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Yerk
Definitions
- 1 A sudden or quick thrust or motion; a jerk. archaic
"Imagine twenty thouſand of them breaking into the midſt of an European Army, confounding the Ranks, overturning the Carriages, battering the Warriors Faces into Mummy, by terrible Yerks from their hinder Hoofs."
- 1 To stab (someone or something). archaic, transitive
"To doe no contriu'd mur[t]her; I lacke iniquity / Sometimes to do me ſeruice: nine or ten times, / I had thought to haue ierk'd him here, / Vnder the ribbes."
- 2 To throw or thrust with a sudden, smart movement; to kick or strike suddenly; to jerk.
"Their wounded steeds […] / Yerk out their armed heels at their dead masters."
- 3 To strike or lash with a whip or stick. Scotland, obsolete
- 4 To rouse or excite. Scotland, obsolete
- 5 To bind or tie with a jerk.
Etymology
From Middle English ȝerken (“to move suddenly, excite, bind tightly, attack”), from Old English ġearcian (“to prepare, make ready”), compare ġearc (“active, quick”), from Proto-Germanic *garwakōną (“to prepare”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- (“to grab, take”). Cognate with jerk; see yare for more cognates.
From Middle English ȝerken (“to move suddenly, excite, bind tightly, attack”), from Old English ġearcian (“to prepare, make ready”), compare ġearc (“active, quick”), from Proto-Germanic *garwakōną (“to prepare”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- (“to grab, take”). Cognate with jerk; see yare for more cognates.
See also for "yerk"
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