Yanking hard on a whip (context below)
I was reading City of Bones in order to be exposed to some more casual vocabulary, and I stumbled on this segment

"Isabelle yanked hard on the whip, securing it"

She had just used this whip in a previous paragraph, so, does this "yank on" means she stroke a blow with it, or that she somehow coiled it... or neither? Any help is appreciated, thank you very much

Question

Yanking hard on a whip (context below)
I was reading City of Bones in order to be exposed to some more casual vocabulary, and I stumbled on this segment

"Isabelle yanked hard on the whip, securing it"

She had just used this whip in a previous paragraph, so, does this "yank on" means she stroke a blow with it, or that she somehow coiled it... or neither? Any help is appreciated, thank you very much

Answer

To yank on something means to give it a strong, quick pull. In the context of the sentence, she is pulling on the whip in order to tighten it and remove all the slack. This is so it will coil securely around the object.

Other examples would be to "Yank open a jammed door." Or to "Give the cord a yank to start the boat's engine."

Hope that helps.