whipsaw
a saw for two persons, as a pitsaw, used to divide timbers lengthwise.
to cut with a whipsaw.
to win two bets from (a person) at one turn or play, as at faro.
to subject to two opposing forces at the same time: The real-estate market has been whipsawed by high interest rates and unemployment.
(of a trailer, railroad car, etc.) to swing suddenly to the right or left, as in rounding a sharp curve at high speed.
Origin of whipsaw
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use whipsaw in a sentence
Across one side of the room ran a rough counter, formed of whipsawn boards, which evidently knew nothing of soap and water.
The Long Patrol | H. A. CodyThe steamer Grahame was built at Chipewyan of whipsawn lumber, and much of her steel and ironwork was wrought on Wyllie's forge.
The New North | Agnes Deans Cameron
British Dictionary definitions for whipsaw
/ (ˈwɪpˌsɔː) /
any saw with a flexible blade, such as a bandsaw
to saw with a whipsaw
US to defeat in two ways at once
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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