jerking

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
jerk1

▶noun

• 1 a quick, sharp, sudden movement.

• 2 Weightlifting the raising of a barbell above the head from shoulder level by an abrupt straightening of the arms and legs.

• 3 informal a contemptibly foolish person.

▶verb

• 1 move with a jerk.

• 2 Weightlifting raise (a barbell) with a jerk.

• 3 (jerk someone around) N. Amer. informal deal with someone dishonestly or unfairly.

• 4 (jerk off) vulgar slang, chiefly N. Amer. masturbate.

– derivatives
jerker noun.

– origin C16 (denoting a stroke with a whip): prob. imitative.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
jerk2

▶verb (usu. as adj. jerked)

• 1 cure (meat) by cutting it into strips and drying it.

• 2 prepare (pork or chicken) by marinating it in spices and barbecuing it over a wood fire.

▶noun jerked meat.

– origin C18: from Latin Amer. Sp. charquear, from charqui, from Quechua echarqui ‘dried flesh’.