as in to play (on or upon)
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Recent Examples of jerk around
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 vehicles are tricked out with surround sound, too; and at one point on our joyride the bus was jerked around by the bus driver to simulate the sensation of a subway speeding underfoot.
—Patricia Marx, New Yorker, 5 May 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
Jaden Ivey, Detroit Pistons Category: Starter to star After a year where the former lottery pick was jerked around in regard to minutes, role, and even on-court responsibilities, Ivey is now set to enter his third year, finally with some stability attached to his name.
—Morten Stig Jensen, Forbes, 17 Sep. 2024
The camera jerks around to emphasize the Captain’s growing panic.
—Terry Nguyen, Vulture, 19 May 2024
For a population like Gaza’s, there’s not enough food, people have been jerked around from place to place.
—Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 8 May 2024
The guy in the center seat where the stringer was tied off noticed it was being jerked around.
—Idaho Statesman, 2 Mar. 2016
The design stopped us from being jerked around when dogs were pulling, and the padded handle was comfortable to grip, as well.
—Camryn Rabideau, Peoplemag, 16 Jan. 2024
Grant Brisbee, New York Times, 18 June 2025
The vehicles are tricked out with surround sound, too; and at one point on our joyride the bus was jerked around by the bus driver to simulate the sensation of a subway speeding underfoot.
—Patricia Marx, New Yorker, 5 May 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
Jaden Ivey, Detroit Pistons Category: Starter to star After a year where the former lottery pick was jerked around in regard to minutes, role, and even on-court responsibilities, Ivey is now set to enter his third year, finally with some stability attached to his name.
—Morten Stig Jensen, Forbes, 17 Sep. 2024
The camera jerks around to emphasize the Captain’s growing panic.
—Terry Nguyen, Vulture, 19 May 2024
For a population like Gaza’s, there’s not enough food, people have been jerked around from place to place.
—Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 8 May 2024
The guy in the center seat where the stringer was tied off noticed it was being jerked around.
—Idaho Statesman, 2 Mar. 2016
The design stopped us from being jerked around when dogs were pulling, and the padded handle was comfortable to grip, as well.
—Camryn Rabideau, Peoplemag, 16 Jan. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for jerk around
Verb
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Fast-forward to this month, when Paramount agreed to a $16 million settlement to move past Trump's claims that CBS's 60 Minutes deceptively manipulated a pre-election interview with Kamala Harris.—
Ashley Belanger,
ArsTechnica,
25 July 2025
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The Dershowitz theory does not compute because the government invariably manipulates projections about future harm for ulterior partisan or personal motives.—
Bruce Fein,
Baltimore Sun,
24 July 2025
Verb
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This is when the teen uses social conflict to express frustration.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
16 July 2025
-
Sink the tool into the ground and use leverage to dislodge the rhizomes.—
Megan Hughes,
Better Homes & Gardens,
6 July 2025
Verb
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Gibson was also convicted of two counts of trafficking a person, pimping, pandering, keeping a place of prostitution, battery, possession of a firearm during commission of felony and other crimes, Fulton County media relations director Pallavi Bailey said.—
Natalie Neysa Alund,
USA Today,
22 July 2025
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Now, Townsend is being held without bail, facing charges of trafficking the girl through coercion, as well as pandering and pimping.—
Nate Gartrell,
Mercury News,
23 May 2025
Verb
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Meanwhile, Trump has intensified the talks with other trading partners, leveraging threats of higher tariffs to extract concessions, with an apparent target on curbing transshipments linked to China.—
Anniek Bao,
CNBC,
14 July 2025
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And the hardware is fully leveraged in firmware and the operating system.—
Patrick Moorhead,
Forbes.com,
14 July 2025
Verb
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Therefore, in the face of employer abuse, one of the few remaining remedies available to mistreated workers is facing the terrifying prospect of striking in defense of their rights.—
Nick Gauthier,
Hartford Courant,
7 July 2025
-
Vanderbilt University Medical Center has been sued for the third time in two years by former employees accusing the VUMC chief medical officer of mistreating them.—
Evan Mealins,
The Tennessean,
2 July 2025
Verb
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Overstreet received a $2,700 check from the Ocala Police Department for his nonprofit in 2022, during the same timeframe when he was accused of abusing the teen girl, records show.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
14 July 2025
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Under our nation's laws, our government has the authority to revoke your green card if our laws are broken and abused.—
Mandy Taheri,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Jerk around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jerk%20around. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
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