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A whipsaw is a type of hand-powered saw worked by two people, one of whom stands on or above the log being sawed and the other below it, usually in a pit. The tool dates back to the 15th century, but it was not until the 19th century that anyone thought to use the saw's name figuratively to describe situations in which someone or something is doubly "cut," or hurt. Today, the word is commonly used when discussing financial crises or losses as well as ideological changes (as in government policy) that might "cut."
Examples of whipsaw in a Sentence
Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 3 Apr. 2024
With inflation fading, instead of cutting interest rates right away, Powell is attempting to slowly lower rates over time to avoid the type of whipsaw monetary policy that can spark recessions.
—Will Daniel, Fortune, 6 Feb. 2024
Addressing his whipsaw week, Zuckerberg said in a post Thursday that he was focused on the long term.
—David Ingram, NBC News, 4 Feb. 2024
This year’s new voters, Millennial and Generation Z types who have come of age during an era of whipsaw politics – the Great Recession, followed by Barack Obama, followed by Trump and the pandemic and, finally, Biden – could be similarly transformative.
—Andre Mouchard, Orange County Register, 4 Feb. 2024
Big swings in the price of natural gas whipsaw producers.
—Bob Henderson, WSJ, 30 Oct. 2023
Along with all the classic challenges of growing up—grades, parents, first loves—looms a crop of newer ones: TikTok, gun violence, political division, the whipsaw of COVID-19, the not-so-slow creep of climate change.
—TIME, 10 Oct. 2023
As of Tuesday's close: Stocks finished little changed after a whipsaw session.
—WSJ, 17 Oct. 2023
And then came yet another whipsaw, back to drought.
—Brooke Jarvis, New York Times, 31 May 2023
George Avalos, The Mercury News, 21 Mar. 2024
Here’s a great piece from this week: Running along the trails that whipsaw through the oak forests of the Palo Alto hills, a reporter was hit with a musky, skunky smell that made the hair on her neck stand up.
—Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 3 Mar. 2024
The pound whipsawed after the release, briefly falling to a day’s low of $1.27 before erasing losses.
—Tom Rees, Fortune Europe, 20 Mar. 2024
Markets have whipsawed between new highs and precipitous drops as contrasting economic data cause confusion about what the Fed will do next.
—Nicole Goodkind, CNN, 6 Mar. 2024
Baby Boom Precedent Thirty-three-year-olds could also whipsaw the job market.
—Jeanna Smialek, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2024
Explore our new section The wet weather and improved snowpack mean that California appears headed for a less-extreme water year after whipsawing from three years of severe drought to one of the wettest years on record.
—Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2024
Nvidia shares whipsawed in early after-hours trading as investors digested the numbers, before rising more than 10% by 5 p.m. ET.
—Will Daniel, Fortune, 21 Feb. 2024
Throughout the 1970s and after, these debates whipsawed U.S. policy.
—Hal Brands, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'whipsaw.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Whipsaw.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whipsaw. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
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