What is "screw"

Screw \Screw\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Screwed; p. pr. & vb. n. Screwing.]

1. To turn, as a screw; to apply a screw to; to press, fasten, or make firm, by means of a screw or screws; as, to screw a lock on a door; to screw a press.

2. To force; to squeeze; to press, as by screws.

   But screw your courage to the sticking place, And we'll not fail.
   --Shak.

3. Hence: To practice extortion upon; to oppress by unreasonable or extortionate exactions.

   Our country landlords, by unmeasurable screwing and racking their tenants, have already reduced the miserable people to a worse condition than the peasants in France.
   --swift.

4. To twist; to distort; as, to screw his visage.

   He screwed his face into a hardened smile.
   --Dryden.

5. To examine rigidly, as a student; to subject to a severe examination. [Cant, American Colleges] To screw out, to press out; to extort. To screw up,

   1. to force; to bring by violent pressure.
      --Howell.

   2. to damage by unskillful effort; to bungle; to botch; to mess up.

   3. [intrans] to fail by unskillful effort, usu. causing unpleasant consequences. To screw in, to force in by turning or twisting. Screw around

      1. to act aimlessly or unproductively.

      2. screw around with, to operate or make changes on (a machine or device) without expert knowledge; to fiddle with.

      3. [Colloq.]commit adultery; to be sexually promiscuous.

Screw \Screw\, v. i.

1. To use violent mans in making exactions; to be oppressive or exacting.
   --Howitt.

2. To turn one's self uneasily with a twisting motion; as, he screws about in his chair.

Screw \Screw\ (skr[udd]), n. [OE. scrue, OF. escroue, escroe, female screw, F. ['e]crou, L. scrobis a ditch, trench, in LL., the hole made by swine in rooting; cf. D. schroef a screw, G. schraube, Icel. skr[=u]fa.]

1. A cylinder, or a cylindrical perforation, having a continuous rib, called the thread, winding round it spirally at a constant inclination, so as to leave a continuous spiral groove between one turn and the next, -- used chiefly for producing, when revolved, motion or pressure in the direction of its axis, by the sliding of the threads of the cylinder in the grooves between the threads of the perforation adapted to it, the former being distinguished as the external, or male screw, or, more usually the screw; the latter as the internal, or female screw, or, more usually, the nut.

   Note: The screw, as a mechanical power, is a modification of the inclined plane, and may be regarded as a right-angled triangle wrapped round a cylinder, the hypotenuse of the marking the spiral thread of the screw, its base equaling the circumference of the cylinder, and its height the pitch of the thread.

2. Specifically, a kind of nail with a spiral thread and a head with a nick to receive the end of the screw-driver. Screws are much used to hold together pieces of wood or to fasten something; -- called also wood screws, and screw nails. See also Screw bolt, below.

3. Anything shaped or acting like a screw; esp., a form of wheel for propelling steam vessels. It is placed at the stern, and furnished with blades having helicoidal surfaces to act against the water in the manner of a screw. See Screw propeller, below.

4. A steam vesel propelled by a screw instead of wheels; a screw steamer; a propeller.

5. An extortioner; a sharp bargainer; a skinflint; a niggard.
   --Thackeray.

6. An instructor who examines with great or unnecessary severity; also, a searching or strict examination of a student by an instructor. [Cant, American Colleges]

7. A small packet of tobacco. [Slang]
   --Mayhew.

8. An unsound or worn-out horse, useful as a hack, and commonly of good appearance.
   --Ld. Lytton.

9. (Math.) A straight line in space with which a definite linear magnitude termed the pitch is associated (cf. 5th Pitch, 10 (b) ). It is used to express the displacement of a rigid body, which may always be made to consist of a rotation about an axis combined with a translation parallel to that axis.

10. (Zo["o]l.) An amphipod crustacean; as, the skeleton screw ( Caprella). See Sand screw, under Sand. Archimedes screw, Compound screw, Foot screw, etc. See under Archimedes, Compound, Foot, etc. A screw loose, something out of order, so that work is not done smoothly; as, there is a screw loose somewhere. --H. Martineau. Endless screw, or perpetual screw, a screw used to give motion to a toothed wheel by the action of its threads between the teeth of the wheel; -- called also a worm. Lag screw. See under Lag. Micrometer screw, a screw with fine threads, used for the measurement of very small spaces. Right and left screw, a screw having threads upon the opposite ends which wind in opposite directions. Screw alley. See Shaft alley, under Shaft. Screw bean. (Bot.)

    1. The curious spirally coiled pod of a leguminous tree ( Prosopis pubescens) growing from Texas to California. It is used for fodder, and ground into meal by the Indians.

    2. The tree itself. Its heavy hard wood is used for fuel, for fencing, and for railroad ties. Screw bolt, a bolt having a screw thread on its shank, in distinction from a key bolt. See 1st Bolt, 3. Screw box, a device, resembling a die, for cutting the thread on a wooden screw. Screw dock. See under Dock. Screw engine, a marine engine for driving a screw propeller. Screw gear. See Spiral gear, under Spiral. Screw jack. Same as Jackscrew. Screw key, a wrench for turning a screw or nut; a spanner wrench. Screw machine.

       1. One of a series of machines employed in the manufacture of wood screws.

       2. A machine tool resembling a lathe, having a number of cutting tools that can be caused to act on the work successively, for making screws and other turned pieces from metal rods. Screw pine (Bot.), any plant of the endogenous genus Pandanus, of which there are about fifty species, natives of tropical lands from Africa to Polynesia; -- named from the spiral arrangement of the pineapple-like leaves. Screw plate, a device for cutting threads on small screws, consisting of a thin steel plate having a series of perforations with internal screws forming dies. Screw press, a press in which pressure is exerted by means of a screw. Screw propeller, a screw or spiral bladed wheel, used in the propulsion of steam vessels; also, a steam vessel propelled by a screw. Screw shell (Zo["o]l.), a long, slender, spiral gastropod shell, especially of the genus Turritella and allied genera. See Turritella. Screw steamer, a steamship propelled by a screw. Screw thread, the spiral rib which forms a screw. Screw stone (Paleon.), the fossil stem of an encrinite. Screw tree (Bot.), any plant of the genus Helicteres, consisting of about thirty species of tropical shrubs, with simple leaves and spirally twisted, five-celled capsules; -- also called twisted-horn, and twisty. Screw valve, a stop valve which is opened or closed by a screw. Screw worm (Zo["o]l.), the larva of an American fly ( Compsomyia macellaria), allied to the blowflies, which sometimes deposits its eggs in the nostrils, or about wounds, in man and other animals, with fatal results. Screw wrench.

          1. A wrench for turning a screw.

          2. A wrench with an adjustable jaw that is moved by a screw.

             To put the screws on or To put the screw on, to use pressure upon, as for the purpose of extortion; to coerce.

             To put under the screw or To put under the screws, to subject to pressure; to force.

             Wood screw, a metal screw with a sharp thread of coarse pitch, adapted to holding fast in wood. See Illust. of Wood screw, under Wood.

"to twist (something) like a screw," 1590s, from screw (n.). From 1610s as "to attach with a screw." Slang meaning "to copulate" dates from at least 1725, originally usually of the action of the male, on the notion of driving a screw into something. Meaning "defraud, cheat" is from 1900. First recorded 1949 in exclamations as a euphemism. Related: Screwed; screwing. To screw up "blunder" is recorded from 1942. Screwed up originally was figurative for "tuned to a high or precise pitch" (1907), an image from the pegs of stringed instruments. Meaning "confused, muddled" attested from 1943. Expression to have (one's) head screwed on the right (or wrong) way is from 182

"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-Roman *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").\n

\nKluge, Watkins and others trace it to Latin scrofa "breeding sow," perhaps based on the shape of a pig's penis (compare 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.\n

\nSense of "means of pressure or coercion" is from 1640s, probably in reference to instruments of torture (such as 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.

n. 1 A device that has a helical function. 2 # A simple machine, a helical inclined plane. 3 # A (usually) metal fastener consisting of a shank partially or completely threaded shank, sometimes with a threaded point, and a head used to both hold the top material and to drive the screw either directly into a soft material or into a prepared hole. 4 # (lb en nautical) A ship's propeller. 5 # An Archimedes screw. 6 # A steam vessel propelled by a screw instead of wheels. 7 (lb en derogatory) A prison guard. 8 (lb en derogatory) An extortioner; a sharp bargainer; a skinflint. 9 (lb en US slang dated) An instructor who examines with great or unnecessary severity; also, a searching or strict examination of a student by an instructor. 10 (lb en vulgar slang) sexual intercourse; the act of screwing. 11 (lb en vulgar slang) A casual sexual partner. 12 (lb en slang) Salary, wages. 13 (lb en billiards) backspin. 14 (lb en slang) A small packet of tobacco. 15 An unsound or worn-out horse, useful as a hack, and commonly of good appearance. 16 (lb en math) A straight line in space with which a definite linear magnitude termed the pitch is associated. It is used to express the displacement of a rigid body, which may always be made to consist of a rotation about an axis combined with a translation parallel to that axis. 17 An amphipod crustacean. 18 (lb en dated slang) A prison guard. vb. 1 (context transitive English) To connect or assemble pieces using a screw. 2 (context transitive vulgar slang English) To have sexual intercourse with. 3 (context transitive slang English) To cheat someone or ruin their chances in a game or other situation. Sometimes used in the form "screw over". 4 (context transitive English) To apply pressure on; to put the screws on. 5 To practice extortion upon; to oppress by unreasonable or extortionate exactions. 6 (context transitive English) To contort. 7 (context soccer transitive English) To miskick (a ball) by hitting it with the wrong part of the foot.

1. v. have sexual intercourse with; "This student sleeps with everyone in her dorm"; "Adam knew Eve"; "Were you ever intimate with this man?" [syn: roll in the hay, love, make out, make love, sleep with, get laid, have sex, know, do it, be intimate, have intercourse, have it away, have it off, fuck, jazz, eff, hump, lie with, bed, have a go at it, bang, get it on, bonk]

2. turn like a screw

3. cause to penetrate, as with a circular motion; "drive in screws or bolts" [syn: drive in]

4. tighten or fasten by means of screwing motions; "Screw the bottle cap on" [ant: unscrew]

5. defeat someone in an expectation through trickery or deceit [syn: cheat, chouse, shaft, chicane, jockey]

1. n. someone who guards prisoners [syn: prison guard, jailer, jailor, gaoler, turnkey]

2. a simple machine of the inclined-plane type consisting of a spirally threaded cylindrical rod that engages with a similarly threaded hole

3. a propeller with several angled blades that rotates to push against water or air [syn: screw propeller]

4. a fastener with a tapered threaded shank and a slotted head

5. slang terms for sexual intercourse [syn: fuck, fucking, screwing, ass, nooky, nookie, piece of ass, piece of tail, roll in the hay, shag, shtup]

Screw, Moonshine, or Popcorn is a card game where the players try to be the first to lose all their cards. Like Palase, it is derived from the Finnish card game Paskahousu.

Screw (typeset as SCREW) was a Japanese visual kei rock band formed in March 2006 by vocalist Byou and Yuuto, who were previously in the band Joker before its disbandment.

"Screw" (stylized as SCREW) was 14th single by the J-pop singer, Kotoko, was released on December 16, 2009. The title track was used as the theme song for Mamoru Oshii's film Assault Girls.

The single comes in a limited CD+DVD edition (GNCV-0022) and a regular CD-only edition (GNCV-0023). The DVD contains the promotional video for "SCREW".

SCREW was a weekly pornographic tabloid newspaper published in the United States aimed at heterosexual men; according to a statement on the cover, it offered "Jerk-Off Entertainment for Men". It was first published in November 1968 by Al Goldstein and Jim Buckley (who edited the short-lived "sister" tabloid Gay), and was printed weekly in tabloid form. At its peak, '' SCREW'' sold 140,000 copies a week. Founder Al Goldstein won a series of nationally significant obscenity cases.

SCREW published on May 2, 1969, the first reference in print to J. Edgar Hoover's sexuality, "Is J. Edgar Hoover a Fag?"

SCREW's most successful issue, published in 1973, contained unauthorized photos of Jacqueline Kennedy nude.

Stripper and erotic performance artist Honeysuckle Divine wrote a column, "Diary of a Dirty Broad", for SCREW in 1974. According to Goldstein, her act "was unbelievably disgusting, so naturally, we made her our symbol."

In 1974, Goldstein and Buckley were charged with 12 counts of obscenity in a federal court in Kansas. The case dragged on for three years through two trials and was finally settled when Goldstein agreed to pay a $30,000 fine.

In 1977, Alabama Governor George Wallace sued SCREW for $5 million for publishing the claim that he had learned to perform sexual acts from reading the magazine. The two parties settled for $12,500, and SCREW agreed to print an apology.

The magazine closed in October 2003. A New Screw Review was briefly restarted by former employees in 2005.

A screw is an externally threaded fastener. "Screw" may also refer to:

• Devices with a helical thread:
  • Screw (simple machine)
    • Screw thread, screw thread principles and standards
    • Archimedes' screw, a simple machine for transporting water to a higher elevation
  • Leadscrew, a type of screw used to provide controlled and quantifiable movement in machine tools
• Screw (band), a Japanese rock band
• Screw (card game)
• SCREW (magazine), a pornographic tabloid published and edited by Al Goldstein
• Screw (motion), a description of spiral motion used in rigid body dynamics
• A Screw, an EP by Swans
• Screw propeller
• Screw axis, the axis of rotation in 3D geometry
• Some specific pair of vectors (e.g. force+moment or linear+angular velocity) (see Screw theory)
• Chopped and screwed music, a technique of remixing hip hop music by slowing the tempo
• "(Let's Dance) The Screw," a 1963 song by The Crystals
• Slang for a prison officer (Australia, Canada, Ireland, UK and USA)
• Slang for sexual intercourse

A screw is a mechanism that converts rotational motion to linear motion, and a torque (rotational force) to a linear force. It is one of the six classical simple machines. The most common form consists of a cylindrical shaft with helical grooves or ridges called threads around the outside. The screw passes through a hole in another object or medium, with threads on the inside of the hole that mesh with the screw's threads. When the shaft of the screw is rotated relative to the stationary threads, the screw moves along its axis relative to the medium surrounding it; for example rotating a wood screw forces it into wood. In screw mechanisms, either the screw shaft can rotate through a threaded hole in a stationary object, or a threaded collar such as a nut can rotate around a stationary screw shaft. Geometrically, a screw can be viewed as a narrow inclined plane wrapped around a cylinder.

Like the other simple machines a screw can amplify force; a small rotational force ( torque) on the shaft can exert a large axial force on a load. The smaller the pitch, the distance between the screw's threads, the greater the mechanical advantage, the ratio of output to input force. Screws are widely used in threaded fasteners to hold objects together, and in devices such as screw tops for containers, vises, screw jacks and screw presses.

Other mechanisms that use the same principle, also called screws, don't necessarily have a shaft or threads. For example, a corkscrew is a helix-shaped rod with a sharp point, and an Archimedes' screw is a water pump that uses a rotating helical chamber to move water uphill. The common principle of all screws is that a rotating helix can cause linear motion.

A screw is a type of fastener, sometimes similar to a bolt (see Differentiation between bolt and screw below), typically made of metal, and characterized by a helical ridge, known as a male thread (external thread) or just thread. A screw is an inclined plane wrapped around a nail. Some screw threads are designed to mate with a complementary thread, known as a female thread (internal thread), often in the form of a nut or an object that has the internal thread formed into it. Other screw threads are designed to cut a helical groove in a softer material as the screw is inserted. The most common uses of screws are to hold objects together and to position objects.

A screw will usually have a head on one end that contains a specially formed shape that allows it to be turned, or driven, with a tool. Common tools for driving screws include screwdrivers and wrenches. The head is usually larger than the body of the screw, which keeps the screw from being driven deeper than the length of the screw and to provide a bearing surface. There are exceptions; for instance, carriage bolts have a domed head that is not designed to be driven; set screws often have a head smaller than the outer diameter of the screw; J-bolts have a J-shaped head which is not designed to be driven, but rather is usually sunk into concrete allowing it to be used as an anchor bolt. The cylindrical portion of the screw from the underside of the head to the tip is known as the shank; it may be fully threaded or partially threaded. The distance between each thread is called the "pitch".

The majority of screws are tightened by clockwise rotation, which is termed a right-hand thread; a common mnemonic device for remembering this when working with screws or bolts is "righty-tighty, lefty-loosey." Another rule is this: curl the fingers of your right hand around the screw with your thumb pointing is the direction you want the screw to go. If the screw is right-handed (most screws are) and you turn the screw in the direction of your fingers the screw will move in the direction of your thumb. Screws with left-hand threads are used in exceptional cases. For example, when the screw will be subject to counterclockwise torque (which would work to undo a right-hand thread), a left-hand-threaded screw would be an appropriate choice. The left side pedal of a bicycle has a left-hand thread.

More generally, screw may mean any helical device, such as a clamp, a micrometer, a ship's propeller or an Archimedes' screw water pump.