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
Alex Harris, Miami Herald, 24 Oct. 2025
Mel Brooks’ best comedy shares many similarities with his other revered films – a strong grip of genre beats, a non-stop barrage of gags yanking us forward, and an eagerness to give every performer a chance to comedically shine.
—Rory Doherty, Vulture, 20 Oct. 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
In both cases, as the danger was spreading through the waters of the Florida reefs, scientists were busily yanking surviving corals out of the water and saving them in aquariums across the state.
—Alex Harris, Miami Herald, 24 Oct. 2025
Mel Brooks’ best comedy shares many similarities with his other revered films – a strong grip of genre beats, a non-stop barrage of gags yanking us forward, and an eagerness to give every performer a chance to comedically shine.
—Rory Doherty, Vulture, 20 Oct. 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 4 Nov. 2025.
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