whipsaw

[ hwip-saw, wip- ]

noun

1. a saw for two persons, as a pitsaw, used to divide timbers lengthwise.

verb (used with object)

, whip·sawed, whip·sawed or whip·sawn, whip·saw·ing.

1. to cut with a whipsaw.
2. to win two bets from (a person) at one turn or play, as at faro.
3. to subject to two opposing forces at the same time:

   The real-estate market has been whipsawed by high interest rates and unemployment.

verb (used without object)

, whip·sawed, whip·sawed or whip·sawn, whip·saw·ing.

1. (of a trailer, railroad car, etc.) to swing suddenly to the right or left, as in rounding a sharp curve at high speed.

whipsaw

/ ˈwɪpˌsɔː /

noun

1. any saw with a flexible blade, such as a bandsaw

verb

1. to saw with a whipsaw
2. to defeat in two ways at once

Word History and Origins

Origin of whipsaw¹

First recorded in 1530–40; whip + saw ¹

Example Sentences

It also had a vast array of captive food-processing enterprises that easily enabled the New York-based company to undercut its small-town competition and whipsaw grocery wholesalers.

From Washington Post

The whipsaw can and does go up with almost as much speed as it goes down—recall the snap back from the lows of March of 2009.

From The Daily Beast

To get there, towing charges and tolls would eat up your profits, and old Hughson would whipsaw you, anyway.

From Project Gutenberg

Then the Indian brings over a whipsaw from the cabin at Surprise Lake and makes lumber enough for the box.

From Project Gutenberg

Try as she would, she could not get them out, and then she remembered that Hastings kept a whipsaw in a shed close by.

From Project Gutenberg

We sawed our boards with the whipsaw, and made our shingles out of the ash-trees.

From Project Gutenberg

Here, by hand, with an inadequate whipsaw, they sawed the spruce-trunks into lumber.

From Project Gutenberg