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screw up

 [skroo-uhp]   Origin

screw·up

   [skroo-uhp]
noun Slang.
1.
a mistake or blunder: The package was delayed through an addressing screwup.
2.
a habitual blunderer.
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Also, screw-up.

Origin:
1955–60; Americanism; noun use of verb phrase screw up

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Screw up is always a great word to know.
So is ort. Does it mean:
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged

screw

   [skroo]
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, especially 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.
EXPAND
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.
COLLAPSE
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.
EXPAND
18.
to cause to become sufficiently strong or intense (usually followed 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 followed by down).
22.
Slang. to cheat or take advantage of (someone).
23.
Slang: Vulgar. to have coitus with.
COLLAPSE
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 followed 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 Middle English scrwe, screw(e) (noun); compare Middle French escro(ue) nut, Middle Dutch schrûve, Middle High German schrûbe screw

Related forms
screw·a·ble, adjective
screw·er, noun
screw·less, adjective
screw·like, adjective

Synonyms
20. wring, wrest, force, exact, squeeze.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To screw up
Collins
World English Dictionary
screw up
 
—vb
1.  to twist out of shape or distort
2.  to summon up or call upon: to screw up one's courage
3.  informal (also intr) to mishandle or make a mess (of)
4.  informal (often passive) to cause to become very anxious, confused, or nervous: he is really screwed up about his exams
 
—n
5.  slang something mishandled or done badly

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

screw
"to twist (something) like a screw," 1599, from screw (n.). Slang meaning "to copulate" dates from at least 1725, on the notion of driving a screw into something. Meaning "a prostitute" also is attested from 1725. Slang meaning "an act of copulation" (n.) is recorded from
EXPAND
1929. First recorded 1949 in exclamations as a euphemism.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary

screw definition


  1. tv. & in.
    to copulate [with] someone. (Very old. Usually objectionable.) : The sailor wanted to screw somebody bad.
  2. tv. & in.
    to cheat or deceive someone. : You can count on somebody screwing you at a traveling carnival.
  3. n.
    an act of copulation. (Usually objectionable.) : The sailor said he needed a good screw.
  4. n.
    a person with whom one can copulate. (Usually objectionable.) : His teeth are crooked and his hands are callused, but he's a good screw.
  5. n.
    a jailer. (Very old. Underworld.) : See if you can get the screw's attention.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source

screw (so or sth) up definition


  1. tv.
    to interfere with someone or something; to mess up someone or something. : Try again and don't screw it up this time.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source

screw up definition


  1. in.
    to mess up. : The waiter screwed up again.
  2. n.
    a mess; a blunder; utter confusion. (Usually screw-up. See also screwed up.) : This is the chef's screw-up, not mine.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

screw up

  1. Muster or summon up; see pluck up one's courage.

  2. Make a mess of an undertaking; also, make a mistake, as in I really screwed up this report, or She said she was sorry, admitting that she had screwed up. Some authorities believe this usage is a euphemism for fuck up. [Slang; c. 1940]

  3. Injure, damage, as in I screwed up my back lifting all those heavy books. [Slang]

  4. Make neurotic or anxious, as in Her family really screwed her up, but her therapist has helped her a lot. [Slang; mid-1900s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
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