left to right: round-head machine screw, flat-head wood screw, and round-head wood screw
screw
(skro͞o)n.
1.
a. A cylindrical rod incised with one or more helical or advancing spiral threads, as a lead screw or worm screw.
b. The tapped collar or socket that receives this rod.
2. A metal pin with incised threads and a broad slotted head that can be driven as a fastener by turning with a screwdriver, especially:
a. A tapered and pointed wood screw.
b. A cylindrical and flat-tipped machine screw.
3. A device having a helical form, such as a corkscrew.
4. A propeller.
5. A twist or turn, as of a screw.
6. Slang
a. A prison guard.
b. The turnkey of a jail.
7. Vulgar Slang The act or an instance of having sexual intercourse.
8. Chiefly British Slang
a. Salary; wages.
b. A small paper packet, as of tobacco.
c. An old broken-down horse.
d. A stingy or crafty bargainer.
v. screwed, screw·ing, screws
v.tr.
1. To drive or tighten (a screw).
2.
a. To fasten, tighten, or attach by means of a screw or similar fastener.
b. To attach (a tapped or threaded fitting or cap) by twisting into place.
c. To rotate (a part) on a threaded axis.
3. To contort (one's face).
4. Slang
To treat (someone) unfairly; exploit or cheat: screwed me out of the most lucrative sales territory.
5. Vulgar Slang To have sexual intercourse with.
v.intr.
Phrasal Verbs: 1. To turn or twist.
2.
a. To become attached by means of the threads of a screw.
b. To be capable of such attachment.
3. Vulgar Slang To have sexual intercourse.
screw around
1. Slang To act or fool around aimlessly or in a confused way and accomplish nothing.
2. Vulgar Slang To be sexually promiscuous.
screw over
Slang To treat (someone) unfairly.
screw up
Idiom: 1. To muster or summon up: screwed up my courage.
2. Slang To make a mess of (an undertaking).
3. Slang To injure or damage: Lifting those boxes really screwed up my back. That decision screwed up my career.
4. Slang To cause (someone) to be emotionally or mentally troubled: His father's harshness really screwed him up.
have a screw loose Slang
To behave in an eccentric or mentally deranged manner.
[Middle English skrewe, from Old French escrove, female screw, nut, perhaps from Medieval Latin scrōfa, from Latin, sow; see sker- in Indo-European roots.]
screw′a·ble adj.
screw′er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
screwed
(skruːd)adj
1. (Mechanical Engineering) fastened by a screw or screws
2. (Mechanical Engineering) having spiral grooves like a screw; threaded
3. twisted or distorted
4. Brit a slang word for drunk
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014