jerky

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   moving or proceeding in sudden, uneven starts rather than smoothly

   The old film advanced in a jerky series of starts and stops.

2. 2
   noun

   lean meat, especially beef, preserved by being cut into strips and dried

   She packed beef jerky for the long hike.

3. 3
   adj

   informal: behaving like an unpleasant or foolish person

   His jerky remarks made the new employee feel unwelcome.

The adjective is formed from jerk + -y, referring first to abrupt, uneven movement. The noun for dried meat is unrelated: it was adapted from American Spanish charqui, from Quechua ch'arki ("dried, salted meat").

Topics