jerk around

verb

Definition of jerk aroundnext
as in to play (on or upon)

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of jerk around Ciri gets a bit more agency and backbone, a welcome evolution for a character who has been jerked around by the plot, her allies and her enemies for too long. — Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 30 Oct. 2025 And that’s not even taking into consideration the continual jerking around of Busy Philipps. — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 18 July 2025 He was locked up to be a franchise player, and franchise players aren’t typically jerked around like that. — Grant Brisbee, New York Times, 18 June 2025 The shocking news out of this summer’s Olympic break-dancing competition in Paris wasn’t that a female Australian competitor had hopped and jerked around like Uma Thurman being revived from a drug coma in Pulp Fiction. — Christian Schneider, National Review, 24 Oct. 2024 See All Example Sentences for jerk around
Recent Examples of Synonyms for jerk around
  1. manipulate
  2. use
  3. pimp
  4. leverage
  5. mistreat
  6. abuse
Verb
  • Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday the Pentagon has not manipulated the service.
    — Jennifer Jacobs, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Without that provenance, the agent can’t reliably distinguish current operational truth from stale, incomplete or manipulated information.
    — Shekhar Iyer, Forbes.com, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of manipulate
Verb
  • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates US data centers used about 17 billion gallons of water for cooling in 2023, and that could double or even quadruple by 2028.
    — Adhum Carter Wolde-Lule, Fortune, 20 Oct. 2026
  • However, the available demonstration does not specify the training setup, how responsibilities the divided between the learning methods, or the precise control architecture used during execution.
    — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of use
Verb
  • Norfleet, 26, was initially charged with pimping after bringing a 20-year-old woman to a hotel on the 1700 block of Embarcadero in Oakland.
    — Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 25 Sep. 2026
  • The three were charged with crimes including pimping and pandering, money laundering, and tax and payroll fraud, the district attorney’s office said.
    — Fedor Zarkhin, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of pimp
Verb
  • According to Sabbagh, Equatys will be able to leverage 400 relationships with mobile network operators across the world.
    — Melissa Hancock, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Beijing, meanwhile, accuses Washington of economic coercion while leveraging its dominance over critical supply chains to press the United States and Europe.
    — Henry Farrell, Foreign Affairs, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of leverage
Verb
  • Dustin Degenhardt, a voter in the town of Wainwright, said that Albertans have long been mistreated by Canada’s federal government.
    — Rob Gillies, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Dustin Degenhardt, a voter in the town of Wainwright, said that Albertans have long been mistreated by Canada's federal government.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of mistreat
Verb
  • After teenage boys first reported that they had been abused in 2005, Church of the Resurrection conducted an internal investigation that court records show was inconclusive.
    — Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Acton’s campaign on Tuesday posted a video of her brother, who supported her backstory about living in a tent and being abused.
    — Julie Carr Smyth, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of abuse

Browse Nearby Words

jerk
jerk around
jerked
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Cite this Entry

“Jerk around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jerk%20around. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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