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to whipsaw

to whipsaw

1 9.9
To put someone between two bad situations that harm them
  • verb
  • /ˈwɪpˌsɔː/
  • Literature
translation icon : someter a dos situaciones adversas
  • 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

  • "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.

  • You know, when you have this whipsaw from one administration to the next, well, this administration approved an EIS.

  • 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

to crush
386 4.7
to whipsaw
  • Literature
1 9.9
to corner
93 4.9
to pressure
149 4.2
to trouble
174 1.8
to bother
1.0

Surface Forms

whipsaw infinitive
whipsawed past
whipsawed past participle
whipsawing present participle
whipsaws third person singular

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.