whipsaw

English

Etymology

From whip +‎ saw.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

whipsaw (plural whipsaws)

1. A rip saw often operated by two people.

Translations

saw

• Bulgarian: бичкия f (bičkija)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 雙人橫鋸／双人横锯 (shuāngrénhéngjù)

• Finnish: tukkisaha, hirsisaha, justeeri (fi)
• Swedish: kransåg (sv) c

Verb

whipsaw (third-person singular simple present whipsaws, present participle whipsawing, simple past whipsawed, past participle whipsawn)

1. To operate a whipsaw.
2. (transitive, finance) To cause (a trader) to lose potential profit by buying shares just before the price falls, or by selling them just before the price rises.
3. (transitive) To defeat someone in two different ways at once.
   • 2014 November 1, Peter Baker, Michael D. Shear, “Braced for a shift in Congress, Obama is setting a new agenda [print version: Obama plots a route for compromise after election, International New York Times, 3 November 2014, p. 1]”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     Whipsawed by events and facing another midterm electoral defeat, President Obama has directed his team to forge a policy agenda to regain momentum for his final two years in office even as some advisers urge that he rethink the way he governs.

4. Of a trade union: to coerce employers into capitulating by bringing them the news that other (more easily convinced) employers have already done so.
5. (US politics) To accept bribes from multiple parties at once, with the intent of letting down one or more of them.

Adjective

whipsaw (not comparable)

1. Having the characteristic of arguing two sides at once.
   • 2018, Ashley Parker, Josh Dawsey, Philip Rucker, “When you lose that power’: How John Kelly faded as White House disciplinarian”, in Washington Post:

     During the Porter crisis, Kelly found himself under intense scrutiny for the veracity of his whipsaw statements. He publicly praised Porter and privately urged him to stay.