I. jerk 1 /dʒɜːk $ dʒɜːrk/ BrE AmE verb
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Origin: Probably from yerk 'to hit, pull suddenly' (16-19 centuries) ]
1 . [intransitive and transitive] to move with a quick sudden movement, or to make part of your body move in this way:
Wilcox jerked his head to indicate that they should move on.
‘Is that the only way out of here?’ he asked, jerking a thumb at the door.
jerk back/up/forwards etc
Suddenly, he jerked back in his chair.
The sound of the phone jerked me awake.
2 . [intransitive and transitive] to pull something suddenly and roughly
jerk at
Doyle jerked at the girl’s hair to make her sit down.
She jerked open the car door and got out.
jerk somebody around phrasal verb American English informal
to waste someone’s time or deliberately make things difficult for them
jerk off phrasal verb especially American English informal not polite
to ↑ masturbate
jerk out something phrasal verb written
to say something quickly and nervously:
‘Don’t lie,’ she jerked out.
II. jerk 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Sense 1: Date: 1500-1600 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ jerk 1 ]
[ Sense 2: Date: 1900-2000 ; Origin: Probably from jerk off ]
1 . a sudden quick movement:
He gave a sudden jerk of his head.
with a jerk
She started the car with a jerk and hit the bumper of the car in front.
2 . informal someone, especially a man, who is stupid or who does things that annoy or hurt other people SYN idiot :
I swore at him for being such a jerk.
III. jerk 3 BrE AmE adjective
jerk chicken/pork etc meat that has been left in spices or covered with spices before being cooked