Word of the day: whipsaw

The word of the day is whipsaw:

—noun

1. a saw for two persons, as a pitsaw, used to divide timbers lengthwise.

—verb (used with object), whip·sawed,whip·sawed or whip·sawn, whip·saw·ing.

2. to cut with a whipsaw.
3. to win two bets from (a person) at one turn or play, as at faro.
4. to subject to two opposing forces at the same time: The real-estate market has been whipsawed by high interest rates and unemployment.

—verb (used without object),whip·sawed, whip·sawed or whip·sawn,whip·saw·ing.

5. (of a trailer, railroad car, etc.) to swing suddenly to the right or left, as in rounding a sharp curve at high speed.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/whipsaw)

"Whipsawed between these two opposing views, the global network has become the subject of a furious intellectual battle, complete with mutually contradictory charts, graphs, and statistics—and tear gas and flying bricks in the streets where political leaders meet behind walls of riot police to wrangle through international-trade agreements."

 - Charles Mann, 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created