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clean and jerk

clean and jerk

1 4.1
A weightlifting move where you lift a heavy bar to your shoulders then push it above your head
  • noun
  • /klin ənd jərk/
  • Specialized
translation icon : arrancada
  • That's why I have taken my mad scientist briefcase, notes, and travel-size coffee cup with me all over the world to spread the way one should snatch, clean, and jerk.
  • snatch and clean and jerk
  • pounds in the clean and jerk

There are certain things that that are like snatch, clean and jerk, you know, a single Rep of each.

Examples

  • His coach emphasized the importance of technique in performing the clean and jerk correctly.

  • He'll do press-ups and chin-ups Do the snatch, clean and jerk

  • So much for clean and jerk.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • There are certain things that that are like snatch, clean and jerk, you know, a single Rep of each.

  • Is there any reason for anyone to do a set of thirty clean and jerks like in the workout "Grace"?

    Blog text (29)
  • So Olympic lifting is going to be your clean and jerk and then your snatch.

  • During the competition, she managed to clean and jerk a total of 120 kilograms.

  • To improve his strength, he practices the clean and jerk three times a week.

How Demanding

clean and jerk
  • Specialized
1 4.1
bench press
4 3.0
to press
  • Specialized
68 4.1

Surface Forms

Morphology

clean + and + jerk

The phrase names two specific lifts ('clean' + 'jerk') joined by 'and', so a learner who knows the constituent meanings can infer it denotes a two-part weightlifting movement performed in sequence. Naming sequential actions with 'X and Y' is a transparent compositional pattern (and common across languages), making the overall meaning predictable to a B1 learner who knows the parts.

Etymology

Clean and jerk comes from the two parts of the lift: first the bar is brought to the shoulders in the clean, then it is pushed overhead in a quick move called the jerk. So the name describes the whole 'weightlifting move'.