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
-
But in addition to his reputation as a womanizer, Casanova was also a con man, a skilled liar who came from a family of actors and who over the course of his life manipulated and tricked countless people to maintain wealth and status.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
6 Oct. 2025
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Pushed to extremes While footage and photographs of starving Palestinians in Gaza have horrified audiences abroad, inside Israel they have been dismissed by many as manipulated or untrue.—
Zeena Saifi,
CNN Money,
5 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Little kids will enjoy its pre-programmed songs and dances, while older kids can use a smart app to program new movement patterns and routines.—
Anja Webb,
Parents,
7 Oct. 2025
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Participants will learn the differences between dabbling and diving ducks, their unique characteristics and how to use eBird to find local waterfowl viewing hot spots.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
7 Oct. 2025
Verb
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First there’s the obvious: Suga Free’s flows, cascading like water over desert rock in the Inland Empire; the cartoon anecdotes from a life spent pimping in Pomona; the most varied and virtuosic group of DJ Quik beats ever assembled.—
Pitchfork,
Pitchfork,
30 Sep. 2025
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That deal dropped three charges of human trafficking and five additional counts of pimping from his case.—
Lauren Penington,
Denver Post,
29 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s press office outlined new rules that would sharply restrict reporting, leveraging the fact that many military reporters have press credentials allowing physical access to the Pentagon complex.—
Brian Stelter,
CNN Money,
8 Oct. 2025
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The key was to leverage a setup known as a Josephson junction, pioneered by Nobel Laureate Brian Josephson back in 1962.—
Ethan Siegel,
Big Think,
8 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Israel has strongly denied allegations of mistreating the group.—
Catherine Nicholls,
CNN Money,
6 Oct. 2025
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The facility has also faced allegations of mistreating prisoners.—
Jade Jackson,
IndyStar,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The biggest controversy surrounding Flock Safety centers around allegations that law enforcement agencies have abused the company's technology to target women, immigrants and people engaged in activity.—
Wren Smetana,
AZCentral.com,
5 Oct. 2025
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Ed Gein later told investigators he and his brother were abused by his father, who died in 1940 of heart failure.—
Jeanine Santucci,
USA Today,
4 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Jerk around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jerk%20around. Accessed 11 Oct. 2025.
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