whiplash
/ˈwɪpˌlæʃ/
Etymology
From whip + lash.
whiplash means The lash of a whip. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 75 out of 100.
noun
- 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”
verb
- 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.”