# screw

Pronunciation: say "SKROO" /skɹuː/

## Noun

1. A fastener, usually metal, with a threaded shank and a head that holds the top material, driven by turning either directly into soft material or into a prepared hole.
   - Simple: A small metal pin with a winding ridge that you twist into wood or plastic to hold things together.
   - _She tightened the loose screw on the cabinet hinge before it could fall off._
   - _The carpenter chose brass screws so the deck hardware would not rust._
6. Sexual intercourse, or an act of it. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A very rude word for the act of having sex.
   - _They slipped upstairs for a screw while the party went on below._
   - _For him it was love; for her, just a good screw._
8. A simple machine consisting of a helical inclined plane wrapped around a central cylinder.
   - Simple: A simple machine that uses a winding ridge around a pole to turn small turning power into a strong push.
   - _The screw converts gentle turning motion into powerful forward force._
   - _Presses and jacks rely on screws to multiply the force a person can apply._
9. A twisting motion, such as that used to drive a threaded fastener; a turn or twist to one side.
   - Simple: A turning or twisting movement to one side.
   - _He sealed the cap with a final screw._
   - _The bowler put a slight screw on the ball, sending it curving left._
10. A ship's propeller.
   - Simple: The spinning blades under a ship that push it through the water.
   - _The ferry's screw fouled on a drifting fishing net as it left the harbor._
   - _Twin screws give the tugboat remarkable maneuvering power in tight quarters._
13. A casual sexual partner. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A very rude word for a person someone has sex with but does not love or date.
   - _She realized she had been nothing but a convenient screw for two years._
   - _His contact list was full of old screws he never spoke to again._
14. A prison guard. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A rude word that prisoners use for a prison guard.
   - _Word spread fast when a screw confiscated the contraband radios._
   - _The screws turned a blind eye as long as the wing stayed quiet._
15. A device known as an Archimedes screw, which raises water by means of a rotating helix inside an inclined tube.
   - Simple: A machine that lifts water by turning a wide spiral blade inside a tube.
   - _Farmers along the Nile once turned a screw all day to lift water into irrigation ditches._
   - _Modern treatment plants still use giant screws to raise wastewater between basins._
16. Backspin; rotation applied to a ball, especially the cue ball, that makes it travel backward after striking another ball.
   - Simple: Backward spin on a ball that makes it roll back after hitting another ball.
   - _He put plenty of screw on the cue ball to bring it back down the table._
   - _A little screw kept the white from following the red into the pocket._
24. An extortioner or unreasonably hard bargainer; a skinflint. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A person who is mean with money and makes very hard deals.
   - _The landlord was a notorious screw who squeezed every last cent from his tenants._
   - _Don't expect a raise from that old screw._
26. A steam vessel propelled by a screw propeller rather than by paddle wheels.
   - Simple: A steamship pushed through the water by a spinning propeller instead of paddle wheels.
   - _The screw crossed the Atlantic in nine days, far outpacing the older paddle steamers._
   - _Iron screws gradually replaced paddle vessels on the deep-ocean routes._
27. A straight line in space associated with a linear magnitude called the pitch, used to express the displacement of a rigid body as a rotation about an axis combined with a translation along that axis.
   - Simple: A straight line in math that shows how a solid object can turn and slide at the same time.
   - _Every rigid-body displacement can be reduced to motion along a single screw._
   - _The pitch of the screw gives the ratio of translation to rotation._
28. An amphipod crustacean; a small, shrimplike creature with a body flattened from side to side.
   - Simple: A small shrimp-like animal that lives in the sea or on the beach.
   - _Tiny screws wriggled out of the wet sand wherever the children dug at low tide._
   - _Under the microscope, each screw showed the flattened, shrimplike body typical of amphipods._
29. Rheumatism; aching pain and stiffness in the joints. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Pain and stiffness in the joints, often worse in cold or wet weather.
   - _The screws kept him out of the garden most of the winter._
   - _Damp weather brings on her screws, and her hands ache all day._

## Verb

2. To connect or assemble pieces using one or more screws.
   - Simple: To join things together by twisting screws into them.
   - _She screwed the hinge onto the door frame._
   - _Workers screw the metal panels to the frame before painting begins._
3. To have sexual intercourse with someone. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A very rude word for having sex with someone.
   - _Rumor had it the two of them screwed at the office holiday party._
   - _He would rather screw than talk, she complained to her friends._
4. To swindle someone or spoil their prospects, whether in a game or in some other situation. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To cheat someone or make them lose something in an unfair way.
   - _Shareholders argued the buyout was structured to screw minority investors._
   - _A last-minute schedule change screwed the entire qualifying field._
5. Used as an exclamation of strong annoyance with someone or something, or to dismiss them with contempt. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A rude way to show strong anger at someone or something, or that you do not care at all.
   - _Screw the dress code. I'm wearing sneakers to the reception._
   - _She muttered, "Screw it all," and deleted the entire draft._
7. To give up on, abandon, or put off something; to stop thinking about it. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To decide to stop doing or caring about something, at least for now.
   - _After the second cancellation, they screwed the whole trip and stayed home._
   - _Sometimes you have to screw the plan and improvise._
11. To extort money or concessions from someone, or to oppress them with unreasonable, extortionate demands.
   - Simple: To force people to pay or give more than is fair.
   - _Tax collectors screwed every last coin from the peasants._
   - _Loan sharks screw desperate borrowers with threats against their families._
12. To twist or contort something, especially the face or its features, out of its usual shape.
   - Simple: To twist a part of your body, especially your face, into a tight shape.
   - _The critic screwed his features into a look of polite disapproval._
   - _Children screw their faces into grimaces at the first taste of lemon._
17. To strike the cue ball below center so that backspin pulls it backward after it hits the object ball.
   - Simple: To hit the white ball low so it spins back after touching another ball.
   - _You can screw the white back the length of the table with a clean, low strike._
   - _She screwed back neatly to leave herself an easy shot on the blue._
18. To kick a ball poorly, making contact with an unintended part of the foot.
   - Simple: To kick a ball badly by hitting it with the wrong part of your foot.
   - _Under pressure, defenders often screw the ball out of play._
   - _He screwed the ball wide of the near post._

## Verb

19. To leave or go away, often quickly and unceremoniously; to scram. *(dated, US)*
   - Simple: To leave or go away from a place, often in a hurry.
   - _"Screw, kid, before the manager spots you," the bartender muttered._
   - _They screwed out of town the minute the deal went bad._
23. To put a student through a strict, grueling examination. *(dated, US)*
   - Simple: To test a student in a very hard and strict way.
   - _Professors at the old college would screw any student who came to recitation unprepared._
   - _The tutor screwed him for an hour on his Latin grammar._

## Noun

20. A twisted paper packet holding a small amount of a substance such as salt or tobacco. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A small amount of something like salt or tobacco wrapped in a twist of paper.
   - _He bought a screw of tobacco at the corner store and tucked it into his coat._
   - _The cook kept a few screws of salt in the pantry drawer._
21. An old, worn-out, unsound horse considered nearly worthless. *(dated)*
   - Simple: An old, weak horse that is not worth much money.
   - _The farmer paid almost nothing for the screw and hoped it would last one more season._
   - _Both screws in the stable were too lame to pull the wagon._
22. An instructor who examines students with excessive or unnecessary severity; also, a searching or strict examination of a student. *(dated, US)*
   - Simple: A teacher who tests students very hard, or a very hard test itself.
   - _The freshmen dreaded Professor Hale, the worst screw on the faculty._
   - _Yesterday's recitation turned into a regular screw, and half the class failed._
25. Salary or wages; the pay received for one's work. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: The money a person is paid for working.
   - _His screw at the counting house barely covered his rent._
   - _Men grumbled that their screws had not risen in five years._

## Origin

From Middle English screw or scrue, apparently from Old French escroue ("nut, cylindrical socket, screwhole"), which is believed to come from Latin scrofa ("female pig") by comparison with the corkscrew shape of a pig's genitals. An Old French escruve and an Old Dutch *scruva ("screw"), possibly from Proto-Germanic *skrubo and ultimately a root meaning "to cut", probably influenced or blended with it to give the Middle English word. It is related to German Schraube, Dutch schroef, and Swedish skruv.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/screw (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).