screw
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.
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 bolt1 (def. 3).
British. a tapped or threaded hole.
something having a spiral form.
Usually screws. physical or mental coercion: The terrified debtor soon felt the gangster's screws.
a single turn of a screw.
a twist, turn, or twisting movement.
Chiefly British.
a little salt, sugar, tobacco, etc., carried in a twist of paper.
Slang. a mean, old, or worn-out horse; a horse from which one can obtain no further service.
Slang. a friend or employer from whom one can obtain no more money.
Slang. a miser.
Slang. a prison guard.
Slang: Vulgar.
an act of sexual intercourse.
a person viewed as a sexual partner.
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.
to operate or adjust by a screw, as a press.
to attach with a screw or screws: to screw a bracket to a wall.
to insert, fasten, undo, or work (a screw, bolt, nut, bottle top with a helical thread, etc.) by turning.
to contort as by twisting; distort (often followed by up): Dad screwed his face into a grimace of disgust.
to cause to become sufficiently strong or intense (usually followed by up): I screwed up my courage to ask for a raise.
to coerce or threaten.
to extract or extort.
to force (a seller) to lower a price (often followed bydown).
Slang. to cheat or take advantage of (someone).
Slang: Vulgar. to have sexual intercourse with.
to turn as or like a screw.
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.
to turn or move with a twisting or rotating motion.
to practice extortion.
Slang: Vulgar. to have sexual intercourse.
screw around, Slang.
to waste time in foolish or frivolous activity: If you'd stop screwing around we could get this job done.
Vulgar. to engage in promiscuous sex.
screw off, Slang.
to do nothing; loaf.
to leave; go away.
screw up, Slang.
to ruin through bungling or stupidity: Somehow the engineers screwed up the entire construction project.
to make a botch of something; blunder: Sorry, I guess I screwed up.
to make confused, anxious, or neurotic: Losing your job can really screw you up.
Idioms about screw
have a screw loose, Slang. to be eccentric or neurotic; have crazy ideas: You must have a screw loose to keep so many cats.
have one’s head screwed on right/straight. head (def. 67).
put the screws on, to compel by exerting pressure on; use coercion on; force: They kept putting the screws on him for more money.
Origin of screw
1Other words for screw
Other words from screw
- screw·a·ble, adjective
- screwer, noun
- screwless, adjective
- screwlike, adjective
Words Nearby screw
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use screw in a sentence
You want less concentration in banking—at least the type that will screw the little guy and imperil the economy?
The Internet cool kids are rallying against Taylor Swift after her bold screw-you to Spotify.
Death of the Author by Viral Infection: In Defense of Taylor Swift, Digital Doomsayer | Arthur Chu | December 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThen they sent me to psychologists and it was like “screw his head on straight.”
Exclusive: Michael Phelps’s Intersex Self-Proclaimed Girlfriend, Taylor Lianne Chandler, Tells All | Aurora Snow | November 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn all honesty she may be handling it better, in terms of not letting it affect her as a person or screw up her life.
Jeopardy! Champion Julia Collins’s Brain Feels Like Mush | Sujay Kumar | November 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe company bargained him down to $65 a screw—less than half of what they usually cost.
Patients Screwed in Spine Surgery ‘Scam’ | The Center for Investigative Reporting | November 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The powdered stone was removed from the hole by giving a screw form to the stem of the bit.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis Trevithick"I did n't fly off the handle," said the screw, twirling huskily at the end of the screw-shaft.
Kipling Stories and Poems Every Child Should Know, Book II | Rudyard KiplingAt the usual hour that night the employés of Stickle and screw left work and took their several ways home ward.
The Garret and the Garden | R.M. BallantyneThe propeller to be worked by this novel engine was of course his long-idle screw.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis TrevithickAn article in 'The Times' gives in strong contrast the relative value of screw and paddle-wheels as propellers.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis Trevithick
British Dictionary definitions for screw
/ (skruː) /
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
Also called: screw-bolt a threaded cylindrical rod that engages with a similarly threaded cylindrical hole; bolt
a thread in a cylindrical hole corresponding with that on the bolt or screw with which it is designed to engage
anything resembling a screw in shape or spiral form
a twisting movement of or resembling that of a screw
Also called: screw-back billiards snooker
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
the motion resulting from this stroke
another name for propeller (def. 1)
slang a prison guard
British slang salary, wages, or earnings
British a small amount of salt, tobacco, etc, in a twist of paper
slang a person who is mean with money
slang an old, unsound, or worthless horse
(often plural) slang force or compulsion (esp in the phrase put the screws on)
slang sexual intercourse
have a screw loose informal to be insane
turn the screw or tighten the screw slang to increase the pressure
(tr) to rotate (a screw or bolt) so as to drive it into or draw it out of a material
(tr) to cut a screw thread in (a rod or hole) with a tap or die or on a lathe
to turn or cause to turn in the manner of a screw
(tr) to attach or fasten with a screw or screws
(tr) informal to take advantage of; cheat
(tr often foll by up) to distort or contort: he screwed his face into a scowl
Also: screw back to impart a screw to (a ball)
(tr, often foll by from or out of) to coerce or force out of; extort
slang to have sexual intercourse (with)
(tr) slang to burgle
have one's head screwed on or have one's head screwed on the right way informal to be wise or sensible
Origin of screw
1usage For screw
- See also screw up
Derived forms of screw
- screwer, noun
- screwlike, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with screw
In addition to the idioms beginning with screw
- screw around
- screw loose
- screw someone out of
- screw up
- screw up one's courage
- screw you
also see:
- have a screw loose
- pluck (screw) up one's courage
- tighten the screws
- turn up the heat (put the screws on)
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Browse