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
Her only help came from a passenger who yanked the girls away.
—
Caitlin McGlade, Charlotte Observer, 2 June 2026
The theater was also immediately gutted, the audience chairs yanked out and flung into a pile in the middle of the studio.
—Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 22 May 2026
Miller overcorrected with his next pitch and yanked a fastball way inside before sending a fastball above the zone.
—Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 May 2026
Once, Denise yanked an earring out of Djena’s left ear, tearing the lobe.
—Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, New Yorker, 18 May 2026
That infuriatingly catchy Kars4Kids donation jingle got yanked off the air in California.
—Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 17 May 2026
The rookie was yanked after allowing six goals on 33 shots in Game 6.
—ABC News, 17 May 2026
Calling out the Chiefs fan for being a bandwagoner was funny, as was Aqib Talib’s chain bit against the Raiders, calling back to when Talib yanked a chain off of former Raiders wide receiver Michael Crabtree.
—Jayna Bardahl, New York Times, 15 May 2026
The move yanked King from her role as chair.
—Tess Riski
may 14, Miami Herald, 14 May 2026
Caitlin McGlade, Charlotte Observer, 2 June 2026
The theater was also immediately gutted, the audience chairs yanked out and flung into a pile in the middle of the studio.
—Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 22 May 2026
Miller overcorrected with his next pitch and yanked a fastball way inside before sending a fastball above the zone.
—Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 May 2026
Once, Denise yanked an earring out of Djena’s left ear, tearing the lobe.
—Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, New Yorker, 18 May 2026
That infuriatingly catchy Kars4Kids donation jingle got yanked off the air in California.
—Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 17 May 2026
The rookie was yanked after allowing six goals on 33 shots in Game 6.
—ABC News, 17 May 2026
Calling out the Chiefs fan for being a bandwagoner was funny, as was Aqib Talib’s chain bit against the Raiders, calling back to when Talib yanked a chain off of former Raiders wide receiver Michael Crabtree.
—Jayna Bardahl, New York Times, 15 May 2026
The move yanked King from her role as chair.
—Tess Riski
may 14, Miami Herald, 14 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for yanked
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
-
John jerked Maggie back by the elbow and stopped her from stepping into the street.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 May 2026
Verb
-
Colorado pulled to 8-3 in the fifth on Tyler Freeman’s two-run homer, but the Angels answered again in the bottom half on Jo Adell’s RBI single for a 9-3 lead.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
4 June 2026
-
The hood’s intake is mounted at the back, so smoke and fumes rising from the back burners get pulled straight up into it.—
Angela Haupt,
Time,
3 June 2026
Verb
-
He's also grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out 4 assists.—
Andrew Greif,
NBC news,
4 June 2026
-
Spurs reserve Harrison Barnes accidentally collided with Brunson's right knee while falling to the floor, and the Knicks star immediately grabbed at the leg in apparent pain.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
4 June 2026
Verb
-
By 2024 that gap reached 27 points – not because working-class voters lurched toward anti-government extremism, but because mainstream Democrats became dramatically more trusting of government as an instrument of social change.—
Nicholas Jacobs,
The Conversation,
2 June 2026
-
As Aden Kassaye and her mother got out to inspect the damage, Beas Solorio reportedly lurched the BMW forward, making contact with Ayalew’s torso, prompting Ayalew to slam her hands on the BMW’s hood to brace herself and yell at the driver.—
Robert Salonga,
Mercury News,
30 May 2026
Verb
-
On May 5, three people dressed in waterproof hip waders and other protective gear pried open a maintenance hole cover and descended into the sewer on a street in Queens.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
2 June 2026
-
Pleasure and pressure, individual desire and collective manipulation—these would-be poles all overlap on bitknot because they can’t be pried apart in life.—
Sadie Sartini Garner,
Pitchfork,
1 June 2026
Verb
-
The fire ripped through Hawthorne Village on May 11, forcing families to stay in hotels, motels and with other relatives.—
Tammy Mutasa,
CBS News,
4 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
-
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
-
My jaw twitched uncontrollably.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
15 May 2026
Verb
-
In an exclusive clip shared with PEOPLE, a focus group of women who have either pursued or considered PMSR discuss the unknowns of the procedure, which allows patients to conceive biological children of deceased men using DNA extracted within 72 hours of death.—
Brian Brant,
PEOPLE,
4 June 2026
-
To see what was happening, his team added a dash of enzymes extracted from yeast cultures.—
Siddhant Pusdekar,
Quanta Magazine,
1 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Yanked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/yanked. Accessed 8 Jun. 2026.
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