Crossword clues for whipsaw
whipsaw
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Whipsaw \Whip"saw`\, n.
A saw for dividing timber lengthwise, usually set in a frame, and worked by two persons; also, a fret saw.
A kind of narrow ripsaw, tapering from butt to point, with hook teeth and averaging from 5 to 71/2 feet in length, used by one or two men.
Whipsaw \Whip"saw`\, v. t.
To saw with the whipsaw.
To defeat in, or cause to lose, two different bets at the same turn or in one play, as a player at faro who has made two bets at the same time, one that a card will lose and another that a different card will win; hence, to defeat in spite of every effort.
to cause to suffer a setback or losses by subjecting to two forces at the same time or in rapid succession; as, consumers were whipsawed by both inflation and higher sales taxes.
(Finance) to cause to suffer a series of losses in trading when buying and selling at the wrong times in a rapidly fluctuating market; -- especially used when an attempt is made, by selling short, to recover losses from a long purchase in a declining market, and the short sale also results in a loss when the market subsequently rises. Used mostly in the passive; as, to be whipsawed by exaggerated responses to a changing outlook.
Wiktionary
n. a crosscut saw operated by two people vb. 1 to operate a whipsaw 2 to lose potential profit by buying shares just before the price falls, or by selling them just before the price rises 3 to defeat someone in two different ways at once
WordNet
n. a handsaw intended for use by two people [syn: two-handed saw]
v. victimize, especially in gambling or negotiations
saw with a whipsaw
[also: whipsawn]
Wikipedia
'The Sawpit' by Luke Clennell]]
A whipsaw or pitsaw was originally a type of saw used in a saw pit, and consisted of a narrow blade held rigid by a frame and called a frame saw or sash saw (see illustrations). This evolved into a straight, stiff blade without a frame, up to 14 feet long and with a handle at each end, the upper called the tiller and the lower one being the box, so called from its appearance and because it could be removed when the saw was taken out of one cut to be positioned in another . It was used close to the felling site to reduce large logs into beams and planks. Sawyers either dug a large pit or constructed a sturdy platform, enabling a two-man crew to saw, one positioned below the log called the pit-man, the other standing on top called the top-man. The saw blade teeth were angled and sharpened as a rip saw so as to only cut on the downward stroke. On the return stroke, the burden of lifting the weight of the saw was shared equally by the two sawyers, thereby reducing fatigue and backache. The pitman had to contend with sawdust in his mouth and eyes and the risk of being crushed by a falling log, although modern photographs show the saw dust falling, as would be expected, away from the pitman, the teeth being on the opposite edge from him.
Whipsaw is a 1935 American crime drama film directed by Sam Wood and starring Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy. Written by Howard Emmett Rogers, based on a story by James Edward Grant, the film is about a government agent working undercover as a thief who travels across country with an unsuspecting woman thief hoping to arrest a gang of jewel thieves. The film was produced by Harry Rapf for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and was released on December 18, 1935 in the United States.
Usage examples of "whipsaw".
The door to the inbound bag room was a heavy steel slab, but it might as well have been balsa wood the way it whipsawed back and forth in the storm.
Here, by hand, with an inadequate whipsaw, they sawed the sprucetrunks into lumber.
Arno had not worked out well in that regard, proving too brusque for the whipsaw warm-and-reassuring pose useful before the cameras.
It is called a whipsaw, as well, when you are cut at or torn in two directions, back and forth, so that, no matter your efforts, you are pulled and then pushed until you are cut apart.
No tradesmen were at the saw pit, one in the pit and one above, working with a whipsaw through a timber placed over the mouth of the pit.
Viciously, cruelly, brutally, she kept the pistol going like a whipsaw until, bleeding and dazed, Meyer Meyer collapsed, on the desk top, almost overturning the bottle of nitroglycerin.
And so we poison ourselves and whipsaw our dispositions and rot our teeth.
The Reverend Starbuck, oblivious of the bullets that whipsawed around his horse, cheered his Northerners on.
She fell only inches, dangerously close to getting pulled under the stern section as it whipsawed around.
Respiratory functions were on the high side, but sustainable, as hormone levels whipsawed between apparent panic and anger states.
Now they swayed violently on their lengths of wire, whipsawing like irregular pendulums.
He was on the lower slope of the breach now, and his whole world was nothing but noise and smoke and whipsawing bullets.
The heavy chassis rocked from side to side, and in the rearview mirror Hazen could see two rows of corn whipsawing in his wake.
Rheinbeck sprang to his feet, chair tilting crazily behind him, before he realized it was just whipsawing tree branches and another window getting blown out by the wind.
It was still there, but the letters looked fresher than they should have, and the leather here looked frayed and faded and whipsawed, as if other names had been inked in the same spot and then erased.