yank
verb/jæŋk/
/jæŋk/
[transitive, intransitive] (informal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they yank | /jæŋk/ /jæŋk/ |
| he / she / it yanks | /jæŋks/ /jæŋks/ |
| past simple yanked | /jæŋkt/ /jæŋkt/ |
| past participle yanked | /jæŋkt/ /jæŋkt/ |
| -ing form yanking | /ˈjæŋkɪŋ/ /ˈjæŋkɪŋ/ |
- to pull something/somebody hard, quickly and suddenly
- yank something/somebody (+ adv./prep.) He yanked her to her feet.
- yank something/somebody + adj. I yanked the door open.
- + adv./prep. Liz yanked at my arm.
Extra Examples- He yanked his arm free.
- Her head was yanked back hard.
- She yanked her hand away.
- She yanked the cigarette from his hand.
- The man grabbed her hair and yanked her head back.
Oxford Collocations DictionaryYank is used with these nouns as the object:- chain
- cord
Word Originlate 18th cent. (as a Scots word in the sense ‘sudden sharp blow’): of unknown origin.Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
Check pronunciation:
yank