jerky

adj

1. Characterized by physical jerking, or by sudden and uneven progress.

   “jerky flight”

   “jerky movement”

   “jerky sounds”

2. (US)Having the behavior of a jerk (unpleasant person).

   “jerky guy”

   “jerky behaviour”

3. (colloquial, dated)Anxious; jumpy.

   “Marrabel found an ideal crevice for his loot: tight, hidden, accessible. […] His only desire was to recover the coin and get away. But the lady seemed set here, and Marrabel, ignorant of her intentions, made his first bad move. He claimed the chair, fully expecting to be given it at once. […] In strictly feminine terms she told him to go to the devil, and Marrabel, now beginning to feel jerky, veered off.”

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)Lean meat cured and preserved by cutting into thin strips and air-drying in the sun.

verb

1. (transitive)To cure and preserve (meat) by drying it, making jerky.