jerk
pronunciation
How to pronounce jerk in British English:
UK [dʒɜːk]
How to pronounce jerk in American English:
US [ dʒɜːrk]
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- Noun:
- a dull stupid fatuous person
- an abrupt spasmodic movement
- (mechanics) the rate of change of velocity
- a sudden abrupt pull
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- Verb:
- pull, or move with a sudden movement
- move with abrupt, seemingly uncontrolled motions
- make an uncontrolled, short, jerky motion
- jump vertically, with legs stiff and back arched
- throw or toss with a quick motion
Word Origin
- jerk (v.1)
- "to pull," 1540s, "to lash, strike as with a whip," of uncertain origin, perhaps echoic. Related: Jerked; jerking.
- jerk (v.2)
- as a method of preserving meat, 1707, American English, from American Spanish carquear, from charqui (see jerky). Related: Jerked.
- jerk (n.2)
- "tedious and ineffectual person," 1935 (the lyric in "Big Rock Candy Mountain" apparently is "Where they hung the Turk [not jerk] that invented work"), American English carnival slang, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from jerkwater town (1878), where a steam locomotive crew had to take on boiler water from a trough or a creek because there was no water tank [Barnhart, OED]. This led 1890s to an adjectival use of jerk as "inferior, insignificant." Alternatively, or influenced by, verbal phrase jerk off "masturbate" [Rawson].
- jerk (n.1)
- 1550s, "stroke of a whip," from jerk (v.1). Sense of "sudden sharp pull or twist" first recorded 1570s. Meaning "involuntary spasmodic movement of limbs or features" first recorded 1805. As the name of a popular dance, it is attested from 1966. Sense in soda jerk attested from 1883, from the pulling motion required to work the taps.
Example
- 1. Can you believe what a jerk ross was being ?
- 2. Did you see that rude jerk ?
- 3. He was being more of a jerk then tommy .
- 4. Can you believe that jerk ?
- 5. This is # 1 because no one likes to work for a jerk or buy from a jerk .