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

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

From long practice Mr. Chamberlain knows, the advantage of cracking an early jest to distract his victims from the impending thumbscrew of his Budget revelations.

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 Nesbit, E. (Edith)