screw nail
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of screw nail
First recorded in 1650–60
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.
The screw on being put into revolution by the engine, preserves a spiral path in the water, in which it draws itself forward in the same way as a screw nail does when turned round in a piece of wood, whereas the paddle wheel more resembles the action of a cog wheel working in a rack.
From Project Gutenberg
Q.--But the screw of a steam vessel has no resemblance to a screw nail?
From Project Gutenberg
A.--It has in fact a very close resemblance if you suppose only a very short piece of the screw nail to be employed, and if you suppose, moreover, the thread of the screw to be cut nearly into the centre to prevent the wood from stripping.
From Project Gutenberg
In Scottish folk-lore a screw nail is fixed into the footprint of the person who is to be injured.
From Project Gutenberg
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.
