jerkwater

[ jurk-waw-ter, -wot-er ]
/ ˈdʒɜrkˌwɔ tər, -ˌwɒt ər /

adjective

Informal. insignificant and out-of-the-way: a jerkwater town.
(formerly) off the main line: a jerkwater train.

noun

(formerly) a train not running on the main line.

Origin of jerkwater

1875–80, Americanism; jerk1 + water; so called from the jerking (i.e., drawing) of water to fill buckets for supplying a steam locomotive

Words nearby jerkwater

jerk around, jerk off, jerk-off, jerkin, jerkinhead, jerkwater, jerky, jerky nystagmus, jerne, jeroboam, jerold

Example sentences from the Web for jerkwater

  • He's never been out of a jerkwater burg in his life, hardly.

    Free Air |Sinclair Lewis

  • He'd make more dough if he owned the local garage and dealer franchise for one of the automobile companies in some jerkwater town.

    The Common Man |Guy McCord (AKA Dallas McCord Reynolds)

  • They came from Chicago and jerkwater towns in Nebraska, from farms and steel mills, from the stage and the pulpit.

    Land of the Burnt Thigh |Edith Eudora Kohl

British Dictionary definitions for jerkwater

jerkwater
/ (ˈdʒɜːkˌwɔːtə) /

adjective

US and Canadian slang inferior and insignificant a jerkwater town

Word Origin for jerkwater

C19: originally referring to railway locomotives for which water was taken on in buckets from streams along the route