as in to play (on or upon)
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Recent Examples of jerk around
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 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
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
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 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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for jerk around
Verb
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In this approach, quantum information is encoded in various properties of photons, and computation is performed by manipulating these photonic states using optical components.—
Gil Press,
Forbes.com,
16 Sep. 2025
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Tahoe is obviously getting more aggressive with icon-shape enforcement, up to and including automatically manipulating them and sentencing them to icon jail.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Photonic quantum computing is a quantum computation approach that uses photons—particles of light—as qubits.—
Gil Press,
Forbes.com,
16 Sep. 2025
-
Zoryve has a unique active ingredient—roflumilast, an enzyme inhibitor that’s being used for the first time in a topical medication.—
Megan McIntyre,
Allure,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Jamon Ward, 33, was arrested last month on charges of human trafficking, pimping, trafficking a minor and pandering, court records show.—
Nate Gartrell,
Mercury News,
8 Sep. 2025
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In Rolling Stone’s year-end issue for 1990, the first page had loads of stars giving their summary of the year, mostly pimping their latest career highlights.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
23 July 2025
Verb
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Counterterrorism strategies must continue to adapt to meet this evolving battleground, leveraging not only military and intelligence tools but also public-private partnerships with tech platforms, AI monitoring, and global diplomacy.—
Richard Frankel,
ABC News,
11 Sep. 2025
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The new strategy aims to leverage Ford’s iconic brand while simultaneously signaling that the car company is entering a new era, Materazzo said.—
Laya Neelakandan,
CNBC,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Trump has alienated Brazil by defending its former president, charged with trying to overturn a legitimate election, and South Africa, accusing it of mistreating its White citizens.—
Susan Page,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
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Instead, scenes of life at the nunnery are interspersed with childhood memories, usually involving her mother assisting people in need or her classmates mistreating vulnerable children.—
Nathaniel Moore
September 10,
Literary Hub,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
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More importantly, Penske also describes this dynamic as antitrust behavior from a company abusing what the federal government has already described as Google’s monopoly status in the realm of Internet search.—
Andy Meek,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
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The biggest Flock controversy centers on allegations that law enforcement has abused the company’s surveillance network to target women, immigrants, and people engaging in legal activity outside their home states.—
Jennifer Jolly,
USA Today,
14 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Jerk around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jerk%20around. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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