yanks 1 of 2

noun

plural of yank
as in tugs
the act or an instance of applying force on something so that it moves in the direction of the force had to give the shoe a good yank to get it off

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

yanks

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of yank
1
as in jerks
to move or cause to move with a sharp quick motion she stupidly yanked the wheel while I was driving

Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in pulls
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 grabs
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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of yanks
Noun
The yanks are coming, the yanks are coming! — Kirk Bowman, The Conversation, 9 June 2026
Verb
One officer yanks him down to the pavement about 20 seconds later. — Michele Gile, CBS News, 7 Oct. 2026 When that doesn’t work, Vicki yanks off her mic and retreats to her bedroom, leaving the others uncertain of what to do next. — Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2026 Johnson yanks veterans' benefits package An effort to advance a package of VA benefits bills this morning on the House floor went down in flames – the latest in Speaker Mike Johnson's struggle to get Republicans on the same page. — Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 16 July 2026 Like a false note on an out-of-tune piano, a clunky verb, a sentence without rhythm, yanks the reader out the flow of the work. — Literary Hub, 19 May 2026 Maden takes thee wine bottle from him and the officers reach for his wrists but Brown resists and yanks his arms back, the video shows. — Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 19 Apr. 2026 Leaphorn yanks the jug his way (despite being cuffed) and is able to put the filter packet down his pants. — Jordan Hoffman, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Apr. 2026 According to the footage, Falcinelli then moves toward the officer before the officer yanks him by the arm. — Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 24 Feb. 2026 Behind Jovan, the posse breaks into boardinghouses, yanks a miner from behind a grocery counter, shoots another dead in his home. — Masha Hamilton, Longreads, 19 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for yanks
  1. tugs
  2. jerks
  3. pulls
  4. grabs
  5. twitches
  6. pries
  7. tears
  8. lurches
Noun
  • Electric tugs docked alongside an LNG carrier being loaded at the LNG Canada docks in Kitimat, British Columbia, Canada, on Monday, July 14, 2025.
    — Sam Meredith, CNBC, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Pisces February 19 – March 20 When home tugs, work needs kinder structure.
    — Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of tugs
Verb
  • In a viral video of the aftermath, the robot jerks back and forth to shake the glass off, showering yet more dangerous shards onto the sidewalk.
    — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 26 Mar. 2026
  • Ross’s video does not show if the SUV made contact with him, as the camera angle jerks up to the sky.
    — Danya Gainor, CNN Money, 12 Jan. 2026
Definition of jerks
Verb
  • Carl drops onto the couch, pulls Maribeth down on top of him.
    — George Saunders, New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2026
  • When Randle pulls a defender into the paint, Porter has room to shoot if the ball comes back out.
    — C.J. Holmes, New York Daily News, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of pulls
Verb
  • Nope, the Crimson Tide would most likely be on the outside looking in, while someone else from the SEC grabs their spot in the postseason.
    — Trey Wallace OutKick, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The suspect runs inside, grabs rolls of lottery tickets, stuffs them into a bag and runs out.
    — Tara Lynch, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of grabs
Verb
  • Persistent muscle twitches Everyone’s muscles twitch from time to time, usually at various locations.
    — Angela Haupt, Time, 15 Jan. 2026
  • Some devices, for example, track eye movements or other small muscle twitches to let users select words from a screen.
    — Emma R. Hasson, Scientific American, 14 Aug. 2025
Definition of twitches
Verb
  • By fields of cotton and soybeans where his bees forage and pollinate, Foster Hensel pries open the lid of one of his beehives, setting off a rising hum from inside.
    — Drew Hawkins, NPR, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Remove the 11 Philips-head screws on the bottom of the laptop, and its bottom pries up with a bit of pressure.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of pries
Verb
  • But as measles tears through many of their hometowns in central Pennsylvania, the national conversation has become paradoxically politically charged.
    — Deidre McPhillips, CNN Money, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Following her father’s unexpected death, Carrie enters the public high school ecosystem and is forced to navigate a viral bullying scandal that tears through her community.
    — Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of tears
Verb
  • The alternative is a region that lurches from crisis to crisis, and from one extreme to another.
    — DAN RESTREPO, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2026
  • With a cigarette dangling from her lips, ashes and curse words ever ready to fall, Angela lurches around the house critical of everything and everyone.
    — Jay Weissberg, Variety, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of lurches

Browse Nearby Words

yanking
yanks
yap
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Yanks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/yanks. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of compunction

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All