YANK Synonyms: 67 Similar and Opposite Words

yank 1 of 2

noun

Definition of yank

as in pull

the act or an instance of applying force on something so that it moves in the direction of the force had to give the shoe a good yank to get it off

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

yank

2 of 2

verb

ˈyaŋk

as in to jerk

to move or cause to move with a sharp quick motion she stupidly yanked the wheel while I was driving

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in to pull

to draw out by force or with effort yanked out a tooth with a pair of pliers

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in to grab

to separate or remove by forceful pulling grab the other one, and let's see if we can't yank these two grocery carriages apart

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

reattach

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 yank

Noun

Soy sauce, Maggi seasoning, daikon and shiitake mushroom yank pot roast into new territory. — Scott Hocker, TheWeek, 24 Mar. 2026 Effectively, this turned the workspace into a yank buffer along with all your documents, and undoing any destructive editing operation thus became merely another cut and paste. — Cameron Kaiser, ArsTechnica, 12 Sep. 2025

Verb

Hours later, as the couple sat in a car outside a west Fort Worth bowling alley, an unknown man yanked open the passenger door. — Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Sep. 2026 Following Kimmel’s comment, FCC chairman Brendan Carr encouraged local broadcasters to yank the show from air and called for ABC’s parent company, Disney, to intervene. — Derek Lawrence, Entertainment Weekly, 8 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for yank

Recent Examples of Synonyms for yank

Noun

Their informal ‘pull-aside’ comes on the heels of a sweeping oil deal granting the United States a major stake in Venezuela’s vast reserves.

— Seung Min Kim, Los Angeles Times, 19 Sep. 2026
Most notably, the president will meet face-to-face with Venezuela's interim leader Delcy Rodriguez in a pull-aside meeting.

— ABC News, ABC News, 19 Sep. 2026

Definition of pull

Verb

And like any great sitcom, Friends runs the gamut from numbing brain-rot to tear-jerking sentimentality.

— Mack DeGeurin, Popular Science, 9 Sep. 2026
Even after a bailiff woke him up, Martin slumped over in his wheelchair, inside a courtroom bullpen, occasionally jerking and opening his eyes.

— Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of jerk

Verb

Her words, as if plucked from a Sunday morning sermon, speak to the source of her strength.

— Nicole Avery Nichols, Freep.com, 11 Sep. 2026
Trump sometimes plucks memes from a sprawling ecosystem of online conservative supporters, and sometimes his government staff produces them as part of their official messaging.

— Josh Boak, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of pluck

Verb

An urge strong enough to pull me away from the kitchen, grab my computer, and steal a table outside to scribble out my thoughts.

— Samantha Rees, Vogue, 21 Sep. 2026
The video then shows the deputy grabbing the wallet and opening it, showing Bolduc and the bodycam the contents.

— Steven Yablonski, CBS News, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of grab

Verb

This is not easy for Robin (Griffin), who, judging by his nervously twitching legs and tendency to info-dump on interlocutors, finds ordinary interactions very stressful.

— Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2026
When Karen goes to visit Hanneke in the hospital, Hanneke’s hand starts to twitch.

— Kelly Allen, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of twitch

Verb

Institute of Process Engineering (CAS), alongside Ganfeng Lithium, has launched the world’s first 500-tonne annual capacity production line in Jiangxi province to extract rubidium and cesium from lithium mining waste.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 15 Sep. 2026
True economic success in 2026 isn’t about extracting the last dollar from a negative-margin middle class.

— Katica Roy, Fortune, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of extract

Verb

Among the most destructive munitions in Western military arsenals, an MK-84 explosion sends metal fragments in every direction for thousands of feet, can rip through metal and thick concrete, and often creates large craters in the earth.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Sep. 2026
Bartlett was virtually unmarked and ripped a low shot into the far corner with Lloris frozen in net.

— Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of rip

Browse Nearby Words

yammers

yank

yanked

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Cite this Entry

Style

“Yank.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/yank. Accessed 22 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of yank

noun

verb

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