JERKWATER Definition & Meaning

jerkwater

[jurk-waw-ter, -wot-er]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

Informal.��insignificant and out-of-the-way.
a jerkwater town.
(formerly) off the main line.
a jerkwater train.

noun

(formerly) a train not running on the main line.

jerkwater

/ ˈ��ɜː��ˌ��ɔː��ə /

adjective

slang��inferior and insignificant
a jerkwater town

Discover More

51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of jerkwater¹

1875–80, jerk ¹ + water; so called from the jerking (i.e., drawing) of water to fill buckets for supplying a steam locomotive

Discover More

51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of jerkwater¹

C19: originally referring to railway locomotives for which water was taken on in buckets from streams along the route

Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

A lecturer at a jerkwater technical college in England, Wilt is condemned to teach classes like Meat One and Gasfitters Two to academically disinclined students.

From

We were flying on top of a jerkwater railway, just missing the tops of the trees, when we bumped into a solid wall of fog.

From

So I taught at one jerkwater college after another.

From

He's never been out of a jerkwater burg in his life, hardly.

From

They came from Chicago and jerkwater towns in Nebraska, from farms and steel mills, from the stage and the pulpit.

From

jerk-off jerky

Browse