yank 1 of 2

noun

Definition of yanknext
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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

yank

2 of 2

verb

ˈyaŋk How to pronounce yank (audio)
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

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2
as in to pull
to draw out by force or with effort yanked out a tooth with a pair of pliers

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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

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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
  1. pull
  2. jerk
  3. pluck
  4. grab
  5. tug
  6. twitch
  7. extract
  8. rip
Noun
  • These elegant, loose-fitting pull-on pants sit high on the waist, creating a leg-lengthening effect.
    — Caroline Hughes, Travel + Leisure, 8 July 2026
  • This convergence is a very encouraging sign, providing the first footprint of a structural trend change and indicating that the selling pressure from the recent rug pull is finally exhausting itself.
    — Nishant Pant, CNBC, 7 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
  • Patina Osaka’s ground-floor restaurant, P72, focuses on seasonal produce sourced nearby and plucked daily from the hotel’s urban garden.
    — Kathryn Romeyn, Travel + Leisure, 7 July 2026
  • Eyebrows were being plucked into oblivion, bronzer was used in excess, and hair was parted deeply to one side.
    — Lauren Alberti, Allure, 6 July 2026
Definition of pluck
Verb
  • Schieffelin, who played football last season because had used up his basketball eligibility, used his bulky frame to grab eight rebounds on an 11-point night.
    — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 7 July 2026
  • Once the excitement had died down, the team gathered in a circle and a player went up to Haaland, grabbed the back of his neck and kissed his cheek.
    — Tim Rohan, NBC news, 6 July 2026
Definition of grab
Noun
  • The current federal and state-level policy push shaping how companies deploy AI systems is also experiencing a tug of war.
    — Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 2 July 2026
  • The tug of war is also hair-raising because China's approach puts the world's most powerful AI in the hands of bad actors, who could – and likely will – use the models to wreak havoc.
    — Craig S. Smith, Forbes.com, 1 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
  • Artisanal and small-scale gold mining accounts for the majority of gold extracted in the sprawling country, where safety standards are largely ignored.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2026
  • And yet, there is a reason why only 20% of AI adopters manage to extract real value while others lag behind.
    — Oleksandr Strozhemin, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026
Definition of extract
Verb
  • This is a clear example of how technology enables equipment upgrades without needing to rip and replace the underlying hardware asset.
    — Amit Chaturvedy, Fortune, 8 July 2026
  • It’s followed by Watts, coming in on drums slightly offbeat, and then Richards, who rips the song open with his five-string open G tuning technique.
    — René Ostberg, Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 July 2026
Definition of rip

Browse Nearby Words

yammers
yank
yanked
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Cite this Entry

“Yank.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/yank. Accessed 11 Jul. 2026.

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