1
as in jerked
to move or cause to move with a sharp quick motion
she stupidly yanked the wheel while I was driving
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in pulled
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 grabbed
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
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Recent Examples of yanked
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson could’ve yanked him for the veteran Harrison Barnes.
—
Christian Clark, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2026
Jackson’s music was also yanked from several radio stations in New Zealand, but eventually re-added.
—Amelia McDonell-Parry, Rolling Stone, 22 Apr. 2026
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen got yanked after giving up his fourth goal – at least two were eminently stoppable – for Alex Lyon.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 22 Apr. 2026
Lindor, who has been the subject of criticism for his play thus far, yanked a shot into the seats, scoring Marcus Semien and Carson Benge — one of the few positives from this night.
—James O'Connell, New York Daily News, 22 Apr. 2026
As the smell intensified, Lina crossed to the front door of her apartment, undid the lock, and yanked the sticky door open.
—Danielle Parker, CBS News, 21 Apr. 2026
Hers is a life devoted to art despite the fact she was yanked from school and married off at sixteen.
—Literary Hub, 21 Apr. 2026
Burrows fell behind 3-0 to ninth hitter Victor Scott II, clawed back to 3-2, but yanked a fastball well inside.
—Matt Kawahara, Houston Chronicle, 19 Apr. 2026
Each would step up on the box, say a word or two, and then get yanked off by the police and carried to jail.
—Amelia Soth, JSTOR Daily, 15 Apr. 2026
Christian Clark, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2026
Jackson’s music was also yanked from several radio stations in New Zealand, but eventually re-added.
—Amelia McDonell-Parry, Rolling Stone, 22 Apr. 2026
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen got yanked after giving up his fourth goal – at least two were eminently stoppable – for Alex Lyon.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 22 Apr. 2026
Lindor, who has been the subject of criticism for his play thus far, yanked a shot into the seats, scoring Marcus Semien and Carson Benge — one of the few positives from this night.
—James O'Connell, New York Daily News, 22 Apr. 2026
As the smell intensified, Lina crossed to the front door of her apartment, undid the lock, and yanked the sticky door open.
—Danielle Parker, CBS News, 21 Apr. 2026
Hers is a life devoted to art despite the fact she was yanked from school and married off at sixteen.
—Literary Hub, 21 Apr. 2026
Burrows fell behind 3-0 to ninth hitter Victor Scott II, clawed back to 3-2, but yanked a fastball well inside.
—Matt Kawahara, Houston Chronicle, 19 Apr. 2026
Each would step up on the box, say a word or two, and then get yanked off by the police and carried to jail.
—Amelia Soth, JSTOR Daily, 15 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for yanked
Verb
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The plane jerked to a stop as two trucks passed just feet in front of its nose.—
Alexandra Skores,
CNN Money,
16 Apr. 2026
-
We are jerked between past and present as his backstory gets filled in, one jogged memory at a time.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
13 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
When agents approached, Marx ran, then pulled a handgun from his waistband while fleeing, according to a federal affidavit reviewed by Fox News Digital.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
7 May 2026
-
The loose, stretchy fit is comfortable enough for all-day sightseeing yet still looks pulled together for dinner reservations.—
Chaise Sanders,
Travel + Leisure,
6 May 2026
Verb
-
Sabres winger Zach Benson took advantage of Lane Hutson stumbling at the defensive blue line, and grabbed a loose puck before setting up Josh Doan for the opening goal less than five minutes into the game.—
Matthew Fairburn,
New York Times,
7 May 2026
-
When he was found, deputies said Ortiz became belligerent, yelled at employees, threatened to harm them with a gun, and grabbed one of the resort employees.—
Steven Yablonski,
CBS News,
6 May 2026
Verb
-
France lurched from republic to dictatorship to empire before cycling back through absolute monarchy, constitutional monarchy, Second Republic, and Second Empire.—
Sebastian Smee,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
-
An indictment filed in federal court in Sacramento on Thursday charges Mendoza Hernandez with one count of assault with a deadly weapon for each time his car lurched forward, incidents the government said were about seven seconds apart.—
Sharon Bernstein,
Sacbee.com,
1 May 2026
Verb
-
In what was billed an organizational coup, the Braves pried Chuck Tanner from the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cox from the Jays.—
Mark Bradley for the AJC,
AJC.com,
9 May 2026
-
From there, one person held the blue heron still as the other carefully and forcefully pried the oyster's shells apart with a screwdriver.—
Moná Thomas,
PEOPLE,
5 May 2026
Verb
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State patrol officials said the crash derailed six passenger cars and two locomotives, ripped open the truck’s tank of fuel and damaged the train tracks.—
Lauren Penington,
Denver Post,
7 May 2026
-
In the first inning of the Yankees matchup against the Texas Rangers at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, Rangers leadoff hitter Brandon Nimmo ripped the ball to left field off Yankees starter Paul Blackburn.—
Ryan Canfield,
FOXNews.com,
7 May 2026
Verb
-
Pebbles twitched, branches waggled, cholla wiggled, weeds erupted then dried up and died.—
Alina Hartounian,
NPR,
20 Apr. 2026
-
Kearse twitched briefly after the lethal drugs began entering his system but stopped moving several minutes later.—
Freida Frisaro,
Sun Sentinel,
3 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The court ordered the state to hand over the data DLI extracted from the sample.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
8 May 2026
-
As before, to make the identifications, the team extracted DNA from archaeological samples and compared it with mitochondrial and Y-chromosome DNA from descendants.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
8 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Yanked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/yanked. Accessed 10 May. 2026.
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