whiplash

[ hwip-lash, wip- ]

noun

1. the lash of a whip.
2. an abrupt snapping motion or change of direction resembling the lash of a whip.
3. Also whiplash injury. a neck injury caused by a sudden jerking backward, forward, or both, of the head:

   Whiplash resulted when their car was struck from behind.

4. Also called whiplash curve. a connected series of reverse curves of more or less elliptical form, used as a major design motif in the Art Nouveau style.

verb (used with object)

1. to beat, hit, throw, etc., with or as if with a whiplash.
2. to affect adversely, as by a sudden change:

   new taxes whiplashing corporate earnings.

whiplash

/ ˈwɪpˌlæʃ /

noun

1. a quick lash or stroke of a whip or like that of a whip
2. See whiplash injury
   med See whiplash injury

Word History and Origins

Origin of whiplash¹

First recorded in 1565–75; 1950–55 whiplash fordef 6; whip + lash ¹

Example Sentences

Just cause “prevents media workers from getting caught in the whiplash of a reactive response from a company to pressure from outside groups, or public reaction… about something that someone may post on social media,” she added.

From Digiday

With a postcard-perfect landscape carved by glaciers, pockmarked by freshwater lakes, studded with granite peaks, and flush with wildflowers, you’ll get whiplash trying to take it all in.

From Outside Online

That we’re now meant to cheer her on is whiplash-inducing, and when a movie inspires whiplash, I tend to think it’s trying to do something beyond its most obvious surface-level pleasures.

From Vox

So I feel like I’m justified in that, you’re going to see me falling and getting whiplash on my board, flying around.

From Washington Post

The plot here makes whiplash turns, loop de loops and sudden reversals.

From Washington Post

Teller will reteam with his Whiplash director Chazelle on La La Land, which starts shooting in the spring.

From The Daily Beast

Whiplash was shot in just 19 days and then edited in 10 weeks to make Sundance.

From The Daily Beast

We have Damien Chazelle at the beginning of his career with Whiplash.

From The Daily Beast

For Peggy, this season was all about professional success and romantic whiplash.

From The Daily Beast

Much of the action in Whiplash requires serious suspension of disbelief.

From The Daily Beast

Peabody stared, and a streak of crimson leaped into his cheek as if a whiplash had been laid across it.

From Project Gutenberg

Anne would have infinitely preferred a whipping to this punishment under which her sensitive spirit quivered as from a whiplash.

From Project Gutenberg

Quick as a flash he dealt the other a blow on the cheek, an open-handed blow that stung like a whiplash.

From Project Gutenberg

No curses greeted them; no whiplash cut into them; no strong arm jerked them over the harness.

From Project Gutenberg

The heavy plaits of the whiplash curled round the legs of the trader, and he writhed.

From Project Gutenberg