jerk

Fetched 2026-10-31 (live).

Datamuse reports no synonyms or antonyms for this word.

Noun

A sudden, often uncontrolled movement, especially of the human body.
A quick pull on something.
- When I yell "OK," give the mooring line a good jerk!
A person with unlikable or obnoxious qualities and behavior, typically mean, immoral, self-centered, or disagreeable.
- I finally fired him, because he was being a real jerk to his customers, even to some of the staff.
- You really are a jerk sometimes.
A stupid person; an idiot or fool.
A lift in which the weight is taken with a quick motion from shoulder height to a position above the head with arms fully extended and held there for a brief time.
Masturbation. An act of satirizing behavior that is, to an extent, common in a community, especially in circlejerk subreddits.
- Jerk of the Year contender
An act of satirizing behavior that is, to an extent, common in a community, especially in circlejerk subreddits.
- Jerk of the Year contender
A dance, popular in Western culture in the 1960s, in which the head and upper body is thrown forwards regularly to the beat of the music.
The rate of change in acceleration with respect to time.
Ellipsis of soda jerk.

To make a sudden uncontrolled movement.
To give a quick, often unpleasant tug or shake.
To masturbate.
- This is jerking’s 9/11
To satirize behavior that is, to an extent, common in a community, especially in circlejerk subreddits.
- This is jerking’s 9/11
To beat, to hit.
To throw with a quick and suddenly arrested motion of the hand.
- to jerk a stone
To lift using a jerk.
To flout with contempt.

A rich, spicy Jamaican marinade.
Meat (or sometimes vegetables) cured by jerking, in which it is coated in spices and slow-cooked over a fire or grill traditionally composed of green pimento wood positioned over burning coals; charqui.
- Jerk chicken is a local favorite.

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wiktionary) · cached copy, not a rewrite.