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
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
Sophia Panych, Allure, 16 Sep. 2025
After a sacrifice bunt and Sears’ eighth strikeout — one shy of a season high — the 29-year-old left-hander grooved a middle-in sweeper for Blaine Crim to yank out to left, some 439 feet from the plate.
—Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Sep. 2025
Cameron Kaiser, ArsTechnica, 12 Sep. 2025
Visitors to China will want to lighten their grip, while folks introducing themselves to Germans should know to stop after one firm downward yank.
—Chris Ciolli, AFAR Media, 15 July 2025
Chris Ciolli, AFAR Media, 15 July 2025
Running on a level surface (in supportive shoes—see above!) can serve as plenty a cardio workout without the extra yank on your plantar fascia.
—Erica Sloan, SELF, 20 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for yank
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Verb
The pre-waxed strips latch onto hairs with the strength of a baby’s fist, yanking them out right at the roots with about as much discomfort as ripping off a (very sticky) Band-Aid.
—Sophia Panych, Allure, 16 Sep. 2025
After a sacrifice bunt and Sears’ eighth strikeout — one shy of a season high — the 29-year-old left-hander grooved a middle-in sweeper for Blaine Crim to yank out to left, some 439 feet from the plate.
—Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Sep. 2025
Noun
Effectively, this turned the workspace into a yank buffer along with all your documents, and undoing any destructive editing operation thus became merely another cut and paste.
—Cameron Kaiser, ArsTechnica, 12 Sep. 2025
Visitors to China will want to lighten their grip, while folks introducing themselves to Germans should know to stop after one firm downward yank.
—Chris Ciolli, AFAR Media, 15 July 2025
Noun
Visitors to China will want to lighten their grip, while folks introducing themselves to Germans should know to stop after one firm downward yank.
—Chris Ciolli, AFAR Media, 15 July 2025
Running on a level surface (in supportive shoes—see above!) can serve as plenty a cardio workout without the extra yank on your plantar fascia.
—Erica Sloan, SELF, 20 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for yank
Cite this Entry
“Yank.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yank. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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