What does "screw" mean?
A device that has a helical function.; A simple machine, a helical inclined plane.
Screw
/skɹuː/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A device that has a helical function.; A simple machine, a helical inclined plane.
- Grammar: screw is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: adjust, adjusters, advance, airscrew.
- Useful contrasts: doornail, dowels, hook.
- Usage evidence: The screw, the lever, the wedge, the pulley, etc. are called simple machines.
How to use "screw"
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- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "screw" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
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Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "screw" in a final draft.
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Before you rely on this definition
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "screw" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 A device that has a helical function.; A simple machine, a helical inclined plane.
- 2 slang for sexual intercourse wordnet
- 3 A device that has a helical function.; A (usually) metal fastener consisting of a partially or completely threaded shank, sometimes with a threaded point, and a head used to both hold the top material and to drive the screw either directly into a soft material or into a prepared hole.
- 4 a fastener with a tapered threaded shank and a slotted head wordnet
- 5 A device that has a helical function.; A ship's propeller.
"It is never possible to settle down to the ordinary routine of life at sea until the screw begins to revolve. There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy."
Show 18 more definitions
- 6 a propeller with several angled blades that rotates to push against water or air wordnet
- 7 A device that has a helical function.; An Archimedes screw.
- 8 a simple machine of the inclined-plane type consisting of a spirally threaded cylindrical rod that engages with a similarly threaded hole wordnet
- 9 A device that has a helical function.; A steam vessel propelled by a screw instead of wheels.
- 10 someone who guards prisoners wordnet
- 11 The motion of screwing something; a turn or twist to one side.
- 12 A prison guard. derogatory, slang
"The screws moved her out of my cell because they could not stand the idea of a black and white white being together."
- 13 An extortioner; a sharp bargainer; a skinflint. derogatory, slang
"This gentleman and the guard seemed to know Sir Pitt very well, and laughed at him a great deal. They both agreed in calling him an old screw; which means a very stingy, avaricious person."
- 14 An instructor who examines with great or unnecessary severity; also, a searching or strict examination of a student by an instructor. US, dated, slang
- 15 Sexual intercourse; the act of screwing. slang, vulgar
"Why can't I get just one screw? / Believe me, I'd know what to do / But something won't let me make love to you"
- 16 A casual sexual partner. slang, vulgar
"If I don't go back to my boy friend he'll be as mad as hell. He's a sulky brute, but Christ, he's a good screw."
- 17 Salary, wages. archaic, slang
"“I’ll speak to Mrs. Dorman when she comes back, and see if I can’t come to terms with her,” I said. “Perhaps she wants a rise in her screw. It will be all right. Let’s walk up to the church.”"
- 18 Backspin.
- 19 A small quantity of a material such as salt or tobacco wrapped in twist of paper. dated
"Before potato crisps were sold pre-salted each packet would contain a screw of salt."
- 20 An old, worn-out, unsound and worthless horse. dated
"[…] a gentleman of leisure, who enjoyed himself on a couple of spavined screws […]; both of them, as Stephen said, looked lonely without a gig behind them."
- 21 A straight line in space with which a definite linear magnitude termed the pitch is associated. It is used to express the displacement of a rigid body, which may always be made to consist of a rotation about an axis combined with a translation parallel to that axis.
- 22 An amphipod crustacean.
"the skeleton screw (Caprella)"
- 23 Rheumatism. in-plural, informal, with-definite-article
"She didn't like my mother, so she made a wax doll and stuck thorns into its legs, and my mother had the screws (rheumatism) in her legs ever since."
Verb
- 1 To connect or assemble pieces using a screw. transitive
- 2 defeat someone through trickery or deceit wordnet
- 3 To have sexual intercourse with. ambitransitive, slang, vulgar
"Somebody told me [...] that she [...] acknowledged to him [...] that Nero [...] had screwed her (meaning had carnal intercourse with plaintiff) up stairs the night before."
- 4 tighten or fasten by means of screwing motions wordnet
- 5 To cheat someone or ruin their chances in a game or other situation. slang, transitive
Show 11 more definitions
- 6 cause to penetrate, as with a circular motion wordnet
- 7 To extort or practice extortion upon; to oppress by unreasonable or extortionate exactions; to put the screws on. transitive
"[…] our country landlords, by unmeasurable screwing and racking their tenants, have already reduced the miserable people to a worse condition than the peasants in France, or the vassals in Germany and Poland […]"
- 8 turn like a screw wordnet
- 9 To contort. transitive
"He screwed his face into a hardened smile."
- 10 have sexual intercourse with wordnet
- 11 To miskick (a ball) by hitting it with the wrong part of the foot. transitive
"The visitors could have added an instant second, but Rooney screwed an ugly attempt high into Hennessey's arms after Berbatov cleverly found the unmarked England striker."
- 12 To screw back.
- 13 To examine (a student) rigidly; to subject to a severe examination. US, dated, slang
- 14 To leave; to go away; to scram. US, dated, imperative, intransitive, often, slang
"If you don't like it, fuckin' screw! It's Shit Ass Pet Fuckers. That's the way it's going to be."
- 15 Used to express great displeasure with, or contemptuous dismissal of, someone or something. colloquial, imperative, mildly, transitive, vulgar
"Screw those jerks, and screw their stupid rules!"
- 16 To give up on, to abandon, delay, to not think about someone or something. colloquial, transitive
"Screw the homework for now."
Example
"The screw, the lever, the wedge, the pulley, etc. are called simple machines."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "screw"?
Common synonyms include: adjust, adjusters, advance, airscrew, anamorphism, anamorphosis.
How do you use "screw" in a sentence?
The screw, the lever, the wedge, the pulley, etc. are called simple machines.
How do you pronounce "screw"?
Pronounced /skɹuː/.
Etymology
From Middle English screw, scrue (“screw”); apparently, despite the difference in meaning, from Old French escroue (“nut, cylindrical socket, screwhole”), from Latin scrōfa (“female pig”) through comparison with the corkscrew shape of a pig's penis. There is also the Old French escruve (“screw”), from Old Dutch *scrūva ("screw"; whence Middle Dutch schruyve (“screw”)), which probably influenced or conflated with the aforementioned, resulting in the Middle English word. more on the etymology of screw Old French escroue (whence Medieval Latin scrofa (“nut, screwhole”)), is believed to be an adaptation of Latin scrōfa (“sow, female pig”); but this development is not found in other Romance languages. (For change in meaning, compare also Spanish puerca, Portuguese porca, both ‘sow; screw nut’, and is based on the fact that a boar's penis has a screw-like tip, making the sow's vulva equivalent to a screw nut by analogy). Old Dutch *scrūva possibly derives from Proto-Germanic *skrūbō (“screw”), from *skru- (“to cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keru-, *(s)ker- (“to cut”), and is related to German Schraube (“screw”), Low German schruve, schruwe (“screw”), Dutch schroef (“screw”), West Frisian skroef (“screw”), Danish skrue (“screw”), Swedish skruv (“screw, peg”), Icelandic skrúfa (“screw”). Compare also Occitan escrofa (“screw nut”), Calabrese scrufina (“screw nut”), which may be borrowings of the Old French word, or parallel developments.