machine screw

American

noun

a threaded fastener, either used with a nut or driven into a tapped hole, usually having a diameter of about 1/4 inch (6.4 millimeters) or less and a slotted head for tightening by a screwdriver.

machine screw British

noun

a fastening screw with a machine-cut thread throughout the length of its shank

"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

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.

It was a real big screw, as they go, a 4-40 flat head machine screw with a length of about three-quarters of an inch.

From The Trouble with Telstar by Schoenherr, John

M is a 5⁄16 machine screw, 1½ in. long, 9 being the nut furnished with it.

From How Two Boys Made Their Own Electrical Apparatus Containing Complete Directions for Making All Kinds of Simple Apparatus for the Study of Elementary Electricity by St. John, Thomas M. (Thomas Matthew)

It is held together by means of a small machine screw and a knurled nut.

From The Boy Mechanic: Volume 1 700 Things for Boys to Do by Popular Mechanics Co.

When a machine screw is turned around just once, it moves forward a certain distance, as a glance at Fig.

From Boys' Book of Model Boats by Yates, Raymond F. (Raymond Francis)

A machine screw is a small screw, such as in Fig.

From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Rose, Joshua

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023