corkscrew
Americannoun
-
corkscrews
plural
adjective
verb (used with or without object)
-
corkscrews,
present (3rd person singular)
-
corkscrewed,
past participle, past
-
corkscrewing
present participle
noun
-
a device for drawing corks from bottles, typically consisting of a pointed metal spiral attached to a handle or screw mechanism
-
slang boxing a blow that ends with a twist of the fist, esp one intended to cut the opponent
-
(modifier) resembling a corkscrew in shape
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
corkscrewsimple
-
corkscrewssimple
-
have corkscrewedperfect
-
has corkscrewedperfect
-
am corkscrewingprogressive
-
are corkscrewingprogressive
-
is corkscrewingprogressive
-
have been corkscrewingperfect progressive
-
has been corkscrewingperfect progressive
Past
-
corkscrewedsimple
-
had corkscrewedperfect
-
was corkscrewingprogressive
-
were corkscrewingprogressive
-
had been corkscrewingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of corkscrew
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
She is a fashionable woman, with corkscrew curls coming down in front of her ears.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
A cork is when a spin is combined with a flip, resulting in an 'off-axis' direction of travel resembling a corkscrew.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026
In fact, the French more or less conquered Southern California, not by the bayonet but by the corkscrew.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2025
Where shorter colonies spun around an axis, like a spiraling football, longer chains would buckle and coil like a corkscrew.
From Science Daily ● May 15, 2024
A halo of tiny blond corkscrew curls bounces up and down on her shoulders.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
The principal space of the Koolhaas building is the dramatic atrium stair that corkscrews up the front of the building.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
Before Kercher’s murder corkscrews their story, “The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox” luxuriates in the postcard-perfect view from the apartment Amanda shared with Meredith and two Italian women.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2025
Campione has become known for her unique specialism in dolls, doll houses, automata, birdcages and corkscrews.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2024
One recent newspaper cartoon captured the collision of tragedy and farce by depicting Johnson as the betrayed Roman ruler Julius Caesar, stabbed in the back with corkscrews.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 29, 2022
He makes pencil drawings of spirals, messy, heavy-leaded corkscrews.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
They seized the football, spun their wheels and corkscrewed even deeper into the NFL basement with a demoralizing 24-16 defeat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
This part of the ship collapsed as it corkscrewed into the sea floor.
From BBC ● May 17, 2023
They also found that a slightly altered movement, where the invertebrates corkscrewed in mostly one direction, helped create the tangles.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 27, 2023
Hotter days and hotter nights have corkscrewed our weather patterns into spiraling extremes, leaving entire regions around the world jerked from the hottest temperatures they've known to the coldest, from devastating fires to disastrous floods.
From Salon ● May 22, 2022
There's a wilder corner where broken slabs're stacked under corkscrewed holly.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
A brisk shuffle beat drives “Cry Mercy, Judge” while little corkscrewing guitar licks turn up all over the place.
From New York Times ● Jan. 29, 2023
Adding to the problems that Brockway caused for the Vikings was her unique corkscrewing serve.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 19, 2022
Crafting Amy and The Doctor's corkscrewing timeline was terrific practice to adapt this book – which Moffat recently told critics inspired the acclaimed "Doctor Who" episode "The Girl in the Fireplace."
From Salon ● May 15, 2022
With its gently corkscrewing guitar, taut beats and whirring strings, The Turning of Our Bones is inspired by the Famadihana ritual of the Malagasy people, who dance with the corpses of loved ones.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 3, 2020
They lead von Rumpel down a corkscrewing stone staircase; at the bottom, the assistant director unlocks a second gate.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
