hand screw

American  

[hand skroo] / ˈhænd ˌskru /

noun

1. a screw that can be tightened by the fingers, without the aid of a tool.

2. Also called hand-screw clamp.  Carpentry. a clamp having two wooden jaws that are adjusted by two long screws.

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Etymology

Origin of hand screw

First recorded in 1755–65

Example Sentences

To trim the book, a plough was used, made of two thick side pieces of hard wood about one foot long and six inches high, with a long hand screw passing through them.

From The Building of a Book A Series of Practical Articles Written by Experts in the Various Departments of Book Making and Distributing by Hitchcock, Frederick H.

The middle of the yoke is furnished with a draught staple or eye-bolt which is moveable and regulated by a hand screw at the top, whereby the pitch of the draught it regulated.

From Scientific American magazine Vol 2. No. 3 Oct 10 1846 The Advocate of Industry and Journal of Scientific, Mechanical and Other Improvements by Porter, Rufus

The main valves are connected by a right and left hand screw, to enable their adjustment, as are also the cut-off valves.

From Mechanical Drawing Self-Taught by Rose, Joshua

Plate XVI, and a set of brick and special dies, a hand repress for paving brick, and a hand screw press for dry pressing.

From Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXX, Dec. 1910 Federal Investigations of Mine Accidents, Structural Materials and Fuels. Paper No. 1171 by Wilson, Herbert M.

The automatic screw machine, for instance, costs many times more than the hand screw machine, but it has largely displaced the hand machine nevertheless.

From Cyclopedia of Telephony and Telegraphy, Vol. 2 A General Reference Work on Telephony, etc. etc. by McMeen, Samuel