- 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.
- To force; to squeeze; to press, as by screws.But screw your courage to the sticking place, And we'll not fail.
- 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.
- To twist; to distort; as, to screw his visage.He screwed his face into a hardened smile.
- To examine rigidly, as a student; to subject to a severe examination.Cant, American Colleges
