Screw Definition
- To behave in an eccentric or mentally deranged manner.
- to be eccentric, odd, etc.
- to subject to force; exert pressure on, as in exacting payment; coerce
- to waste time
- to make a mess (of), as by ineptness; bungle
Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Screw
- have a screw loose
- have a screw loose
- put the screws on
- screw around
- screw up
Origin of Screw
From Middle English screw, scrue (“screw"); apparently, despite the difference in meaning, from Old French escroue (“nut, cylindrical socket, screwhole"), of uncertain origin. There is also the Old French escruve (“screw"), from Old Dutch *scrÅ«va ("screw"; whence Middle Dutch schruyve (“screw")), which probably influenced or conflated with the aforementioned resulting in the Middle English word.
From Wiktionary
-
Middle English skrewe from Old French escrove female screw, nut perhaps from Medieval Latin scrōfa from Latin sow sker-1 in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Screw Is Also Mentioned In
Find Similar Words
Find similar words to screw using the buttons below.