whiplash

noun

No English definition recorded for this entry.

Pronunciation: /ˈwɪpˌlæʃ/ / /ˈʍɪpˌlæʃ/

Etymology: From whip + lash.

The lash of a whip.
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.
“Of the nine staff in the third coach, most had been having a break, drinking tea or reading. One suffered a fractured skull, another a fractured shoulder. All were either thrown along or across the coach, sustaining cuts, bruising and whiplash injuries.”
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.”

Etymology: From whip + lash.

To jerk back and forth; to buffet.
“[…] Ms. Kennedy has been whiplashed by assertions that she is at once protected and presumptuous.”
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.”