| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
screw (skruː) ![]() | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a device used for fastening materials together, consisting of a threaded and usually tapered shank that has a slotted head by which it may be rotated so as to cut its own thread as it bores through the material |
| 2. | Also called: screw-bolt a threaded cylindrical rod that engages with a similarly threaded cylindrical hole; bolt |
| 3. | a thread in a cylindrical hole corresponding with that on the bolt or screw with which it is designed to engage |
| 4. | anything resembling a screw in shape or spiral form |
| 5. | a twisting movement of or resembling that of a screw |
| 6. | billiards, snooker Also called: screw-back |
| a. a stroke in which the cue ball recoils or moves backward after striking the object ball, made by striking the cue ball below its centre | |
| b. the motion resulting from this stroke | |
| 7. | another name for propeller |
| 8. | slang a prison guard |
| 9. | slang (Brit) salary, wages, or earnings |
| 10. | (Brit) a small amount of salt, tobacco, etc, in a twist of paper |
| 11. | slang a person who is mean with money |
| 12. | slang an old, unsound, or worthless horse |
| 13. | slang (often plural) force or compulsion (esp in the phrase put the screws on) |
| 14. | slang sexual intercourse |
| 15. | informal have a screw loose to be insane |
| 16. | slang turn the screw, tighten the screw to increase the pressure |
| —vb (often foll by up) | |
| 17. | (tr) to rotate (a screw or bolt) so as to drive it into or draw it out of a material |
| 18. | (tr) to cut a screw thread in (a rod or hole) with a tap or die or on a lathe |
| 19. | to turn or cause to turn in the manner of a screw |
| 20. | (tr) to attach or fasten with a screw or screws |
| 21. | informal (tr) to take advantage of; cheat |
| 22. | to distort or contort: he screwed his face into a scowl |
| 23. | Also: screw back to impart a screw to (a ball) |
| 24. | (tr, |
| 25. | slang to have sexual intercourse (with) |
| 26. | slang (tr) to burgle |
| 27. | informal have one's head screwed on, have one's head screwed on the right way to be wise or sensible |
| [C15: from French escroe, from Medieval Latin scrōfa screw, from Latin: sow, presumably because the thread of the screw is like the spiral of the sow's tail] | |
| usage The use of this otherwise utilitarian word in a sexual sense, though recorded in an 18th century slang dictionary, does not appear to have really taken off until well into the 20th. Although a classic example of the anatomical metaphor for the sex act seen from the male point of view, it can be used as a transitive verb by women, which suggests that the metaphor is all but dead | |
| 'screwer | |
| —n | |
| 'screwlike | |
| —adj | |
screwed (skruːd) ![]() | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | fastened by a screw or screws |
| 2. | having spiral grooves like a screw; threaded |
| 3. | twisted or distorted |
| 4. | (Brit) a slang word for drunk |
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