A jerk or twitch.

To twitch; to jerk.

pull, or move with a sudden movement; "He turned the handle and jerked the door open"

The sharp, quick motion used to remove tubing or hose from a bulkhead or other connection point. Also see Jerk.

In physics, yank is the derivative of force with respect to time or mass multiplied by jerk. Though not universally accepted as an official term for this quantity, the term yank is commonly used among physics enthusiasts.