How to Use clean and jerk in a Sentence

clean and jerk

noun
  • Each lifter gets three attempts for each of the two techniques, the bench press and clean and jerk.
    — Buddy Collings, OrlandoSentinel.com, 6 Apr. 2018
  • Also, Olympic lifting, with the clean and jerk and the snatch.
    — Milo F. Bryant, Men's Health, 26 July 2022
  • Olympic weightlifting consists of three snatch attempts and three clean and jerk.
    — Rick Armstrong, Aurora Beacon-News, 30 June 2018
  • Athletes must successfully attempt the snatch before proceeding to the clean and jerk.
    — Arianna Vedia, Dallas News, 20 July 2021
  • With most large-scale national and world meets there are medals given for the heaviest snatch, heaviest clean and jerk and best overall total.
    — Melissa Melvin-Rodriguez, Charlotte Observer, 17 Mar. 2026
  • Jourdan Delacruz of the United States was third after the snatch portion of the contest but failed on all three or her lifts in the clean and jerk.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 24 July 2021
  • Lifting a personal best 114kg in the clean and jerk to defeat Canada's Tali Darsigny.
    — Aimee Lewis, CNN, 8 Apr. 2018
  • Hearn said Smith could hoist 315 pounds in the clean and jerk, and competed in the state championship in weightlifting during the football offseason.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 4 July 2021
  • Saturday’s silver medalist, Mirabai of India, failed to make a clean and jerk attempt at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
    — Callie Caplan, Dallas News, 24 July 2021
  • My best clean and jerk was 70 kilos (154 pounds), giving me a finishing total of 125 kilos (275 pounds).
    — Melissa Melvin-Rodriguez, Charlotte Observer, 17 Mar. 2026
  • Unlike powerlifting, where the three staple moves (deadlift, squat and bench press) rely primarily on strength, the two core Olympic lifts (the snatch and the clean and jerk) are driven more by explosive power and technique.
    — Philip Ellis, Men's Health, 26 June 2023
  • Muattar Nabieva led the competition with a snatch lift of 98kg but was 9kg behind Chinshanlo on the clean and jerk and placed fourth, missing the podium by one kilogram.
    — San Francisco Chronicle, 26 July 2021
  • Jourdan Delacruz, a weightlifter from north Texas, was headed toward a bronze medal in the 49-kg division before failing to convert her three attempts to clean and jerk, her second discipline of the day.
    — Abigail Adams, PEOPLE.com, 13 Aug. 2021
  • On Sunday, Google honored Kono on what would have been his 91st birthday with a Doodle animation depicting the clean and jerk, one of the more common weightlifting exercises.
    — Scooby Axson, USA TODAY, 27 June 2021
  • In the second Olympic phase, the clean and jerk, McKenzie also went 3-for-3, peaking with a 370 best for a 685 total that set another record for all classifications.
    — Buddy Collings, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 May 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'clean and jerk.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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