corkscrew
Americannoun
adjective
verb (used with or without object)
noun
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a device for drawing corks from bottles, typically consisting of a pointed metal spiral attached to a handle or screw mechanism
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slang boxing a blow that ends with a twist of the fist, esp one intended to cut the opponent
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(modifier) resembling a corkscrew in shape
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
corkscrewsimple
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corkscrewssimple
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have corkscrewedperfect
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has corkscrewedperfect
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am corkscrewingprogressive
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are corkscrewingprogressive
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is corkscrewingprogressive
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have been corkscrewingperfect progressive
-
has been corkscrewingperfect progressive
Past
-
corkscrewedsimple
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had corkscrewedperfect
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was corkscrewingprogressive
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were corkscrewingprogressive
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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
Equal parts object of design and functionality, this accordion-style corkscrew wine opener is made of nickel-plated steel and was first invented in France in the 1920s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 27, 2024
Others are just attention-grabbing oddballs, like Golden Curls, a corkscrew willow with twisted yellow stems.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 6, 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
After drying during a series of slow corkscrews, the new magazine’s edges were chopped smooth by guillotines and emerged through an opening.
From New York Times ● Jun. 16, 2024
The frogs dived deep in the forest pool and ripples spiraled like corkscrews on the dark, brown water.
From "Terrible Things: An Allegory of the Holocaust" by Eve Bunting
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
Tasked with seventh-inning duties and the Dodgers ahead by three runs, he gave up a walk before striking out the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Geraldo Perdomo so emphatically that Perdomo corkscrewed into the dirt.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 17, 2022
Outside, Tyrion swallowed a lungful of the cold morning air and began his laborious descent of the steep stone steps that corkscrewed around the exterior of the library tower.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
Remy O’Hara lifted a long, corkscrewing shofar to her lips and blew a resonant call.
From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 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
At the apex of my arc I saw the raised plow blades behind, the corkscrewing metal covered with mud, and then the race was over.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
