as in to play (on or upon)
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Recent Examples of jerk around
He was locked up to be a franchise player, and franchise players aren’t typically jerked around like that.
—
Grant Brisbee, New York Times, 18 June 2025
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
Grant Brisbee, New York Times, 18 June 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for jerk around
Verb
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Fast-forward to this month, when Paramount agreed to a $16 million settlement to move past Trump's claims that CBS's 60 Minutes deceptively manipulated a pre-election interview with Kamala Harris.—
Ashley Belanger,
ArsTechnica,
25 July 2025
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The Dershowitz theory does not compute because the government invariably manipulates projections about future harm for ulterior partisan or personal motives.—
Bruce Fein,
Baltimore Sun,
24 July 2025
Verb
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This is when the teen uses social conflict to express frustration.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
16 July 2025
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The treatment had never been used on a species of raptor before, but Ammann took a leap and sent them an email.—
Karissa Waddick,
USA Today,
6 July 2025
Verb
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Gibson was also convicted of two counts of trafficking a person, pimping, pandering, keeping a place of prostitution, battery, possession of a firearm during commission of felony and other crimes, Fulton County media relations director Pallavi Bailey said.—
Natalie Neysa Alund,
USA Today,
22 July 2025
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Now, Townsend is being held without bail, facing charges of trafficking the girl through coercion, as well as pandering and pimping.—
Nate Gartrell,
Mercury News,
23 May 2025
Verb
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Can Nigeria leverage its Olympic successes to secure a historic fifth crown?—
Sindiswa Mabunda,
Forbes.com,
26 July 2025
-
Philippines Seeking Deal: Trump is set to meet at the White House with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines, who is seeking to leverage his country’s close relationship with the United States to secure a more favorable trade deal.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
25 July 2025
Verb
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Women are often mistreated with aggressive surgical techniques that can be avoided.—
Nkem Osian,
Baltimore Sun,
23 July 2025
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In the short term, closing the cases would allow the local governments in question to continue allegedly mistreating minority communities, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.—
Jesse Coburn,
ProPublica,
18 July 2025
Verb
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According to prosecutors, Maxwell helped Jeffrey Epstein recruit, groom, and abuse minor girls from about 1994 to about 2004, including girls as young as 14 years old.—
Christopher Cann,
USA Today,
25 July 2025
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At the time of her death, Sardinha was studying to become a counselor with the hope of working with women who had been abused, her mother told Orange County Superior Court Judge Michael J. Leversen.—
Sean Emery,
Oc Register,
25 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Jerk around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jerk%20around. Accessed 30 Jul. 2025.
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