Nine or ten times
I had thought t’ have yerked him here under the ribs.
- Iago, Othello (I.ii.5) – William Shakespeare

Many references of this word are used when referring to kick, whip, or spur a horse or other animal to get moving. It has had a lot of different usages over the years, actually. One source uses this word to mean “beat” in a metaphorical sense, such as, “the Sun’s rays beat down on us.” So on a hot day you can tell your friends, “The Sun’s rays yerked us all day long.”

The word has had 500 years of life, but not much in the last 100. It’s a shame, really. Such a fun word to use.

“Why I oughta yerk you…”

Also works as a threat, as in the above. Sprinkle this one into your conversations. Might be a good way to keep the chat going after you’ve run out of things to say about the weather.

O you cockatrices and you bablatrices,
that in the woods dwell:
You briers and brambles, you cook’s shops
and shambles, come howl and yell.
- Locrine (1595)

The author of Locrine is up for speculation, some attribute it to George Peele, Robert Greene, and even William Shakespeare. Whoever wrote it, I thank them for giving us such a fun word! 

If we are to look at this word in context of the above, it would seem to be perhaps a female cockatrice. A mighty foe indeed. But the definition above from the OED gives it a broader meaning.

A babbler is basically anything that won’t shut up. A bablatrice is a female that won’t shut up. Do you know any of those? Of course you do.

You now have a name for all those valley girls, talkative co-workers, the never-silent spouse, and all other women in your life who flood you with chat. Use it wisely.

Do you not know I am a woman? When I think, I must speak.
- Rosalind, As You Like It (III.ii), William Shakespeare