whiplash

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   The lash of a whip.

2. 2

   An injury to the upper spine connected to a violent jerk of the head in either a backward…

   An injury to the upper spine connected to a violent jerk of the head in either a backward or forward or side to side direction, resembling the motion of a whip.

3. 3

   An abrupt and unexpected change, or the resulting feeling of shock.

   • tonal whiplash
   • Some parents, feeling too hurt by the push-off or taking their teenager’s rejections too personally, choose to make themselves unavailable. In some ways it does feel better to avoid episodes of emotional whiplash.
4. ›+ 2 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      To jerk back and forth

      To jerk back and forth; to buffet.

      • […] Ms. Kennedy has been whiplashed by assertions that she is at once protected and presumptuous.
   2. 5

      To lash as if with a whip.

      • After a while, he let go of my hand in order to protect his own face from being whiplashed by the low branches.

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