screw

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
screw/skruː/

▶noun

• 1 a short, slender, sharp-pointed metal pin with a raised helical thread running around it and a slotted head, used to join things together by being rotated in under pressure.

  ■ a cylinder with a helical ridge or thread running round the outside that can be turned to seal an opening, apply pressure, adjust position, etc.

  ■ (the screws) historical an instrument of torture acting in this way.

• 2 an act of turning a screw.

  ■ Brit. a small twisted-up piece of paper containing a substance such as salt or tobacco.

• 3 (also screw propeller) a ship's or aircraft's propeller.

• 4 informal, derogatory a prison warder.

• 5 vulgar slang an act of sexual intercourse.

• 6 Brit. informal, dated an amount of salary or wages.

• 7 archaic, informal a mean or miserly person.

• 8 Brit. informal a worn-out horse.

▶verb

• 1 fasten or tighten with a screw or screws.

  ■ rotate (something) so as to attach or remove it by means of a spiral thread.

  ■ impart spin or curl to (a ball or shot).

  ■ (screw something around/round) turn one's head or body round sharply.

• 2 informal cheat or swindle.

  ■ ruin or render ineffective.

• 3 vulgar slang have sex with.

– phrases
have one's head screwed on (the right way) informal have common sense.
have a screw loose informal be slightly eccentric or mentally disturbed.
put (or turn or tighten) the screw (or screws) on informal exert strong psychological pressure on.

– phrasal verbs
screw around

• 1 vulgar slang have many different sexual partners.

• 2 informal fool about.

screw someone over informal, chiefly US treat someone unfairly; cheat or swindle someone.
screw up informal completely mismanage or mishandle a situation.
screw someone up informal cause someone to be emotionally or mentally disturbed.
screw something up

• 1 crush a piece of paper or fabric into a tight mass.

  ■ tense the muscles of one's face or around one's eyes.

• 2 informal cause something to go wrong.

• 3 summon up one's courage.

– derivatives
screwable adjective,
screwer noun.

– origin ME (as n.): from OFr. escroue ‘female screw, nut’, from L. scrofa, lit. ‘sow’, later ‘screw’.