Antonyms for screw

Grammar : Verb

Spell : skroo

Phonetic Transcription : skru

Definition of screw

Origin : "cylinder of wood or metal with a spiral ridge round it; hole in which a screw turns," c.1400, from Middle French escroue "nut, cylindrical socket, screwhole," of uncertain etymology; not found in other Romanic languages. Perhaps via Gallo-Romance *scroba or West Germanic *scruva from Vulgar Latin scrobis "screw-head groove," in classical Latin "ditch, trench," also "vagina" (Diez, though OED finds this "phonologically impossible").
Kluge, Watkins and others trace it to Latin scrofa "breeding sow," perhaps based on the shape of a pig's penis (cf. Portuguese porca, Spanish perca "a female screw," from Latin porca "sow"). Latin scrofa is literally "digger, rooter," from PIE root *(s)ker- (1) "to cut" (see shear (v.)). A group of apparently cognate Germanic words (Middle Low German, Middle Dutch schruve, Dutch schroef, German Schraube, Swedish skrufva "screw") are said to be French loan-words.
Sense of "means of pressure or coercion" is from 1640s, probably in reference to instruments of torture (e.g. thumbscrews). Meaning "prison guard, warden" is 1812 in underworld slang, originally in reference to the key they carried (screw as slang for "key" attested from 1795). Slang meaning "an act of copulation" is recorded from 1929 (meaning "a prostitute" is attested from 1725). To have a screw loose "have a dangerous (usually mental) weakness" is recorded from 1810.

verb twist in
verb twist, contort
verb pressure

Example sentences :

I have got a screw in my pocket, and I never go without my tool-knife.
Extract from : « Weighed and Wanting » by George MacDonald

No sunlight ever made her blink, or screw her face into wrinkles.
Extract from : « Tiverton Tales » by Alice Brown

Choking, he managed with numbed fingers to screw his helmet on.
Extract from : « Pirates of the Gorm » by Nat Schachner

If the threads are 1/32 inch apart, then the screw will move 1/32 inch every time it revolves.
Extract from : « Boys' Book of Model Boats » by Raymond Francis Yates

If a propeller acts in the same way as a screw, then it too must have a pitch.
Extract from : « Boys' Book of Model Boats » by Raymond Francis Yates

It is best to screw a substantial block to the inside of the boat.
Extract from : « Boys' Book of Model Boats » by Raymond Francis Yates

But what does it matter what he thinks, or you screw out of him?
Extract from : « The Lightning Conductor Discovers America » by C. N. (Charles Norris) Williamson and A. M. (Alice Muriel) Williamson

"I tried, sir, but there's a screw through the sash," cried one fellow.
Extract from : « The Stark Munro Letters » by J. Stark Munro

They are so many turns of the screw, just to let the recalcitrant feel what can be done.
Extract from : « Ireland as It Is » by Robert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)

Now pry off the connectors with the screw driver, as shown in Fig. 193.
Extract from : « The Automobile Storage Battery » by O. A. Witte

Synonyms for screw

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019