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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of yanked
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia yanked Monaco defender Vanderson into a series of strange shapes on the opposite touchline.
—
Jack Lang, New York Times, 26 Feb. 2026
Three varieties of cottage cheese sold under Walmart’s Great Value brand got yanked from stores in 24 states on potential pasteurization problems.
—David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 25 Feb. 2026
Trump has since yanked his endorsement of Hurd and threatened to follow suit against any Republican who voted to repeal tariffs.
—Rachel Schilke, The Washington Examiner, 24 Feb. 2026
But in late January, a cadre of federal workers yanked placards from the site’s brick walls in response to a March 2025 executive order from the White House that shunned complication.
—Adam Harris, The Atlantic, 19 Feb. 2026
Last fall Kimmel was temporarily yanked off the air after ABC was threatened by FCC chairman Brendan Carr; last summer Colbert’s show was canceled, purportedly for financial reasons, right around the same time its parent company was seeking Trump’s approval for a merger.
—Joy Press, Vanity Fair, 19 Feb. 2026
The National Institutes of Health, part of HHS, also yanked dozens of research grants supporting studies of vaccine hesitancy last year.
—Amanda Seitz, NPR, 13 Feb. 2026
Texas coach Vic Schaefer has also yanked post players Justice Carlton and Ashton Judd after on-court errors in the first half, and the Longhorns entered this timeout with four guards and Oldacre on the court.
—Danny Davis, Austin American Statesman, 6 Feb. 2026
Mitchell’s companion yanked a necklace off Reed’s neck before both suspects fled the area, authorities said.
—Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 5 Feb. 2026
Jack Lang, New York Times, 26 Feb. 2026
Three varieties of cottage cheese sold under Walmart’s Great Value brand got yanked from stores in 24 states on potential pasteurization problems.
—David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 25 Feb. 2026
Trump has since yanked his endorsement of Hurd and threatened to follow suit against any Republican who voted to repeal tariffs.
—Rachel Schilke, The Washington Examiner, 24 Feb. 2026
But in late January, a cadre of federal workers yanked placards from the site’s brick walls in response to a March 2025 executive order from the White House that shunned complication.
—Adam Harris, The Atlantic, 19 Feb. 2026
Last fall Kimmel was temporarily yanked off the air after ABC was threatened by FCC chairman Brendan Carr; last summer Colbert’s show was canceled, purportedly for financial reasons, right around the same time its parent company was seeking Trump’s approval for a merger.
—Joy Press, Vanity Fair, 19 Feb. 2026
The National Institutes of Health, part of HHS, also yanked dozens of research grants supporting studies of vaccine hesitancy last year.
—Amanda Seitz, NPR, 13 Feb. 2026
Texas coach Vic Schaefer has also yanked post players Justice Carlton and Ashton Judd after on-court errors in the first half, and the Longhorns entered this timeout with four guards and Oldacre on the court.
—Danny Davis, Austin American Statesman, 6 Feb. 2026
Mitchell’s companion yanked a necklace off Reed’s neck before both suspects fled the area, authorities said.
—Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 5 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for yanked
Verb
-
Aisha jerked and opened her eyes.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Jan. 2026
-
The two stood nose-to-nose on the field when the Steelers player grabbed onto Chase’s facemask, jerked his head and appeared to punch him.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
16 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
While Democrats dominated the early voting numbers in Pulaski County -- one of the few heavily blue pockets of the state -- Democrats outnumbered Republicans in election day voting on Tuesday with 18,363 people casting Democratic ballots compared to the 10,500 who pulled ballots for Republicans.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
5 Mar. 2026
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The prosecutor alleged that Abril confronted the couple, at which point James MacEgan was shot and killed, before Abril grabbed MacEgan’s wife and pulled her into the creek.—
Rosalio Ahumada,
Sacbee.com,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
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After scoring over Denver center Nikola Jokic in the fourth quarter, James fell to the court and immediately grabbed his left elbow.—
Broderick Turner,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Mar. 2026
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Based on court records, witness testimony and interviews with law enforcement, it’s believed that Sarah Wondra, along with one of the roommates, grabbed Michael and brought him back to the Wondras’ house.—
Alex Brizee
March 5,
Idaho Statesman,
6 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Elsewhere in town, the original creature, played by Christian Bale, has lurched here from Austria still on his lonely quest for companionship.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Mar. 2026
-
Then, just as abruptly, the plane lurched up, slamming everyone back to the ground.—
Burkhard Bilger,
New Yorker,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The officers pried open the panel to free the woman, who was unable to get out of the tank on her own, according to the court records.—
Alex Riggins,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 Mar. 2026
-
Hero Fiennes Tiffin and Dónal Finn, the stars of Amazon’s reimagined Young Sherlock series, have been pried away from set to talk to The Hollywood Reporter.—
Lily Ford,
HollywoodReporter,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Nestor Reyes played a ball into the box that rolled out toward the top of the area, where Rodriguez ripped a shot into the left corner of the goal.—
NWA Democrat-Gazette,
Arkansas Online,
5 Mar. 2026
-
The sophomore rushed the puck into the offensive zone, cut toward the middle and ripped a shot that nailed the top corner and extended the lead to two.—
Jack Murray,
Boston Herald,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Kearse twitched briefly after the lethal drugs began entering his system but stopped moving several minutes later.—
Freida Frisaro,
Sun Sentinel,
3 Mar. 2026
-
Through the scope, a polar bear twitched on the ice, 25 yards in front of me.—
Scott Haugen,
Outdoor Life,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Training the controllers The controllers of the humanoid robot were trained on dynamic parkour motions extracted from the dataset, using reinforcement learning.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
6 Mar. 2026
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To gain a more complete picture Rahman and Galib chemically extracted and analyzed the various rice proteins from brown rice, kernels, and rice bran.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
4 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Yanked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/yanked. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.
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