screw

verb

Definition of screwnext
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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of screw The breeze was screwing with the sound system, and the temperature dropped abruptly. — Lily Goldberg, Pitchfork, 26 June 2026 With Dumb Money, also directed by Gillespie, Rogen played businessman Gabe Plotkin, who got screwed in the GameStop stock drama. — Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 26 June 2026 Attracted to the smell, the flies will lay eggs in open wounds on warm-blooded animals, and within hours the eggs hatch as the worms burrow in a screw-like pattern into the flesh to feed, according to the advisory. — Alexandra Kukulka, Chicago Tribune, 25 June 2026 Securing a current-generation Dyson stick vacuum bundled with two motorized cleaning heads and a specialized pet hair screw tool below the $300 line is an incredible find. — Juhi Wadia, PC Magazine, 25 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for screw
Recent Examples of Synonyms for screw
  1. distort
  2. squeeze
  3. deform
  4. cheat
  5. contort
  6. pluck
  7. curl
  8. stick
Verb
  • The least costly and least distorting way to solve the entire financing gap is to extend Social Security's base beyond paychecks to capital income -- capital gains, dividends, interest and pass-through business income.
    — Teresa Ghilarducci, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026
  • Is realism based only on minds untouched by illness or some other distorting factor, or at least not so touched that that mind becomes, as my grandmother’s is, unbound?
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 17 July 2026
Definition of distort
Verb
  • Every new theorem ratchets one wall inward, squeezing the gap a little tighter.
    — Sam Macdonald, Scientific American, 15 July 2026
  • The brain-squeezing rush of those starts is nearly indescribable.
    — Lawrence Ulrich, Robb Report, 15 July 2026
Definition of squeeze
Verb
  • Working on his audio venture makes Jacob more narcissistic and less socially competent; the podcast deforms his understanding of what friends are for.
    — Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 13 July 2026
  • Beneath that sits a tough magnesium alloy layer, followed by a hyper-elastic foam that deforms heavily to swallow the brunt of the kinetic shock waves.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 10 July 2026
Definition of deform
Verb
  • For anyone still motivated to cheat, election systems in the United States are designed with multiple layers of protection and transparency intended to stand in the way.
    — Ali Swenson, Chicago Tribune, 18 July 2026
  • The president used California, a favorite target, to hint that Democrats were cheating.
    — Justine McDaniel, Los Angeles Times, 17 July 2026
Definition of cheat
Verb
  • Football fandom is contorted by the internet now to put out beauty and vibe and wonder.
    — Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 17 July 2026
  • His adjustments to poor throws at Auburn often presented the illusion that Coleman was levitating before contorting to make a spectacular play.
    — Nick Baumgardner, New York Times, 15 July 2026
Definition of contort
Verb
  • The fact that celebrity landed upon him, plucking him from the obscurity of his mission to represent the burgeoning discourse on the disease, says more about the world that orbited him than his actions on the island or his own political nous.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 20 July 2026
  • And their semi-final victory over England was plucked from another incredibly precarious position.
    — Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 20 July 2026
Definition of pluck
Verb
  • Meg Stalter once again donned the bratty, curled wig of Mary Todd Lincoln last night, returning to her Broadway debut performance as the lead in Cole Escola’s Oh, Mary!
    — Greg Evans, Deadline, 18 July 2026
  • Kylian Mbappe, France vs Croatia, 2018 Mbappe puts the game out of Croatia’s reach by giving the keeper the eyes from distance, shaping to curl one to the right before sliding one low to the left.
    — Adam Hurrey, New York Times, 17 July 2026
Definition of curl
Verb
  • Hanania is not the sort of person to stick a Science is real sign in his front yard.
    — Gilad Edelman, The Atlantic, 19 July 2026
  • America at 250 seems stuck in a miasma of rival populisms that offer irreconcilable visions for curing what ails our country.
    — Will Marshall, Washington Post, 18 July 2026
Definition of stick

Phrases Containing screw

Browse Nearby Words

screenwriters
screw
screw around
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Cite this Entry

“Screw.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/screw. Accessed 21 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on screw

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about screw

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