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
-
Fix it Melissa Kingston, who serves as City Plan Commissioner for District 14, which includes parts of downtown and Uptown, said Saturday the report was deliberately manipulated to justify demolition rather than preservation.—
Nick Wooten,
Dallas Morning News,
21 Feb. 2026
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Bills in the House and Senate would ban attempts to manipulate or alter the weather, like cloud seeding.—
Stephen Gruber-Miller,
Des Moines Register,
20 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Eco effort The hotel uses solar power and has complimentary electric vehicle charging stations, in addition to offering glass bottles of water and several water stations.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
21 Feb. 2026
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Officials are also trying to make sure that the electronic logging devices drivers use are accurate, and that states are following all the regulations to ensure drivers are qualified to get commercial licenses.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
21 Feb. 2026
Verb
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On Thursday, Dong and Nie were arrested at their home in Hacienda Heights and booked on suspicion of pimping, pandering and conspiracy.—
Summer Lin,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Feb. 2026
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Armstrong has been charged by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office Human Exploitation and Trafficking Unit with single counts of human trafficking of a minor, pimping a minor over the age of 16 years and pandering with a minor over 16 years old — all felonies.—
City News Service,
Oc Register,
15 Jan. 2026
Verb
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And ever since taking the leap, the 30-year-old has been leveraging both his athletic prowess and STEM skills in the banking industry.—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
22 Feb. 2026
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By leveraging its presence at the World Defense Show, Hyundai Rotem is making the case that hydrogen fuel cells have moved beyond the prototype phase and into the realm of operational viability.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
22 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Several cases involve force and abuse The AP’s review found a pattern of charges involving ICE employees and contractors who mistreated vulnerable people in their care.—
Ryan J. Foley,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Feb. 2026
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The Rafah border crossing, meant to support the ceasefire, has seen minimal passage and reports of Palestinians being interrogated and mistreated.—
Wafaa Shurafa,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
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These violent online groups have allegedly abused hundreds of mostly female minor victims worldwide, according to Homeland Security Investigations.—
Brittny Mejia,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Feb. 2026
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Giuffre Roberts became a lightning rod to many people who said they'd been abused or trafficked by Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.—
Laura Trujillo,
USA Today,
21 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Jerk around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jerk%20around. Accessed 25 Feb. 2026.
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