Antonyms for screw up

Grammar : Verb

Spell : skroo-uhp

Phonetic Transcription : ˈskruˌʌp

Definition of screw up

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 make a mess of

Example sentences :

Furthermore, never use an auxiliary lever to screw up the jaws.
Extract from : « Practical Mechanics for Boys » by J. S. Zerbe

Then, perhaps, they will screw up their courage to make another assault.'
Extract from : « Chatterbox, 1905. » by Various

I don't want the sun right in his face, it makes him screw up his eyes.
Extract from : « A Patriotic Schoolgirl » by Angela Brazil

Then you can screw up my machine a good deal higher, and it will support us both.
Extract from : « A Chosen Few » by Frank R. Stockton

I'd screw up a spell, only there's no gettin' inside of the stove.
Extract from : « A Likely Story » by William De Morgan

To put it quite plainly, they were trying to screw up their courage.
Extract from : « A Case in Camera » by Oliver Onions

“Well, what I was trying to screw up courage to say was this,” he went on.
Extract from : « The White Hand and the Black » by Bertram Mitford

If she could only screw up her courage to the sticking-point!
Extract from : « A Fourth Form Friendship » by Angela Brazil

I shall try to screw up courage and take him on a bust now and then.
Extract from : « The Sins of the Children » by Cosmo Hamilton

You've still got some strength, and now I'll screw up your machinery again.
Extract from : « Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays » by Various

Synonyms for screw up

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