screw

[ skroo ]

noun

1. a metal fastener having a tapered shank with a helical thread, and topped with a slotted head, driven into wood or the like by rotating, especially by means of a screwdriver.
2. a threaded cylindrical pin or rod with a head at one end, engaging a threaded hole and used either as a fastener or as a simple machine for applying power, as in a clamp, jack, etc. Compare bolt ¹( def 3 ).
3. British. a tapped or threaded hole.
4. something having a spiral form.
5. screw propeller.
6. Usually screws. physical or mental coercion:

   The terrified debtor soon felt the gangster's screws.

7. a single turn of a screw.
8. a twist, turn, or twisting movement.
9. Chiefly British.
   1. a little salt, sugar, tobacco, etc., carried in a twist of paper.
   2. Slang. a mean, old, or worn-out horse; a horse from which one can obtain no further service.
   3. Slang. a friend or employer from whom one can obtain no more money.
   4. Slang. a miser.
10. British Informal. salary; wages:

    It's not my dream job, but the screw's decent enough.

11. Slang. a prison guard.
12. Slang: Vulgar.
    1. an act of sexual intercourse.
    2. a person viewed as a sexual partner.

verb (used with object)

1. to fasten, tighten, force, press, stretch tight, etc., by or as if by means of a screw or device operated by a screw or helical threads.
2. to operate or adjust by a screw, as a press.
3. to attach with a screw or screws:

   to screw a bracket to a wall.

4. to insert, fasten, undo, or work (a screw, bolt, nut, bottle top with a helical thread, etc.) by turning.
5. to contort as by twisting; distort (often followed by up ):

   Dad screwed his face into a grimace of disgust.

6. to cause to become sufficiently strong or intense (usually followed by up ):

   I screwed up my courage to ask for a raise.

7. to coerce or threaten.
8. to extract or extort.

   Synonyms: squeeze, exact, force, wrest, wring

9. to force (a seller) to lower a price (often followed by down ).
10. Slang. to cheat or take advantage of (someone).
11. Slang: Vulgar. to have sexual intercourse with.

verb (used without object)

1. to turn as or like a screw.
2. to be adapted for being connected, taken apart, opened, or closed by means of a screw or screws or parts with helical threads (usually followed by on, together, or off ):

   This top screws on easily.

3. to turn or move with a twisting or rotating motion.
4. to practice extortion.
5. Slang: Vulgar. to have sexual intercourse.

verb phrase

1. Slang.
   1. to do nothing; loaf.
   2. to leave; go away.
2. Slang.
   1. to ruin through bungling or stupidity:

      Somehow the engineers screwed up the entire construction project.

   2. to make a botch of something; blunder:

      Sorry, I guess I screwed up.

   3. to make confused, anxious, or neurotic:

      Losing your job can really screw you up.

3. Slang.
   1. to waste time in foolish or frivolous activity:

      If you'd stop screwing around we could get this job done.

   2. Vulgar. to engage in promiscuous sex.

screw

/ skruː /

noun

1. a device used for fastening materials together, consisting of a threaded and usually tapered shank that has a slotted head by which it may be rotated so as to cut its own thread as it bores through the material
2. Also calledscrew-bolt a threaded cylindrical rod that engages with a similarly threaded cylindrical hole; bolt
3. a thread in a cylindrical hole corresponding with that on the bolt or screw with which it is designed to engage
4. anything resembling a screw in shape or spiral form
5. a twisting movement of or resembling that of a screw
6. Also calledscrew-back billiards snooker
   1. a stroke in which the cue ball recoils or moves backward after striking the object ball, made by striking the cue ball below its centre
   2. the motion resulting from this stroke
7. another name for propeller
8. slang.
   a prison guard
9. slang.
   salary, wages, or earnings
10. a small amount of salt, tobacco, etc, in a twist of paper
11. slang.
    a person who is mean with money
12. slang.
    an old, unsound, or worthless horse
13. slang.
    often plural force or compulsion (esp in the phrase put the screws on )
14. slang.
    sexual intercourse
15. have a screw loose informal.
    to be insane
16. turn the screw or tighten the screw slang.
    to increase the pressure

verb

1. tr to rotate (a screw or bolt) so as to drive it into or draw it out of a material
2. tr to cut a screw thread in (a rod or hole) with a tap or die or on a lathe
3. to turn or cause to turn in the manner of a screw
4. tr to attach or fasten with a screw or screws
5. informal.
   tr to take advantage of; cheat
6. troften foll byup to distort or contort

   he screwed his face into a scowl

7. Alsoscrew back to impart a screw to (a ball)
8. tr, often foll by from or out of to coerce or force out of; extort
9. slang.
   to have sexual intercourse (with)
10. slang.
    tr to burgle
11. have one's head screwed on or have one's head screwed on the right way informal.
    to be wise or sensible

Usage

The use of this otherwise utilitarian word in a sexual sense, though recorded in an 18th century slang dictionary, does not appear to have really taken off until well into the 20th. Although a classic example of the anatomical metaphor for the sex act seen from the male point of view, it can be used as a transitive verb by women, which suggests that the metaphor is all but dead

Derived Forms

• ˈscrewer, noun
• ˈscrewˌlike, adjective

Other Words From

• screwa·ble adjective
• screwer noun
• screwless adjective
• screwlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of screw¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English noun scrwe, screw(e); compare Middle French escro(ue) “nut,” Middle Dutch schrûve, Middle High German schrûbe “screw”

Word History and Origins

Origin of screw¹

C15: from French escroe, from Medieval Latin scrōfa screw, from Latin: sow, presumably because the thread of the screw is like the spiral of the sow's tail

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. have a screw loose, Slang. to be eccentric or neurotic; have crazy ideas:

   You must have a screw loose to keep so many cats.

2. put the screws on, to compel by exerting pressure on; use coercion on; force:

   They kept putting the screws on him for more money.

3. have one’s head screwed on right/straight. head ( def 67 ).

More idioms and phrases containing screw

• have a screw loose
• pluck (screw) up one's courage
• tighten the screws
• turn up the heat (put the screws on)

Example Sentences

"Alright, screw it, let's go," says the prince, in a video published on social media.

From BBC

The turning of the scrum screw late on switched the teams’ tracks in the 2023 semi-final, consigning England to defeat and advancing South Africa to the final.

From BBC

The desire to “screw” one’s enemies, a hallmark of the insecure leader, is the impulse that brought down Richard Nixon.

From Los Angeles Times

Named LignoSat, after the Latin word for wood, its panels have been built from a type of magnolia tree, using a traditional technique without screws or glue.

From BBC

I wouldn’t have expected to become so interested in screws being unscrewed, tabs unbent, machines reduced to component parts, cleaned and painted, with missing parts newly fabricated.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• crumple
• pucker
• scrunch