Yank
- noun
- /jæŋk/
- Archaic
- As a history enthusiast, I enjoy learning about how Yanks and Confederates viewed each other during the conflict.
- Billy Yank
- Yank and Johnny Reb
Examples
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The term Yank was used to describe soldiers fighting for the Union during the American Civil War.
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You know who the last Yank was to die before the Krauts surrendered?
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Did you ask her if she looks upon you as a Billy Yank enemy?
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I guess for the Yanks it would be a gas station.
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Three years before the yanks came into the war.
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Over there, over there send the word, send the word over there that the yanks are coming...
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Asking a senior officer to share his quarters... and with a noncommissioned Yank, no less.
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I know what you Yanks are like, always bragging about your women.
Fiction book (1990) -
Jake had nothing against America—he'd married a Yank, after all—but he'd often said he was no more suited to the place than a kangaroo was to Manhattan.
Fiction book (1994) -
During the Civil War, many young men from the northern states were known as Yanks.
Synonyms
A person who comes from or lives in the north of a country
A person from the northern United States, often from New England
Idioms
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word Yank was used during the American Civil War to mean a person from the northern states. Northerners were often called Yankees, so historically Yank referred to a 'northerner' or a 'Union soldier'.