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

The move could yank about 1,100 legacy plans, including Simple Choice, T-Mobile One, One Plus, and Magenta family of plans, CNET reports. — Jibin Joseph, PC Magazine, 29 June 2026 For the past couple of years, volunteers have cut grass, trimmed and yanked out invasive vines. — Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 28 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for yank

Recent Examples of Synonyms for yank

Noun

These shorts have an easy pull-on opening that eliminates the tug-and-jump dance associated with denim shorts.

— Rylee Johnston, PEOPLE, 14 July 2026
As if even Tuchel himself could not reverse the gravitational pull of these long, painful nights.

— Jack Pitt-Brooke, New York Times, 12 July 2026

Definition of pull

Verb

Watching their relationship devolve (never more so than when their sperm donor, a rakish, motorcycle-driving restaurant owner played by Mark Ruffalo, enters the scene) is most definitely a tear-jerking experience, as is the film’s final scene.

— Liam Hess, Vogue, 28 June 2026
Some were petty — like Reese committing a foul against Clark, then jerking her head back, impersonating Clark as a flopper.

— Candace Buckner, New York Times, 27 June 2026

Definition of jerk

Verb

In all, designing, building and assembling the horse involved a team of 45, not much less than the number of men on Odysseus’ ship (and roughly the same amount on board after the Cyclops and Scylla monsters had plucked off a few).

— Alex Ritman, Variety, 13 July 2026
This current year, though, feels like a regression, with a lineup that, bar one or two interesting choices, mostly feels like it could have been plucked straight out of 2015.

— Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 10 July 2026

Definition of pluck

Noun

Thus, with gravity the ultimate winner of this cosmic tug of war, the star's core collapses, sending violent shockwaves rippling outward into the outer stellar layers, which are ripped away.

— Robert Lea, Space.com, 10 July 2026
Momentus’ spacecraft can also serve as space tugs to ferry smaller satellites or experiments from one orbit to another.

— Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 9 July 2026

Definition of tug

Verb

There is something cultish about that idea — the player who tends not to start but has the knack to appear later on with antennae twitching, ready to seize the day and alter the course of a match.

— Amy Lawrence, New York Times, 21 June 2026
Leon Stetson was allegedly twitching, so officers moved him away from Carrie Stetson and started to render medical aid.

— Kellie Love, Hartford Courant, 12 June 2026

Definition of twitch

Verb

If the reorganization lag is being compounded by organized friction rather than just cost and complexity, the 8-to-12-year timeline Goldman extracted from the ICT era may turn out to be optimistic.

— Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 14 July 2026
Because the Lighthouse Nebula is relatively faint in X-rays, the researchers developed new analysis techniques to extract as much information as possible from the observations.

— Samantha Mathewson, Space.com, 14 July 2026

Definition of extract

Verb

Homeowners of that era ripped out their vegetable gardens and orange trees to set up oil rigs.

— Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2026
Los Angeles Fire Department arson investigators are probing a destructive fire that ripped through a Sun Valley strip mall early Sunday morning, destroying a beloved family-run market.

— Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 14 July 2026

Definition of rip

Browse Nearby Words

yammers

yank

yanked

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Style

“Yank.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/yank. Accessed 17 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of yank

noun

verb

Example Sentences

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