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REFERENCE

screw

n. · v.
US //ˈskɹu// UK //skɹˈuː// screw
  1. 1 metal fastener (n.)
    A2 Elementary

    a thin, pointed piece of metal with a raised spiral line around it, used to join things together.

    a metal fastener with a helical thread, designed to be driven into surfaces by rotation.

    Example

    He used a screwdriver to tighten the loose screw in the door handle.

    Example

    The carpenter selected a wood screw with a countersunk head to ensure a flush finish on the cabinet door.
  2. 2 prison guard (n.)
    C1 Advanced Slang Informal

    a slang word for a prison guard.

    a derogatory slang term for a prison officer or guard.

    Example

    The inmates waited for the screw to finish his rounds before they started talking.

    Example

    In the gritty prison drama, the protagonist frequently clashes with a particularly corrupt screw who controls the cell block.
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  1. 3 to fasten (v.)
    A2 Elementary

    to fasten or tighten something by turning it.

    to attach, tighten, or adjust by means of a screw or a twisting motion.

    Example

    Make sure you screw the lid on tightly so the milk doesn't spill.

    Example

    The technician had to screw the mounting bracket into the wall before the heavy monitor could be safely attached.
  2. 4 to cheat or unfair treatment (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal

    to treat someone unfairly or cheat them out of something.

    to cheat, deceive, or treat someone with gross unfairness, especially in a financial or professional context.

    Example

    The company really screwed its employees by cutting their pensions without warning.

    Example

    He felt the dealership had screwed him over by hiding the car's mechanical history until after the contract was signed.
  3. 5 expression of dismissal (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal Vulgar

    a rude way to say you do not care about someone or something.

    used in the imperative to express contemptuous dismissal or total lack of concern for the subject.

    Example

    Screw this, I'm going home because nobody is listening to my ideas anyway.

    Example

    After months of unpaid overtime, she finally decided, 'Screw it,' and handed in her resignation without a backup plan.
  4. 6 to have sex (v.)
    C1 Advanced Slang Vulgar

    a vulgar word for having sex.

    to engage in sexual intercourse; widely considered vulgar and inappropriate for polite conversation.

    Example

    They were caught screwing in the back of the car.

    Example

    The film was rated R primarily due to several graphic scenes of the characters screwing.
  5. 7 to contort the face (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    to twist your face into an expression of dislike or effort.

    to contort or twist one's facial features, typically to express distaste, concentration, or pain.

    Example

    The child screwed up his face when he tasted the sour lemon.

    Example

    She screwed her eyes shut, trying to remember the exact sequence of events from the night before.
Origin

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.

Idioms7 entries

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