jerkwater
[
jurk
-waw-ter, -wot-er]
/ˈdʒɜrkˌwɔ tər, -ˌwɒt ər/
adjective
1.
Informal.
insignificant and out-of-the-way:
a jerkwater town.
2.
(formerly) off the main line:
a jerkwater train.
noun
3.
(formerly) a train not running on the main line.
Origin
1875-80,
Americanism;
jerk
1
+
water
; so called from the jerking (i.e., drawing) of water to fill buckets for supplying a steam locomotive
Examples from the web for
jerkwater
With an inheritance she purchases an existing clinic in a
jerkwater
town.
British Dictionary definitions for
jerkwater
jerkwater
/
ˈdʒɜːkˌwɔːtə
/
adjective
1.
(
US & Canadian
,
slang
) inferior and insignificant:
a jerkwater town
Word Origin
C19: originally referring to railway locomotives for which water was taken on in buckets from streams along the route
Slang definitions & phrases for
jerkwater
jerkwater
adjective
Insignificant; trivial
: These seem like jerkwater sentiments
(1897+)