Definition of "yank"

yank¹

/jæŋk/

noun
plural yanks
1. A sudden, vigorous pull (sometimes defined as mass times jerk, or rate of change of force).
2. (slang) A masturbation session.
  Quotations
  He rested his hand on his bare chest, an innocent enough spot, but soon it drifted of its own accord down his stomach to slide beneath the waistband of his briefs. Fine. A quick yank would relieve the sexual tension that simmered in him.
  2012, Bonnie Dee, Summer Devon, Serious Play, page 81
verb
third-person singular simple present yanks, present participle yanking, simple past and past participle yanked
1. (transitive) To pull (something) with a quick, strong action.
  Quotations
  Now a white-backed rams its head down the wildebeest’s throat and yanks out an eight-inch length of trachea, ribbed like a vacuum hose.
  2015 December, Elizabeth Royte, “Vultures Are Revolting. Here’s Why We Need to Save Them.”, in National Geographic‎, archived from the original on 13 December 2015
  [Regarding risks of AI] And you just have to have somebody close to the power cord. [Laughs.][sic] Right when you see it about to happen, you gotta yank that electricity out of the wall, man.
  2016 October, Scott Dadich, quoting Barack Obama, “Barack Obama Talks AI, Robo Cars, and the Future of the World”, in Wired‎
2. (transitive, informal) To remove from distribution.

yank²

noun
plural yanks
1. (often derogatory) Alternative letter-case form of Yank (“Yankee”).