an American who lives in the North (especially during the American Civil War)
"During the Civil War, many yankees from the North refused to fight against their southern neighbors."
an American who lives in New England
"The old Yankee farmer greeted his neighbors as they harvested apples from their orchards near Boston."
an American (especially to non-Americans)
"To the tourists from Europe, every visitor they met in New York was immediately assumed to be a Yankee."
A native or inhabitant of the United States.
"The skipper hoisted the large yankee as the highest headsail to work in strong winds alongside the smaller staysails below it."
A headsail resembling a genoa or a jib but with a high-cut clew, normally used together with a staysail. A sailing boat is typically equipped with three yankee sails of different sizes, number one being the largest.
In plain English: A Yankee is someone from New England, especially Massachusetts and Connecticut.
"The visitors from New York were greeted warmly by the yankees living in that small town."
Usage: In nautical contexts, use this term for the specific triangular sail positioned forward of the mast and aft of the headsails. Avoid confusing it with regional or political labels unless discussing American dialects or history.
to cheat, trick or swindle somebody; to misrepresent something
"The salesman was accused of being a yankee when he lied about the car's mileage to sell it at an inflated price."
In plain English: To yank is to pull something suddenly and with force, often causing it to move quickly or break free.
"He yankeed over every expense before signing off on the budget."
used by Southerners for an inhabitant of a northern state in the United States (especially a Union soldier)
"The Southern farmer called the Yankee conscript an intruder as he passed through his fields."
The word Yankee first appeared in English in 1765. At that time, Southerners used it as a term of mockery for people from New England.