Definition of Screw up

1. Verb. Make more intense. "Emotions were screwed up"

Exact synonyms: Heat Up, Hot Up
Generic synonyms: Compound, Deepen, Heighten, Intensify

2. Verb. Make a mess of, destroy or ruin. "The pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement"

3. Verb. Screw or turn higher.
Generic synonyms: Screw

4. Verb. Twist into a strained configuration. "Screw up one's face"
Generic synonyms: Grimace, Make A Face, Pull A Face

Definition of Screw up

1. Verb. (transitive) To tighten or secure with screws. ¹

2. Verb. (transitive) To raise (rent, fees, etc.) to extortionate levels. ¹

3. Verb. (transitive) To twist into a contorted state ¹

4. Verb. (transitive colloquial) To make a mess of; to ruin. ¹

5. Verb. (intransitive colloquial) To blunder; to make a mistake. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Screw Up

screw over
screw pile
screw pinch
screw pine
screw propeller
screw shoe
screw shoes
screw that
screw the pooch
screw this
screw thread
screw threads
screw top
screw tops
screw tree
screw up (current term)
screw with
screw worm infection
screw wrench
screwability
screwback
screwball
screwball comedies
screwball comedy
screwballer
screwbean
screwbean mesquite

Literary usage of Screw up

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Dyke's Automobile and Gasoline Engine Encyclopedia by Andrew Lee Dyke (1916)
"screw up once a week. screw up once a week. month with grease gun. ... screw up once a month. Remove cap and grease once a month with grease gun. ..."

2. The American Cotton Spinner and Managers' and Carders' Guide: A Practical by Robert H. Baird (1851)
"Before turning up a card preparatory to clothing it, always remove previously the heads of the wooden cylinders, and screw up tight all the stave-bolts; ..."

3. Dyke's Automobile and Gasoline Engine Encyclopedia by Andrew Lee Dyke (1919)
"If it is found that the clearance is not right, loosen the lock nut on the tappet screw and turn the screw up or down as may be required to obtain the ..."

4. The Marine Steam Turbine: A Practical Illustrated Description of the Parsons by John William Major Sothern (1918)
"Ease back bottom half block aft, slack indicator nut until it reads the required clearance, then screw up back nut to secure wedge. ..."

5. The Marine Steam Turbine: A Practical Illustrated Description of the Parsons by John William Major Sothern (1920)
"Ease back bottom half block aft, slack indicator nut until it reads the required clearance, then screw up back nut to secure wedge. ..."

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