to whipsaw
- verb
- /ˈwɪpˌsɔː/
- Literature
- But rather than watching good quality real-time data, economists are constantly getting whipsawed in their wild guesses because they religiously adhere to following the bad data that results from seasonal adjustments.
- whipsawed the market
Examples
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"They'll probably whipsaw you," replied the Iceman.
Fiction book (1991) -
So I guess like when I look at the modern society, we, it seems to me we're kind of whipsawed between emotions.
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You know, when you have this whipsaw from one administration to the next, well, this administration approved an EIS.
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Companies are whipsawed between rising costs and their ability to raise prices.
Blog text (19) -
But tonight," he continued, "tonight I was dealing seconds and we were whipsawing you, and I knew I was going to cut to a king because I marked it when I opened the deck.
Fiction book (1991) -
And as a result of that, you get whipsawed by the issue of the day and you can't have that longer strategic look that is so very important.
-
Mason whipsaws the legs under Hendrix, bowling him over, the M-16 falling away from the cart.
Fiction book (1996) -
It is, therefore, not surprising that teachers of the arts may feel whipsawed by conflicting values and torn by competing demands upon their loyalties.
Academic text (1992) -
Economic reforms have whipsawed societies emerging from socialism with high unemployment, inflation, and sharpened social inequalities.
Academic text (1991) -
Investors were whipsawed by the conflicting news from the market, unable to predict which way stock prices would move next.
How Pressured
- Literature
Surface Forms
Etymology
Whipsaw comes from the tool name whip + saw, because the saw's quick back-and-forth action is like a 'whip', so to be whipsawed is to be pulled between two opposite pressures or problems at once.