jerk

«jerk» in Mova's school dictionary: To move or pull suddenly and roughly — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (jerk, jerks, jerked, jerking); noun (a jerk, jerks)

meaning for a pupil

1) (verb) To move or pull suddenly and roughly. tree →

2) (noun) A quick, sudden movement or pull. tree →

3) (noun, rude, informal) A mean or stupid person. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science of forces and in stories it describes sudden movements: «The bus jerked forward», «with a jerk». In safety: a sudden jerk on a lead or rope can hurt. «Knee-jerk reaction» means a quick answer without thinking. The rude meaning is an insult, so it is not polite to call people that.

examples

• The car jerked forward when Dad let go of the brake. tree →
• She jerked her hand away from the hot pan. tree →
• The train stopped with a jerk. tree →
• The fish gave a jerk on the line. tree →
• He woke up with a jerk. tree →
• It was rude to call him a jerk. tree →
• The doctor tapped my knee and my leg jerked. tree →
• Seizing one corner of the half-worn blanket, Iktomi pulled it off with a jerk. tree →

note

Regular verb: jerked. Adjective «jerky» = moving in sudden stops and starts; «jerky» (noun) is also dried meat. Calling someone «a jerk» is name-calling and can be hurtful.

In the corpora

• The sudden jerk as you fall asleep is a common, harmless muscle twitch, and nobody is sure why it happens.
• A cramp must be stretched slowly and gently; jerking it hard can pull the muscle.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «jerk» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.