What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Jerk vs Wrench - What's the difference?

jerk | wrench |

In obsolete terms the difference between jerk and wrench

is that jerk is to flout with contempt while wrench is means; contrivance.

In transitive terms the difference between jerk and wrench

is that jerk is to give a quick, often unpleasant tug or shake while wrench is to use the tool known as a wrench.

As nouns the difference between jerk and wrench

is that jerk is a sudden, often uncontrolled movement, especially of the body while wrench is a trick or artifice.

As verbs the difference between jerk and wrench

is that jerk is to make a sudden uncontrolled movement while wrench is to violently move in a turn or writhe.

jerk

English

Etymology 1

Probably from (etyl) . Related to (l).

Alternative forms

* (l)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A sudden, often uncontrolled movement, especially of the body.
  • * 1856 , (Gustave Flaubert), (Madame Bovary), Part III Chapter X, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling
  • The black cloth bestrewn with white beads blew up from time to time, laying bare the coffin. The tired bearers walked more slowly, and it advanced with constant jerks , like a boat that pitches with every wave.
  • A quick, often unpleasant tug or shake.
  • When I yell "OK," give the mooring line a good jerk !
  • (US, slang, pejorative) A dull or stupid person.
  • (US, slang, pejorative) A person with unlikable or obnoxious qualities and behavior, typically mean, self-centered or disagreeable.
  • I finally fired him, because he was being a real jerk to his customers, even to some of the staff.
    You really are a jerk sometimes.
  • (physics, engineering) The rate of change in acceleration with respect to time.
  • (obsolete) A soda jerk.
  • (weightlifting) A lift in which the weight is taken with a quick motion from shoulder height to a position above the head with arms fully extended and held there for a brief time.
  • Usage notes
    (wikipedia jerk) * Jerk is measured in metres per second cubed (m/s3) in SI units, or in feet per second cubed (ft/s3) in imperial units.
    Synonyms
    * (sudden movement) jolt, lurch, jump * (quick tug) yank * (stupid person) numbskull * (unlikable person) asshole, bastard, twat, knobhead, tosser, wanker, git, dick. * jolt (British), surge, lurch
    Derived terms
    * jerkish * soda jerk

    See also

    * acceleration * displacement * velocity

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make a sudden uncontrolled movement.
  • * 1877 , (Anna Sewell), (Black Beauty) Chapter 23[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Black_Beauty/23]
  • York came to me first, whilst the groom stood at Ginger's head. He drew my head back and fixed the rein so tight that it was almost intolerable; then he went to Ginger, who was impatiently jerking her head up and down against the bit, as was her way now.
  • To give a quick, often unpleasant tug or shake.
  • (US, slang, vulgar) To masturbate.
  • (obsolete) To beat, to hit.
  • (Florio)
  • (obsolete) To throw with a quick and suddenly arrested motion of the hand.
  • to jerk a stone
  • (usually, transitive, weightlifting) To lift using a jerk.
  • (obsolete) To flout with contempt.
  • Derived terms
    * jerk off * jerksome

    Etymology 2

    From American (etyl) charquear, from charqui, from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (-)
  • (Caribbean) A rich, spicy Jamaican marinade
  • (Caribbean) Meat cured by jerking; charqui.
  • Jerk chicken is a local favorite.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To cure (meat) by cutting it into strips and drying it, originally in the sun.
  • * 2011 , Dominic Smith, Bright and Distant Shores , page 106:
  • The Lemakot in the north strangled widows and threw them into the cremation pyres of their dead husbands. If they defeated potential invaders the New Irish hanged the vanquished from banyan trees, flensed their windpipes, removed their heads, left their intestines to jerk in the sun.

    wrench

    English

    (wikipedia wrench)

    Alternative forms

    * ** wrenche * ** wrinche * ** wringe

    Noun

    (wrenches)
  • (obsolete) A trick or artifice.
  • * c. 1210 , MS. Cotton Caligula A IX f.246
  • Mon mai longe liues wene; / Ac ofte him liedh the wrench .
  • (obsolete) Deceit; guile; treachery.
  • A movement that twists or pulls violently; a tug.
  • * 1897 , (Bram Stoker), (Dracula) Chapter 21
  • With a wrench , which threw his victim back upon the bed as though hurled from a height, he turned and sprang at us.
  • An injury caused by a violent twisting or pulling of a limb; strain, sprain.
  • (obsolete) A turn at an acute angle.
  • (archaic) A winch or windlass.
  • (obsolete) A screw.
  • A distorting change from the original meaning.
  • (US) A hand tool for making rotational adjustments, such as fitting nuts and bolts, or fitting pipes; a spanner.
  • A violent emotional change caused by separation.
  • (physics) In screw theory, a screw assembled from force and torque vectors arising from application of Newton's laws to a rigid body.
  • (obsolete) means; contrivance
  • (Francis Bacon)

    Synonyms

    * (tool) spanner (UK, Australia)

    Derived terms

    * adjustable wrench * socket wrench * monkey-wrench, monkey wrench, monkeywrench * pipe wrench * screw wrench * torque wrench * torsion wrench * tube wrench * dog bone wrench

    Verb

    (es)
  • (obsolete) To violently move in a turn or writhe.
  • To pull or twist violently.
  • With a surge of adrenaline, she wrenched the car door off and pulled out the injured man.
  • (obsolete) To turn aside or deflect.
  • (obsolete) To slander.
  • (obsolete) To tighten with or as if with a winch.
  • To injure (a joint) by pulling or twisting.
  • Be careful not to wrench your ankle walking along those loose stones!
  • To distort from the original meaning.
  • (obsolete) To thrust a weapon in a twisting motion.
  • (intransitive, fencing, obsolete) To disarm an opponent by whirling his or her blade away.
  • To rack with pain.
  • To deprive by means of a violent pull or twist.
  • To use the tool known as a wrench.
  • The plumber wrenched the pipes until they came loose.