thumbscrew

American  

[thuhm-skroo] / ˈθʌmˌskru /

noun

1. a screw, the head of which is so constructed that it may be turned easily with the thumb and a finger.

2. Often thumbscrews. an old instrument of torture by which one or both thumbs were compressed.

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thumbscrew British  

/ ˈθʌmˌskruː /

noun

1. an instrument of torture that pinches or crushes the thumbs

2. a screw with projections on its head enabling it to be turned by the thumb and forefinger

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Etymology

Origin of thumbscrew

First recorded in 1705–15; thumb + screw

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

thumbscrew

There are really only two things this game doesn’t simulate: misplacing that last thumbscrew and getting thermal paste on absolutely everything.

From The Verge ● Oct. 8, 2021

Near the point, a brass thumbscrew adjusts the pencil lead or ink cartridge; otherwise, the tool is an uninterrupted rod of sandblasted aluminum.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 15, 2016

The dispute has also dragged in JK Rowling and the best-selling American writer James Patterson, and broke into the open on Friday, when the world's largest bookseller started turning the thumbscrew on the French-owned publisher.

From The Guardian ● May 27, 2014

Mooring cleats, which have a habit of snagging sheets when sailing, are simply locked in place or removed with the turn of a thumbscrew.

From Time Magazine Archive

Then the white-whiskered fox-master laid the bullets before Albert's uncle, and I felt this would be a trial to his faith far worse than the rack or the thumbscrew in the days of the Armada.

From The Wouldbegoods by E. (Edith) Nesbit