See Also: screw top(dictionary)
Screw(medicine)
screw(1)(dictionary)
screw(2)(dictionary)
screw(dictionary)
screw(encyclopedia)
Archimedean screw(encyclopedia)
Allen screw(dictionary)
Turn of the Screw, The(dictionary)
screw 1, noun(dictionary)

screw(2) (iou)



screw noun1. [skru:] LME.
[Old French escroue fem. (mod. ecrou masc.), either from West Germanic = Middle High German schrube (German Schraube), corresp. to Middle Dutch schruve, or directly from Latin scrofa sow, (in medieval Latin) female screw. Cf. Spanish puerca sow, screw. In branch II from the verb.]
I.
A rod or pin having a spiral ridge or thread running around the outside (male screw), fitting by rotation into a round socket bored with a corresponding groove or thread (female screw), and used to raise a weight, apply pressure, or regulate or measure longitudinal movement. LME.
Archimedean screw, bench screw, Jack screw, levelling screw, water-screw, etc.
b. Mechanics. A modification of the inclined plane. L16.
c. An instrument of torture for crushing the thumbs, the thumbscrews. Usu. in pl. M17.
The rotating spirally ridged or spiral-shaped end of an instrument designed to bore a hole or draw something out; the worm of a corkscrew etc.; such an instrument, spec. (a) a gimlet; (b) a corkscrew. L16.
A metal male screw, usu. tapering and with a sharp point and a slotted head, used esp. in carpentry to fasten things by being driven into wood etc. and rotated to form a thread; a similar male screw rotated into a female screw to fasten things. Also = screw-bolt below. E17.
Allen screw, lag screw, wood-screw, etc.
b. Helical grooving or ridging. L19.
fig. A means or instance of applying pressure or coercion. Freq. in put on the screw(s), turn the screw(s) below. M17.
Each of the component parts of a screw-joint. M17.
A thing having a spiral course or shape. M17.
R. D. Blackmore There was scarcely the screw of his tail to be seen.
b. = screw-stone below. E18.
slang.
a. A key, esp. a skeleton key. M17.
b. A prison warder. E19.
More fully screw-propeller. A propeller consisting of a set of three or four blades set at an angle on a central shaft or boss, used esp. for propelling a ship or aircraft. M19.
b. In full screw-steamer. A ship driven by a propeller or propellers. M19.
II.
An act of screwing something; a turn of a screw. E18.
b. Billiards & Snooker etc. A stroke giving spin to the cue-ball by striking it below its centre; the oblique curling motion resulting from this stroke. M19.
c. Cricket & Tennis etc. Spin imparted to the ball on delivery; a ball to which spin has been imparted. M19.
a. A person, esp. a woman, considered in sexual terms; a (good, bad, etc.) sexual partner. Also, a prostitute. coarse slang. E18.
M. Machlin He's not such a great screw.
b. An act of sexual intercourse. coarse slang. E20.
The state of being twisted awry; a contortion of the body or features. E18.
b. the screws, rheumatism. slang. L19.
A severe tutor; a rigorous examination. US College slang. E19.
An unhealthy or worn-out horse. slang. E19.
A small amount of a commodity, as tobacco, wrapped up in a small twisted piece of paper; a wrapper of this kind. M19.
Woman's Illustrated The children pack the basket. 'Don't forget the screw of salt'.
slang.
a. A person forcing down a price by haggling; a stingy miserly person. M19.
b. Salary, wages. M19.
A look, a stare, esp. an aggressive one. slang (orig. Austral.). E20.
Phrases: a screw loose colloq. a dangerous weakness in an arrangement etc., something amiss; (have a screw loose, be eccentric or slightly mentally disturbed). put on the screw(s), turn the screw(s) colloq. apply moral or psychological pressure, esp. to extort or intimidate.
Comb.: screw axis Crystallography an axis such that a combination of rotation about it and translation along it constitutes a symmetry operation, but neither does so alone; screw-bean a mesquite of the south-western US, etc., Prosopis pubescens, with spirally twisted pods; screw-bolt noun & verb (a) a metal male screw with a blunt end on which a nut is threaded to bolt things together; (b) verb trans. fasten with a screw-bolt; screw cap = screw top below; screw-capped adjective = screw-topped below; screw-coupling a female screw with threads at each end for joining lengths of pipe or rods; screw-die = DIE noun1 5(a); screw dislocation Crystallography a form of crystal defect characterized by a unit distortion of the lattice in a particular direction such that the lattice planes perpendicular to that direction form continuous spiral sheets; screw eye a screw having a loop or eye for passing cord etc. through rather than a slotted head; screw fly US = screw-worm fly below; screwgate (karabiner) a type of lockable karabiner; screw-gear gear consisting of a screw with an endless thread and a cog-wheel or pinion; screw hook a hook for hanging things on, with a threaded point for fastening it to a wall etc.; screw-jack a vehicle jack worked by a screw device; screw-joint a joint formed by screwing together the ends of piping etc.; screw-nail a wood-screw; screw pile a foundation pile with a screw at its lower end adapted for screwing instead of driving; screw-pin (a) a threaded, esp. adjustable, pin or bolt, as on a vice; (b) the pin or rod forming the foundation of a screw; screw pine = PANDANUS 1; screw-plate a hardened steel plate with threaded holes for making male screws; screw-press a machine in which pressure is applied by means of a screw; screw-propeller: see sense 8 above; screw-pump = ARCHIMEDEAN screw; screw-rate the number of screw-threads of a screw per unit length; screw-steamer: see sense 8b above; screw stock = DIE noun1 5(a); screw-stone a stone containing the hollow cast of an encrinite; screw tail a dog's tail which is twisted or crooked; screw-tap a tool used for cutting female screws; screw-thread the helical ridge of a screw; screw top a round cap or lid that can be screwed on to a bottle, jar, etc.; screw-top, screw-topped adjectives (of a bottle etc.) having a screw top; screw-up colloq. (orig. US) a blunder, a muddle, a mess; a state or situation of confusion or emotional disturbance; screw valve a stopcock opened and shut with a screw; screw worm US the larva of any of various blowflies which develop in the wounds or nostrils of animals and man, esp. Cochliomyia hominivorax, the larva of which has spiny hairs encircling each segment; screw-worm fly US the adult of the screw worm.
screwish adjective (rare) of the nature of a screw L16.
screwless adjective E20.
screw-wise adverb in the manner or form of a screw M18.