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
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
At the end of the summer, the stock market began its famed five-year sprint, yanking the art market behind it.
—Jackson Arn, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024
Two months later, Cruise had its permit to operate in California yanked after public officials alleged that the company hadn’t been forthcoming about the details of a collision that seriously injured a pedestrian.
—Aarian Marshall, WIRED, 1 Mar. 2024
Most of the write-down ($700 million to $900 million) will stem from existing TV shows and movies that will be yanked from Paramount’s various digital and linear platforms and development projects that will be scrapped.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 28 Feb. 2024
At the center of the saga are two questions: Was the card legit, and why did Goldin yank it?
—Daniel Miller, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2024
Hamtramck City Councilman Khalil Refai, who introduced the resolution in December, approved 4-3, to rename Holbrook, yanked a red scarf from the street sign Thursday afternoon, unveiling it to applause.
—Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press, 8 Mar. 2024
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
The little guy’s first outing on the Nintendo DS saw HAL grabbing the system’s experimental nature and giving it a solid yank.
—PCMAG, 25 Mar. 2022
Verb
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
At the end of the summer, the stock market began its famed five-year sprint, yanking the art market behind it.
—Jackson Arn, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024
Two months later, Cruise had its permit to operate in California yanked after public officials alleged that the company hadn’t been forthcoming about the details of a collision that seriously injured a pedestrian.
—Aarian Marshall, WIRED, 1 Mar. 2024
Most of the write-down ($700 million to $900 million) will stem from existing TV shows and movies that will be yanked from Paramount’s various digital and linear platforms and development projects that will be scrapped.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 28 Feb. 2024
At the center of the saga are two questions: Was the card legit, and why did Goldin yank it?
—Daniel Miller, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2024
Hamtramck City Councilman Khalil Refai, who introduced the resolution in December, approved 4-3, to rename Holbrook, yanked a red scarf from the street sign Thursday afternoon, unveiling it to applause.
—Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press, 8 Mar. 2024
Noun
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
The little guy’s first outing on the Nintendo DS saw HAL grabbing the system’s experimental nature and giving it a solid yank.
—PCMAG, 25 Mar. 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 17 Apr. 2024.
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