whipsaw
noun
whip·saw
| \ ˈhwip-ˌsȯ
, ˈwip-\
, ˈwip-\
Definition of whipsaw
(Entry 1 of 2)
: a narrow pit saw averaging 5 to 7¹/₂ feet (1.5 to 2.3 meters) in length
whipsaw
verb
whipsawed;
whipsawing;
whipsaws
Definition of whipsaw (Entry 2 of 2)
1
: to saw with a whipsaw
2
: to beset or victimize in two opposite ways at once, by a two-phase operation, or by the collusive action of two opponents
wage earners were whipsawed by inflation and high taxes
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Examples of whipsaw in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
The Angry Birds Movie 2 A tonal whipsaw that doesn’t have conviction to invest in its own premise. — SFChronicle.com, "Capsule movie reviews for Aug. 18," 14 Aug. 2019 The threat of such moves can provoke price swings, whipsaw capital flows and fuel volatility. — Washington Post, "Currency Wars," 14 Apr. 2015 Investors are about to buy billions of dollars in mainland Chinese stocks even as trade tensions whipsaw markets. — Asjylyn Loder, WSJ, "Indexes to Unleash Flood of Money Into Chinese Stocks," 16 May 2019 Highlights Global Markets: U.S. stocks recovered Thursday after being sharply down most of the session, as this week’s whipsaw trading continued. — Dan Molinski, WSJ, "Oil Declines Amid Volatile, Thin Trading," 27 Dec. 2018 Across Wall Street, traditional traders were mostly helpless, while the engineers best equipped to explain the whipsaw weren’t in a position to do anything about it. — Liz Hoffman And Telis Demos, WSJ, "Wall Street Erases the Line Between Its Jocks and Nerds," 18 Aug. 2018 The Kepler wake-up whipsaw continues. NASA's Kepler space telescope, which has discovered more than 2,650 alien planets to date, emerged from yet another slumber Thursday (Oct. 11), agency officials said. — Mike Wall, Space.com, "NASA's Kepler Planet-Hunting Space Telescope Wakes Up Again," 13 Oct. 2018 Bloomberg’s bond market reporter Brian Chappatta talks about the Treasury whipsaw with host Ramy Inocencio. — Dana Pardini, Bloomberg.com, "Everything You Need to Know This Morning From Daybreak (Podcast)," 10 Jan. 2018 Democratic Federal Communications Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel wants the OTA back too, given the whipsaw pace of new tech arrivals. — Clive Thompson, WIRED, "Why Congress Needs to Revive Its Tech Support Team," 13 July 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Stock markets have been volatile this summer as traders have been whipsawed by the turns in the trade war between the world's biggest economies. — Alex Veiga, Anchorage Daily News, "US stocks climb amid signs of a thaw in US-China trade war," 26 Aug. 2019 Roller coaster continues Stock markets have been volatile this summer as traders have been whipsawed by the turns in the trade war between the world’s biggest economies. — Alex Veiga, USA TODAY, "Stocks climbing after Trump says he's willing to reopen US-China trade talks," 26 Aug. 2019 Stocks whipsawed in May as officials from Washington and Beijing met to discuss a potential trade agreement, only to end their talks at an impasse. — Akane Otani, WSJ, "Investors Are Glum, Even With Stocks at All-Time Highs," 24 June 2019 But the Trump administration is proceeding with levies on more than $100 billion in Chinese products starting next month, fueling anxiety about the economy and whipsawing financial markets. — Aimee Picchi, CBS News, "U.S. trade war with China is torpedoing consumer confidence," 16 Aug. 2019 Financial markets around the globe have been whipsawed by anxiety over the US-China trade war, sending investors fleeing from stocks to the safety of bonds and pushing bond interest-rates to record lows. — BostonGlobe.com, "April strike cost Stop & Shop $345m in net sales," 9 Aug. 2019 Attacks on regional oil infrastructure since mid-May have helped whipsaw oil prices. — Arsalan Shahla, Fortune, "Trump Says Iran Made ‘Big Mistake’ Shooting Down U.S. Drone," 20 June 2019 The unprecedented drop comes as farmers are whipsawed by economic forces — declining consumption and increased global competition, sudden trade wars and perpetual immigration crackdowns. — jsonline.com, "Dairyland in Distress," 31 July 2019 The municipal market isn’t the only one whipsawed by worries about tighter monetary policy, and tax-exempt debt has posted smaller losses than corporate bonds or Treasuries, thanks in part to the drop off in supply. — Bloomberg.com, "Bloomberg," 2 May 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'whipsaw.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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