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Whipsaw   /wˈɪpsˌɔ/  /hwˈɪpsˌɔ/   Listen
verb
Whipsaw  v. t.  (past whipsawed; past part. whipsawn; pres. part. whipsawing)  
1.
To saw with the whipsaw.
2.
To defeat in, or cause to lose, two different bets at the same turn or in one play, as a player at faro who has made two bets at the same time, one that a card will lose and another that a different card will win; hence, to defeat in spite of every effort.
3.
To cause to suffer a setback or losses by subjecting to two forces at the same time or in rapid succession; as, consumers were whipsawed by both inflation and higher sales taxes.
4.
(Finance) To cause to suffer a series of losses in trading when buying and selling at the wrong times in a rapidly fluctuating market; especially used when an attempt is made, by selling short, to recover losses from a long purchase in a declining market, and the short sale also results in a loss when the market subsequently rises. Used mostly in the passive; as, to be whipsawed by exaggerated responses to a changing outlook.



noun
Whipsaw  n.  
1.
A saw for dividing timber lengthwise, usually set in a frame, and worked by two persons; also, a fret saw.
2.
A kind of narrow ripsaw, tapering from butt to point, with hook teeth and averaging from 5 to 7½ feet in length, used by one or two men.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Whipsaw" Quotes from Famous Books



... two-horse parlay. The old goat can't help but be convinced by the demonstration you are going to give him. The thing that I want is for him to agree that your PC powers exist at the same time. We'll whipsaw him good." ...
— The Right Time • Walter Bupp

... newcomers the principles of prospecting and mining for gold—principles not abstruse, yet not likely to suggest themselves at first thought to men entirely ignorant of the business. Baptiste had been employed by Captain Sutter to saw lumber with a whipsaw, and had been at work for two years at a place, since called Weber, about ten miles eastward from Coloma. When he saw the diggings at the latter place, he at once said there were rich mines where he had been sawing, ...
— The Great Events by Famous Historians, Vol. 17 • Charles Francis Horne

... six men the following tools were deemed essential: five broad-hoes, five narrow-hoes, two broadaxes, five felling-axes, four handsaws, a whipsaw with equipment for filing, two hammers, three shovels, two spades, two augers, six chisels, two piercing tools, three gimlets, two hatchets, two frowes, two handbills, a grindstone, nails of all ...
— Domestic Life in Virginia in the Seventeenth Century - Jamestown 350th Anniversary Historical Booklet Number 17 • Annie Lash Jester

... fact Porter's unguarded conversation had suggested it—that Lucretia's owner meant to win himself out of his difficult position by backing the little mare heavily for the Eclipse, expecting to get his money on at good odds. By owning The Dutchman Crane could whipsaw the situation; forestall Porter in the betting by backing Lucretia down to a short price himself, and have Jakey Faust lay with a full vigor against the Hanover colt. He would thus confine Porter to stake money, and Ringwood would still ...
— Thoroughbreds • W. A. Fraser



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