How to Use tighten the screws in a Sentence

tighten the screws

phrase

• All this means the West should not be afraid to tighten the screws.
  — Edward Fishman, Foreign Affairs, 23 Feb. 2023
• Thread the screws by hand to ensure the two pieces are lining up, then tighten the screws.
  — Kamron Sanders, Better Homes & Gardens, 22 Aug. 2022
• Trump has made little secret of his desire to tighten the screws.
  — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 24 Jan. 2026
• The Austrian government’s next move may well be to tighten the screws.
  — Time, 15 Nov. 2021
• The phrase Barbut used was à droit constant—tighten the screws without rewriting the law.
  — Alexandra Harrell, Sourcing Journal, 23 Jan. 2026
• But Miami needs to find a run-stuffing inside linebacker who can help the defense tighten the screws.
  — Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 21 Feb. 2025
• Pam Goodman's dad taught her not to tighten the screws in her furniture until everything was aligned.
  — Suzanne Nuyen, NPR, 14 June 2024
• The Dolphins defense struggled against the run and on third downs earlier this year, but began to tighten the screws a month ago.
  — Omar Kelly, sun-sentinel.com, 14 Nov. 2021
• Special teams needs to tighten the screws The Dolphins have made one special teams mistake per loss that turned the tide of the game.
  — Miami Herald, 25 Sep. 2025
• If the Oakland City Council dweebs threaten to put the project up for a public vote, tighten the screws.
  — Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle, 30 Mar. 2022
• Teams will eventually tighten the screws, playing close to the line of scrimmage to force Tagovailoa to read defenses and beat them with his arm.
  — Omar Kelly, sun-sentinel.com, 25 Oct. 2020
• A lot of people say Putin might use this situation to shuffle his top military leaders and tighten the screws in general.
  — Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, 26 June 2023
• In the case of Iran, the United States was able to tighten the screws by pressuring foreign firms to stop dealing with the country.
  — Eric Lorber, Foreign Affairs, 20 Oct. 2014
• As airlines start to tighten the screws on passengers carrying their luggage on board, these little accessories can make a big difference.
  — Christopher Elliott, Forbes.com, 18 Jan. 2026
• As air carriers tighten the screws on passengers carrying their luggage on board, these little accessories can make a big difference.
  — Christopher Elliott, Forbes.com, 18 Jan. 2026
• But the images of civilians dead in the street in Bucha led Western countries to levy more sanctions and tighten the screws on Moscow even further.
  — David Goldman, CNN, 6 Apr. 2022
• Others sense an opportunity to further tighten the screws on Budapest.
  — Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 2 Feb. 2024
• As Washington once again seeks to tighten the screws, Tehran sees its relationship with Beijing as key to remaining afloat.
  — Dina Esfandiary, Foreign Affairs, 20 July 2018
• And that’s on Weaver, as is getting Miami’s defenders to communicate better, and tighten the screws against the run.
  — Miami Herald, 23 Sep. 2025
• But rates are already at a sky-high 21%, meaning additional increases would tighten the screws even more on Russia’s economy.
  — Jason Ma, Fortune, 30 Nov. 2024
• Sure, Chris Paul and Draymond Green’s absences are felt, and their returns could at least shore up the communication on defense and tighten the screws on offense.
  — Shayna Rubin, The Mercury News, 11 Jan. 2024
• In fact, the writer, who co-wrote the series with Marissa Lestrade, wanted to take advantage of an opportunity to deepen his characters and tighten the screws of the plot.
  — Emily Zemler, Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2022
• Iran’s once cunning and innovative foreign policy has ground to a halt, with no diplomatic breakthrough in sight as Western powers tighten the screws through relentless sanctions.
  — Mostafa Salem, CNN Money, 30 Dec. 2025
• In an attempt to further tighten the screws on Russia, the EU is preparing its eleventh sanctions proposal, according to Bloomberg.
  — Aurora Almendral, Quartz, 3 May 2023
• Trump may seek to further tighten the screws on Russia's economy, in which inflation is rising and dollars are increasingly difficult and expensive to access.
  — David Brennan, ABC News, 18 Mar. 2025
• If confirmed, as is widely expected, Rubio will be perfectly situated to further tighten the screws on Cuba perhaps to the island’s breaking point.
  — Patrick Oppmann, CNN, 8 Dec. 2024
• If a state takes a position contrary to Beijing’s interests, China can tighten the screws on it by withholding spare parts, software updates, and technicians, turning a commercial partnership into a tool of leverage.
  — Natalia Cote-Muñoz, Foreign Affairs, 3 Aug. 2026
• With the Fed determined to bring down inflation, the latest CPI release plays a major role in just how much more the central bank will want to tighten the screws on businesses and individuals looking to borrow money.
  — Telis Demos, WSJ, 14 June 2023
• Skeptics say the decision, taken by Russia, which sits at one end of the massive pipeline, is a deliberate decision designed to tighten the screws on Europe for its support of Ukraine as the country repels a Russian invasion.
  — WIRED, 28 Aug. 2022
• In response, Nigeria’s central bank has published new guidelines this week to tighten the screws around the system behind the unique 11-digital bank verification numbers (BVNs) that identify bank customers.
  — Alexander Onukwue, Quartz, 14 Oct. 2021