whipsaw

plural whipsaws

1. A rip saw often operated by two people.

present singular third person whipsaws · participle present whipsawing · past whipsawed · participle past whipsawn

1. To operate a whipsaw.
2. transitivebusinessTo cause (a trader) to lose potential profit by buying shares just before the price falls, or by selling them just before the price rises.
3. transitiveTo defeat someone in two different ways at once.

   Whipsawed by events and facing another midterm electoral defeat, President Obama has directed his team to forge a policy agenda to regain momentum for his final two years in office even as some advisers urge that he rethink the way he governs.

   2014 November 1, Peter Baker, Michael D. Shear, “Braced for a shift in Congress, Obama is setting a new agenda [print version: Obama plots a route for compromise after election, International New York Times, 3 November 2014, p. 1]”, in The New York Times

4. Of a trade union: to coerce employers into capitulating by bringing them the news that other (more easily convinced) employers have already done so.
5. USgovernmentTo accept bribes from multiple parties at once, with the intent of letting down one or more of them.

1. not comparableHaving the characteristic of arguing two sides at once.

   During the Porter crisis, Kelly found himself under intense scrutiny for the veracity of his whipsaw statements. He publicly praised Porter and privately urged him to stay.

   2018, Ashley Parker, Josh Dawsey, Philip Rucker, “When you lose that power’: How John Kelly faded as White House disciplinarian”, in Washington Post