1
as in to distort
to twist (something) out of a natural or normal shape or condition
screwed up his face at the taste of the medicine
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to squeeze
to rob by the use of trickery or threats
managed to screw his siblings out of their share of the inheritance
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of screw
Finally, the professional will install hangers to reinforce your gutters before screwing the mesh guard on top.
—
Faith Wakefield, USA Today, 4 May 2026
And to screw your head onto any of it was really impossible to do.
—Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 3 May 2026
If Miranda Priestly can get thrown in steerage, we’re all screwed.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2026
But that doesn’t mean working people aren’t getting screwed.
—Stuart Miller, Oc Register, 25 Apr. 2026
Hunt noted that there was an air conditioner screwed into the window.
—Staff Author, PEOPLE, 24 Apr. 2026
Mechanics across the continent screwed, hammered and welded Sheila to keep her together, sometimes shaking their heads at the madness of it all.
—ABC News, 21 Apr. 2026
Simply align it and screw it on clockwise.
—Hallie Milstein, Southern Living, 20 Apr. 2026
Without brothers, father, I would be screwed.
—Marissa Perlman, CBS News, 20 Apr. 2026
Faith Wakefield, USA Today, 4 May 2026
And to screw your head onto any of it was really impossible to do.
—Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 3 May 2026
If Miranda Priestly can get thrown in steerage, we’re all screwed.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2026
But that doesn’t mean working people aren’t getting screwed.
—Stuart Miller, Oc Register, 25 Apr. 2026
Hunt noted that there was an air conditioner screwed into the window.
—Staff Author, PEOPLE, 24 Apr. 2026
Mechanics across the continent screwed, hammered and welded Sheila to keep her together, sometimes shaking their heads at the madness of it all.
—ABC News, 21 Apr. 2026
Simply align it and screw it on clockwise.
—Hallie Milstein, Southern Living, 20 Apr. 2026
Without brothers, father, I would be screwed.
—Marissa Perlman, CBS News, 20 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for screw
Verb
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The first mystery that could be solved involves an ultradense clump of matter detected in the system JVAS B1938+666, which is gravitationally lensed, or visibly distorted, thanks to a quirk of general relativity.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
6 May 2026
-
The loans granted by a government to firms may distort competition within the European market and therefore are prohibited by the European Union.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
5 May 2026
Verb
-
It was triggered, in his telling, by the record oil price spike of June 2008, which forced ordinary households to absorb more than $2,000 in additional energy costs on top of adjustable-rate mortgage resets that were already squeezing them.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
9 May 2026
-
Gas prices, housing costs and groceries are squeezing people who are working hard yet still falling behind.—
Lucas Robinson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 May 2026
Verb
-
Back in Egypt, however, a freak plane crash uncovers a mysterious tomb that authorities open to find Katie: deformed, malnourished and ghostly-pale, but still miraculously alive.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
16 Apr. 2026
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Kinks are critical in determining where a material deforms, appearing in situations such as metals bending permanently or DNA strands separating.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
22 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Fred, their oldest surviving child, was suspended from Princeton for cheating, then caught embezzling from his Seattle employer to feed, Church suspected, a gambling habit.—
Sebastian Smee,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
-
Venezuela contends the Americans and Europeans conspired to cheat their country out of the land.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 May 2026
Verb
-
Aether enthusiasts contorted themselves in knots attempting to explain this null result while still saving the notion of the aether itself.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
7 May 2026
-
Kaser’s voice, less reliant on effects than on Hex Dealer, contorts into tones variously resembling Danny Brown and Gilla Band’s Dara Kiely.—
Alastair Shuttleworth,
Pitchfork,
2 May 2026
Verb
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There’s no trace of anything strummed or plucked; clusters of tone simply materialize out of thin air, as capricious as weather.—
Philip Sherburne,
Pitchfork,
6 May 2026
-
He’s plucked employees from companies like Uber, Google, and Facebook to professionalize the place.—
Sean Gregory,
Time,
6 May 2026
Verb
-
Peach leaf curl causes stone fruit leaves to curl and pucker, even on trees sprayed with fungicide and horticultural oil last winter.—
Nan Sterman,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
2 May 2026
-
Havertz turned and flicked it to Eze at the edge of the area, who curled home a spectacular finish.—
Mark Carey,
New York Times,
1 May 2026
Verb
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And after carrying some double-headers in recent weeks, NBC curiously opted to air only single games on Monday and Tuesday this week (the series openers of Knicks-76ers and Lakers-OKC), and stuck its two other playoff games those nights on Peacock.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
6 May 2026
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Some of the chemicals that didn’t stick on carpets were flushed with the industry’s wastewater into local sewer pipes and, eventually, the region’s rivers.—
DYLAN JACKSON,
ABC News,
6 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Screw.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/screw. Accessed 11 May. 2026.
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