as in to play (on or upon)
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Recent Examples of jerk around
The vehicles are tricked out with surround sound, too; and at one point on our joyride the bus was jerked around by the bus driver to simulate the sensation of a subway speeding underfoot.
—
Patricia Marx, New Yorker, 5 May 2025
The shocking news out of this summer’s Olympic break-dancing competition in Paris wasn’t that a female Australian competitor had hopped and jerked around like Uma Thurman being revived from a drug coma in Pulp Fiction.
—Christian Schneider, National Review, 24 Oct. 2024
Jaden Ivey, Detroit Pistons Category: Starter to star After a year where the former lottery pick was jerked around in regard to minutes, role, and even on-court responsibilities, Ivey is now set to enter his third year, finally with some stability attached to his name.
—Morten Stig Jensen, Forbes, 17 Sep. 2024
The camera jerks around to emphasize the Captain’s growing panic.
—Terry Nguyen, Vulture, 19 May 2024
For a population like Gaza’s, there’s not enough food, people have been jerked around from place to place.
—Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 8 May 2024
The guy in the center seat where the stringer was tied off noticed it was being jerked around.
—Idaho Statesman, 2 Mar. 2016
The design stopped us from being jerked around when dogs were pulling, and the padded handle was comfortable to grip, as well.
—Camryn Rabideau, Peoplemag, 16 Jan. 2024
One senses that these men are accustomed to being jerked around by the state.
—Alejandro Chacoff, The New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2023
Patricia Marx, New Yorker, 5 May 2025
The shocking news out of this summer’s Olympic break-dancing competition in Paris wasn’t that a female Australian competitor had hopped and jerked around like Uma Thurman being revived from a drug coma in Pulp Fiction.
—Christian Schneider, National Review, 24 Oct. 2024
Jaden Ivey, Detroit Pistons Category: Starter to star After a year where the former lottery pick was jerked around in regard to minutes, role, and even on-court responsibilities, Ivey is now set to enter his third year, finally with some stability attached to his name.
—Morten Stig Jensen, Forbes, 17 Sep. 2024
The camera jerks around to emphasize the Captain’s growing panic.
—Terry Nguyen, Vulture, 19 May 2024
For a population like Gaza’s, there’s not enough food, people have been jerked around from place to place.
—Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 8 May 2024
The guy in the center seat where the stringer was tied off noticed it was being jerked around.
—Idaho Statesman, 2 Mar. 2016
The design stopped us from being jerked around when dogs were pulling, and the padded handle was comfortable to grip, as well.
—Camryn Rabideau, Peoplemag, 16 Jan. 2024
One senses that these men are accustomed to being jerked around by the state.
—Alejandro Chacoff, The New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for jerk around
Verb
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Attackers can design prompts that insert malicious instructions through seemingly innocent prompts, manipulate the model to reset its understanding of its role or subtly influence the model's output by feeding misleading information or context.—
Etay Maor,
Forbes.com,
23 May 2025
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All platforms manipulate users to keep them scrolling.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
23 May 2025
Verb
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The initiative draws water from the L.A. River in downtown L.A., cleans it and uses it to irrigate Los Angeles State Historic Park.—
Lucy Handley,
CNBC,
1 June 2025
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Administration officials initially weighed using Section 122 to impose higher tariffs but decided not to, due to the 150-day limit.—
Elisabeth Buchwald,
CNN Money,
31 May 2025
Verb
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At the Willow Street property, officers arrested Bili Ruan, 50, of San Jose, on suspicion of pimping, Garibay said.—
Jason Green,
Mercury News,
11 Apr. 2025
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Another one let her cocaine-dealing thug son use her car before the kid went to federal prison for pimping.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
22 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Relations have only worsened in recent years, as Beijing has leveraged its budding economic and military power to ramp up pressure on its neighbor.—
ELY RATNER,
Foreign Affairs,
27 May 2025
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Lennar is well positioned to capitalize on this trend, leveraging its extensive land inventory and efficient construction processes.—
Joe Cornell,
Forbes.com,
27 May 2025
Verb
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The allegation that Afrikaners were being mistreated was at the center of an executive order Trump issued days later that cut all U.S. assistance to South Africa.—
Shane Croucher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 May 2025
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Two shows on Netflix last year helped inject momentum into a slow-moving legal process, and new interest in the brothers’ fate was fueled by campaigns on TikTok and other social media by younger people who felt the brothers were mistreated in the 1990s.—
Tim Arango,
New York Times,
15 May 2025
Verb
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The bill was named after Trey Carlock, a Dallas native who died by suicide in 2019 at the age of 28 after being abused by a Missouri summer camp director.—
Eleanor Dearman,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
27 May 2025
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Two tribal nations filed a lawsuit saying that the federal government used the trust fund money of tribes to pay for boarding schools where generations of Native children were systematically abused.—
Graham Lee Brewer,
Los Angeles Times,
24 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Jerk around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jerk%20around. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.
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