"to wheel or fling about in dancing," 1715, Scottish, of unknown origin. As a noun, 1786, "act of eluding," probably from the verb in the sense "elude" (1774). For high jinks, see hijinks.
To takeevasive action; dodge; zig-zag: went jinking down the field, shot and missed/ She jinked sideways to avoid an oncoming truck
[1785+; fr northern English dialect jink, ''make a quick evasive turn,'' adopted into the idiom of rugby football; popularized by Vietnam War Air Force use]