screw propeller

American  

noun

1. a rotary propelling device, as for a ship or airplane, consisting of a number of blades that radiate from a central hub and are so inclined to the plane of rotation as to tend to drive a helical path through the substance in which they rotate.

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screw propeller British  

noun

1. an early form of ship's propeller in which an Archimedes' screw is used to produce thrust by accelerating a flow of water

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Other Word Forms

• screw-propelled
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of screw propeller

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

screw propeller

The ship sported the newest improvements, including being the first steamship to use a screw propeller and the world’s longest ship’s cannon, called the Peacemaker.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 2, 2018

The United States Navy commissioned a warship, the Princeton, that proved to be one of the most advanced in the world, thanks to a screw propeller and other innovations by Mr. Ericsson.

From New York Times ● Aug. 8, 2011

A native of Sweden, Mr. Ericsson moved to London and produced one innovation after another, including a screw propeller to replace the paddle wheel on the steam-powered warship.

From New York Times ● Aug. 8, 2011

Since well before 1800, various mechanisms have been developed to propel a boat, including the paddlewheel, adapted from the waterwheel then in common use, and the screw propeller.

From Time Magazine Archive

A few years before, John C. Stevens in America and John Ericsson in England had brought forward the screw propeller; and Ericsson was the first to couple the engine to the propeller shaft.

From Inventions in the Century by William Henry Doolittle