Definition of "whipsaw" []

• A narrow two-person crosscut saw. (noun)
• To cut with a whipsaw. (verb-transitive)
• Games To win two bets from (a person) at one time, as in faro. (verb-transitive)
• To cause to move or alternate rapidly in contrasting directions: "The bond market . . . continues to be whipsawed by fears of rekindled inflation” ( Steven E. Levingston). (verb-transitive)
• To defeat or best in two ways at once. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The word 'whipsaw' might be an understatement to describe stock markets on Friday: up big at the start of trading, down big in midday trading and now U.S. indexes are up again - and substantially - in early afternoon trading."
• "Then the Indian brings over a whipsaw from the cabin at Surprise Lake and makes lumber enough for the box."
• "This bargaining tactic is called the whipsaw, and B.C. taxpayers are about to feel it in the months ahead."