corkscrew
Americannoun
-
corkscrews
plural
adjective
verb (used with or without object)
-
corkscrews,
present (3rd person singular)
-
corkscrewed,
past participle, past
-
corkscrewing
present participle
noun
-
a device for drawing corks from bottles, typically consisting of a pointed metal spiral attached to a handle or screw mechanism
-
slang boxing a blow that ends with a twist of the fist, esp one intended to cut the opponent
-
(modifier) resembling a corkscrew in shape
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
corkscrewsimple
-
corkscrewssimple
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have corkscrewedperfect
-
has corkscrewedperfect
-
am corkscrewingprogressive
-
are corkscrewingprogressive
-
is corkscrewingprogressive
-
have been corkscrewingperfect progressive
-
has been corkscrewingperfect progressive
Past
-
corkscrewedsimple
-
had corkscrewedperfect
-
was corkscrewingprogressive
-
were corkscrewingprogressive
-
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
Once the eggs hatch, the maggots burrow into flesh in a corkscrew motion, which is how the insect got its name.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 17, 2025
With her electric green eyes, corkscrew hair and husky contralto voice, Dame Cleo became the most recognisable British jazz singer in history.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2025
In fact, the French more or less conquered Southern California, not by the bayonet but by the corkscrew.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2025
Mama had let me sleep in rag rollers the night before, so I had big corkscrew curls instead of my usual pigtails, and she put bobby pins in my hair, crisscrossing two on each side.
From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce
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
At the state’s Enterprise Services Surplus Operations retail store, in Tumwater, Thurston County, bargain hunters could choose from knives, corkscrews, pool cues and other items that have been confiscated by airport security.
From Seattle Times ● May 19, 2024
The others twisted themselves like corkscrews, their elbows raised, and leaned against the flanks of the bull after his horns had passed, to give a faked look of danger.
From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
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
A twelve-foot centipede with three sets of wings and three pairs of taloned feet corkscrewed around the room in a complex aerial display.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
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
Tonally, it’s raw and serrated, with Steve Hanley’s corkscrewing bass lines as twisting and piercing as Smith’s venomous and intractable vocals.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 25, 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.
