whipsaw
English
Etymology
whip + saw
Noun
whipsaw (plural whipsaws)
- A rip saw often operated by two people.
Translations
saw
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Verb
whipsaw (third-person singular simple present whipsaws, present participle whipsawing, simple past whipsawed, past participle whipsawn)
- To operate a whipsaw.
- (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.
- (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:
- 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.
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- Of a trade union: to coerce employers into capitulating by bringing them the news that other (more easily convinced) employers have already done so.
- (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)
- Having the characteristic of arguing two sides at once.
- 2018: "When you lose that power’: How John Kelly faded as White House disciplinarian" by Ashley Parker, Josh Dawsey and Philip Rucker; 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.
- 2018: "When you lose that power’: How John Kelly faded as White House disciplinarian" by Ashley Parker, Josh Dawsey and Philip Rucker; Washington Post