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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
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
2
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
3
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
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of yank
Cameron Kaiser, ArsTechnica, 12 Sep. 2025
Visitors to China will want to lighten their grip, while folks introducing themselves to Germans should know to stop after one firm downward yank.
—Chris Ciolli, AFAR Media, 15 July 2025
Literary Hub, 19 May 2026
Once, Denise yanked an earring out of Djena’s left ear, tearing the lobe.
—Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, New Yorker, 18 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for yank
Noun
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
Visitors to China will want to lighten their grip, while folks introducing themselves to Germans should know to stop after one firm downward yank.
—Chris Ciolli, AFAR Media, 15 July 2025
Verb
Like a false note on an out-of-tune piano, a clunky verb, a sentence without rhythm, yanks the reader out the flow of the work.
—Literary Hub, 19 May 2026
Once, Denise yanked an earring out of Djena’s left ear, tearing the lobe.
—Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, New Yorker, 18 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for yank
Recent Examples of Synonyms for yank
Noun
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In addition to queen rooms, there is also a family suite option with a private King room, bunk beds and a queen-sized pull-out with a kitchenette.—
Ella Gonzales
May 29,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
29 May 2026
-
Yet the pull toward the art world soon became undeniable.—
Daniel Fusch,
USA Today,
29 May 2026
Verb
-
In the summer of 2020, former Morgan Stanley trader Adam Crawley was wandering through Indonesia, Thailand and Australia, perfecting his qigong with a man called Master YanG, when a cold message on LinkedIn jerked him back to reality.—
Phoebe Liu,
Forbes.com,
26 May 2026
-
Don’t twist or jerk the tick, which can cause the mouth to break off in your skin.—
Don Sweeney,
Sacbee.com,
18 May 2026
Verb
-
Stop here for suggestions on the best nearby dog-friendly parks for your pup, to pick up breakfast vouchers, and to grab a list of participating local businesses that offer discounts to Hotel Lucia guests.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
2 June 2026
-
Rollins sneakily grabbed the title and put it near his abdomen.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
2 June 2026
Noun
-
Output and downtime tug hard as the intuitive Moon activates your 6th House of Work and Health, opposing fiery Mars in your 12th House of Solitude.—
Tarot.com,
New York Daily News,
28 May 2026
-
Your 2nd House of Resources faces a tug as temperamental Moon opposes aching Chiron in your 8th House of Intimacy and Resources, asking for careful boundaries.—
Tarot.com,
The Orlando Sentinel,
27 May 2026
Verb
-
Many a club’s board would have twitched in the face of the bare data, but the chain of command above Arteta stayed the course, and the FOMO is so high that tickets for Palace away this weekend are going for £45,000 ($60,000) on resale sites.—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
21 May 2026
-
It’s not made explicitly clear if these seemingly sympathetic kids are actually his worst bullies, but Machado-Graner’s eyes, lip twitch, and throat gulp in this short sequence tell a whole story in themselves.—
Josh Slater-Williams,
IndieWire,
20 May 2026
Verb
-
Whatever is plucked from the vegetable patch that day appears on the menu, accompanied by dangerously tasty sourdough, fermented using the appley waste from the cider production.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
2 June 2026
-
Decisive to their survival was the no-name midfielder Sabatini plucked out of Brazil.—
James Horncastle,
New York Times,
2 June 2026
Verb
-
In standard laser designs, this structural stress causes the hyper-fast pulses to destabilize and rip themselves apart.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
3 June 2026
-
On the first pitch of his assignment, Lewis ripped a 91 mph cutter from Omaha’s Mitch Spence for a home run.—
Dan Hayes,
New York Times,
3 June 2026
Verb
-
The energy crisis has only amplified that business case as fuel prices lurch.—
Justin Worland,
Time,
29 May 2026
-
Instead of thoughtful, adaptive action, characters lurch between hesitation and reckless decisions, with catastrophic results.—
Steve Denning,
Forbes.com,
21 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Yank.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/yank. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
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