yanked; yanking; yanks
: to pull on something with a quick vigorous movement
1
: to pull or extract with a quick vigorous movement
2
: to remove in or as if in an abrupt manner
yanked the story from the evening edition
Synonyms
Examples of yank in a Sentence
Verb
He yanked the door shut.
She yanked on the dog's leash.
Noun (1)
had to give the shoe a good yank to get it off
Recent Examples on the Web
Alexander Tin, CBS News, 26 Apr. 2024
DeSantis succeeded in yanking $2 billion in assets under management from BlackRock, but as of last January, BlackRock still manages $13 billion for the state.
—Paolo Confino, Fortune, 23 Apr. 2024
The video shared online earlier this month shows the men—one in a red shirt, the other in a black shirt—pushing and yanking on red sandstone formations at Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Apr. 2024
Texas Tech broke a 7-7 tie on Will McEntire's first pitch of the night in the seventh inning as Austin Green yanked a ball off the top of the right-field wall for his fifth home run.
—Tom Murphy, arkansasonline.com, 17 Apr. 2024
My sister and friend cover my hair after NYPD yanked me up without it.
—Stepheny Price, Fox News, 15 Apr. 2024
There’s an interesting twist in the ongoing drama between TikTok and Universal Music Group, which yanked its giant catalog of music from the platform over issues around money and AI.
—Kylie Robison, Fortune, 12 Apr. 2024
Among them were a woman in her 60s and her 11-year-old grandson, yanked from their apartment windows by strong wind together with their mattresses, according to CCTV citing media reports.
—Chris Lau, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024
In her new story, Smith said Lightbourne yanked her from the bathroom to the living room couch, the warrant states.
—Omar Rodríguez Ortiz, Miami Herald, 4 Apr. 2024
Sean Evans, Robb Report, 5 Apr. 2024
Now the big question is whether all the regulators pulling on the buckles and loops of Boeing’s straitjacket, with a potential yank from Justice to come, will seriously delay what looked like the start of strong comeback.
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 4 Mar. 2024
Her teacher promptly pulled her back into line with a yank whose mildness astonished me.
—Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 4 May 2023
Happy to help, Marsh popped over, entered the combination and gave it a good yank — success.
—Jonathan Edwards, Washington Post, 4 May 2023
As Fillies President Barb Wainwright gave the carnival-style wheel a vigorous yank, the five princesses crossed their fingers until the wheel slowed its rotations and came to a stop.
—Kirby Adams, The Courier-Journal, 16 Apr. 2023
Payakan gives the cable one final, powerful yank, launching Scoresby in one direction and his disembodied arm in another.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 20 Dec. 2022
The string yank method usually works best on hooks that are embedded past the barb at a downward angle, but not so deep that the hook point is turned upward.
—Matt Williams, Dallas News, 4 June 2022
At first the rider throws a rope around the neck of the small animal, stopping it mid-run with a forceful yank, which often tops the animal over.
—Susanne Ruststaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 13 Nov. 2022
Verb
Meanwhile, the eye drops outbreak in humans also prompted a crackdown by the Food and Drug Administration across the industry, leading to millions more bottles of over-the-counter brands yanked from shelves and banned from import.
—Alexander Tin, CBS News, 26 Apr. 2024
DeSantis succeeded in yanking $2 billion in assets under management from BlackRock, but as of last January, BlackRock still manages $13 billion for the state.
—Paolo Confino, Fortune, 23 Apr. 2024
The video shared online earlier this month shows the men—one in a red shirt, the other in a black shirt—pushing and yanking on red sandstone formations at Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Apr. 2024
Texas Tech broke a 7-7 tie on Will McEntire's first pitch of the night in the seventh inning as Austin Green yanked a ball off the top of the right-field wall for his fifth home run.
—Tom Murphy, arkansasonline.com, 17 Apr. 2024
My sister and friend cover my hair after NYPD yanked me up without it.
—Stepheny Price, Fox News, 15 Apr. 2024
There’s an interesting twist in the ongoing drama between TikTok and Universal Music Group, which yanked its giant catalog of music from the platform over issues around money and AI.
—Kylie Robison, Fortune, 12 Apr. 2024
Among them were a woman in her 60s and her 11-year-old grandson, yanked from their apartment windows by strong wind together with their mattresses, according to CCTV citing media reports.
—Chris Lau, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024
In her new story, Smith said Lightbourne yanked her from the bathroom to the living room couch, the warrant states.
—Omar Rodríguez Ortiz, Miami Herald, 4 Apr. 2024
Noun
Only the snarl of the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 will give away that this wagon’s packing 603 horsepower and 627 lb-ft of yank.
—Sean Evans, Robb Report, 5 Apr. 2024
Now the big question is whether all the regulators pulling on the buckles and loops of Boeing’s straitjacket, with a potential yank from Justice to come, will seriously delay what looked like the start of strong comeback.
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 4 Mar. 2024
Her teacher promptly pulled her back into line with a yank whose mildness astonished me.
—Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 4 May 2023
Happy to help, Marsh popped over, entered the combination and gave it a good yank — success.
—Jonathan Edwards, Washington Post, 4 May 2023
As Fillies President Barb Wainwright gave the carnival-style wheel a vigorous yank, the five princesses crossed their fingers until the wheel slowed its rotations and came to a stop.
—Kirby Adams, The Courier-Journal, 16 Apr. 2023
Payakan gives the cable one final, powerful yank, launching Scoresby in one direction and his disembodied arm in another.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 20 Dec. 2022
The string yank method usually works best on hooks that are embedded past the barb at a downward angle, but not so deep that the hook point is turned upward.
—Matt Williams, Dallas News, 4 June 2022
At first the rider throws a rope around the neck of the small animal, stopping it mid-run with a forceful yank, which often tops the animal over.
—Susanne Ruststaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 13 Nov. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'yank.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near yank
Cite this Entry
“Yank.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yank. Accessed 30 Apr. 2024.
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