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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
screw    Audio Help   [skroo] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.a metal fastener having a tapered shank with a helical thread, and topped with a slotted head, driven into wood or the like by rotating, esp. by means of a screwdriver.
2.a threaded cylindrical pin or rod with a head at one end, engaging a threaded hole and used either as a fastener or as a simple machine for applying power, as in a clamp, jack, etc. Compare bolt1 (def. 3).
3.British. a tapped or threaded hole.
4.something having a spiral form.
5.screw propeller.
6.Usually, screws. physical or mental coercion: The terrified debtor soon felt the gangster's screws.
7.a single turn of a screw.
8.a twist, turn, or twisting movement.
9.Chiefly British.
a.a little salt, sugar, tobacco, etc., carried in a twist of paper.
b.Slang. a mean, old, or worn-out horse; a horse from which one can obtain no further service.
c.Slang. a friend or employer from whom one can obtain no more money.
d.Slang. a miser.
10.British Informal. salary; wages.
11.Slang. a prison guard.
12.Slang: Vulgar.
a.an act of coitus.
b.a person viewed as a sexual partner.
–verb (used with object)
13.to fasten, tighten, force, press, stretch tight, etc., by or as if by means of a screw or device operated by a screw or helical threads.
14.to operate or adjust by a screw, as a press.
15.to attach with a screw or screws: to screw a bracket to a wall.
16.to insert, fasten, undo, or work (a screw, bolt, nut, bottle top with a helical thread, etc.) by turning.
17.to contort as by twisting; distort: Father screwed his face into a grimace of disgust.
18.to cause to become sufficiently strong or intense (usually fol. by up): I screwed up my courage to ask for a raise.
19.to coerce or threaten.
20.to extract or extort.
21.to force (a seller) to lower a price (often fol. by down).
22.Slang. to cheat or take advantage of (someone).
23.Slang: Vulgar. to have coitus with.
–verb (used without object)
24.to turn as or like a screw.
25.to be adapted for being connected, taken apart, opened, or closed by means of a screw or screws or parts with helical threads (usually fol. by on, together, or off): This top screws on easily.
26.to turn or move with a twisting or rotating motion.
27.to practice extortion.
28.Slang: Vulgar. to have coitus.
—Verb phrases
29.screw around, Slang.
a.to waste time in foolish or frivolous activity: If you'd stop screwing around we could get this job done.
b.Vulgar. to engage in promiscuous sex.
30.screw off, Slang.
a.to do nothing; loaf.
b.to leave; go away.
31.screw up, Slang.
a.to ruin through bungling or stupidity: Somehow the engineers screwed up the entire construction project.
b.to make a botch of something; blunder.
c.to make confused, anxious, or neurotic.
—Idioms
32.have a screw loose, Slang. to be eccentric or neurotic; have crazy ideas: You must have a screw loose to keep so many cats.
33.put the screws on, to compel by exerting pressure on; use coercion on; force: They kept putting the screws on him for more money.
[Origin: 1375–1425; late ME scrwe, screw(e) (n.); cf. MF escro(ue) nut, MD schrûve, MHG schrûbe screw]

—Related forms
screw·a·ble, adjective
screwer, noun
screwless, adjective
screwlike, adjective

—Synonyms 20. wring, wrest, force, exact, squeeze.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
screw    Audio Help   (skrōō)  Pronunciation Key 


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n.  
    1. A cylindrical rod incised with one or more helical or advancing spiral threads, as a lead screw or worm screw.
    2. The tapped collar or socket that receives this rod.
    3. A tapered and pointed wood screw.
    4. A cylindrical and flat-tipped machine screw.
    5. A prison guard.
    6. The turnkey of a jail.
    7. Salary; wages.
    8. A small paper packet, as of tobacco.
    9. An old broken-down horse.
    10. A stingy or crafty bargainer.
  2. A metal pin with incised threads and a broad slotted head that can be driven as a fastener by turning with a screwdriver, especially:
    1. A tapered and pointed wood screw.
    2. A cylindrical and flat-tipped machine screw.
    3. A prison guard.
    4. The turnkey of a jail.
    5. Salary; wages.
    6. A small paper packet, as of tobacco.
    7. An old broken-down horse.
    8. A stingy or crafty bargainer.
  3. A device having a helical form, such as a corkscrew.
  4. A propeller.
  5. A twist or turn of or as if of a screw.
  6. Slang
    1. A prison guard.
    2. The turnkey of a jail.
    3. Salary; wages.
    4. A small paper packet, as of tobacco.
    5. An old broken-down horse.
    6. A stingy or crafty bargainer.
  7. Vulgar Slang The act or an instance of having sexual intercourse.
  8. Chiefly British Slang
    1. Salary; wages.
    2. A small paper packet, as of tobacco.
    3. An old broken-down horse.
    4. A stingy or crafty bargainer.

v.   screwed, screw·ing, screws

v.   tr.
  1. To drive or tighten (a screw).
    1. To fasten, tighten, or attach by or as if by means of a screw.
    2. To attach (a tapped or threaded fitting or cap) by twisting into place.
    3. To rotate (a part) on a threaded axis.
  3. To contort (one's face).
  4. Slang
    To take advantage of; cheat: screwed me out of the most lucrative sales territory.
  5. Vulgar Slang To have sexual intercourse with.

v.   intr.
  1. To turn or twist.
    1. To become attached by means of the threads of a screw.
    2. To be capable of such attachment.
  3. Vulgar Slang To have sexual intercourse.
  4. Slang To act or fool around aimlessly or in a confused way and accomplish nothing.
  5. Vulgar Slang To be sexually promiscuous.
  6. To muster or summon up: screwed up my courage.
  7. Slang To make a mess of (an undertaking).
  8. Slang To injure; damage: Lifting those boxes really screwed up my back.
  9. Slang To make neurotic or anxious.

Phrasal Verb(s):
screw around
  1. Slang To act or fool around aimlessly or in a confused way and accomplish nothing.
  2. Vulgar Slang To be sexually promiscuous.
screw up
  1. To muster or summon up: screwed up my courage.
  2. Slang To make a mess of (an undertaking).
  3. Slang To injure; damage: Lifting those boxes really screwed up my back.
  4. Slang To make neurotic or anxious.

Idiom(s):
have a screw loose Slang
  1. To behave in an eccentric manner.
  2. To be insane.

[Middle English skrewe, from Old French escrove, female screw, nut, perhaps from Medieval Latin scrōfa, from Latin, sow; see sker-1 in Indo-European roots.]

screw'a·ble adj., screw'er n.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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