TikTok and Universal Music Group, which yanked its giant catalog of music from the platform over issues around money and AI.
—Kylie Robison, Fortune, 12 Apr. 2024
Among them were a woman in her 60s and her 11-year-old grandson, yanked from their apartment windows by strong wind together with their mattresses, according to CCTV citing media reports.
—Chris Lau, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024
In her new story, Smith said Lightbourne yanked her from the bathroom to the living room couch, the warrant states.
—Omar Rodríguez Ortiz, Miami Herald, 4 Apr. 2024
Photo agencies quickly deemed the picture manipulated and it was yanked from four news wire services.
—Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Mar. 2024
This three-in-one unit is designed to start easily without spending time yanking on the starter cord.
—Rachel Ahrnsen, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 Feb. 2024
Erik Spoelstra ran two actions to try to get Adebayo a 10th assist before yanking him for good with 59 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 30 Mar. 2024
Indeed, meetings—often over Zoom these days, though occasionally used as an excuse to yank people into an office—are ineffective at disseminating information, encouraging collaboration, and accomplishing tasks a whopping 72% of the time.
—Jane Thier, Fortune, 21 Mar. 2024
In its complaint to the European Commission, Epic accused Apple of yanking its approval of a developer account because of Epic’s past history of criticizing the iPhone maker.
—Brian Fung, CNN, 8 Mar. 2024
Noun
Only the snarl of the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 will give away that this wagon’s packing 603 horsepower and 627 lb-ft of yank.
—Sean Evans, Robb Report, 5 Apr. 2024
Now the big question is whether all the regulators pulling on the buckles and loops of Boeing’s straitjacket, with a potential yank from Justice to come, will seriously delay what looked like the start of strong comeback.
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 4 Mar. 2024
Her teacher promptly pulled her back into line with a yank whose mildness astonished me.
—Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 4 May 2023
Happy to help, Marsh popped over, entered the combination and gave it a good yank — success.
—Jonathan Edwards, Washington Post, 4 May 2023
As Fillies President Barb Wainwright gave the carnival-style wheel a vigorous yank, the five princesses crossed their fingers until the wheel slowed its rotations and came to a stop.
—Kirby Adams, The Courier-Journal, 16 Apr. 2023
Payakan gives the cable one final, powerful yank, launching Scoresby in one direction and his disembodied arm in another.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 20 Dec. 2022
The string yank method usually works best on hooks that are embedded past the barb at a downward angle, but not so deep that the hook point is turned upward.
—Matt Williams, Dallas News, 4 June 2022
At first the rider throws a rope around the neck of the small animal, stopping it mid-run with a forceful yank, which often tops the animal over.
—Susanne Ruststaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 13 Nov. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'yank.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near yank
Cite this Entry
“Yank.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yank. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.
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