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screw up

 - 9 dictionary results
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screw⋅up

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

Origin:
1955–60; Americanism; n. use of v. phrase screw up
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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, 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 bolt 1 (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
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To screw up
screw   (skrōō)   


(click for larger image in new window)
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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
screw

  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.
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screw (so or sth) up

  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

  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.
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Word Origin & History

screw  (v.)
"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 1929. First recorded 1949 in exclamations as a euphemism.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: screw
Pronunciation: 'skrü
Function: noun
: a threaded device used in bone surgery for fixation of parts (as fragments of fractured bones)
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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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.
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