whipsaw
noun, verb, adjective
whipsaw is spelled W-H-I-P-S-A-W: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 35 million words in written English, the 180,281st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, whipsaw means “A rip saw often operated by two people” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of whipsaw is whipsaws.
How many letters and syllables are in whipsaw?
| Letters | 7: W-H-I-P-S-A-W |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 35 million words; the 180,281st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is whipsaw?
Whipsaw appears about once in every 35 million words in written English, the 180,281st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce whipsaw?
- US
Whipsaw has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-whipsaw.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of whipsaw
- whipsaws plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- whipsawing participle, present
- whipsawed past
- whipsawn participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does whipsaw mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A rip saw often operated by two people.
verb
- 1
To operate a whipsaw.
- 2
To 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
To defeat someone in two different ways at once.
- 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
USTo accept bribes from multiple parties at once, with the intent of letting down one or more of them.
adjective
- 1
Having the characteristic of arguing two sides at once.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does whipsaw come from?
From whip + saw.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).