screw up

screw up
1) PHR-V-ERG If you screw up your eyes or your face, you tighten your eye or face muscles, for example because you are in pain or because the light is too bright.

[V P n (not pron)] She had screwed up her eyes, as if she found the sunshine too bright...

[V n P] Close your eyes and screw them up tight...

[V P] His face screwed up in agony.

2) PHRASAL VERB If you screw up a piece of paper, you squeeze it tightly so that it becomes very creased and no longer flat, usually when you are throwing it away. [BRIT]

[V n P] He would start writing to his family and would screw the letter up in frustration...

[V P n (not pron)] He screwed up his first three efforts after only a line or two.

(in AM, use crush)
3) PHRASAL VERB To screw something up, or to screw up, means to cause something to fail or be spoiled. [INFORMAL]

[V P n (not pron)] You can't open the window because it screws up the air conditioning...

[V n P] Get out. Haven't you screwed things up enough already!...

[V P] Somebody had screwed up; they weren't there.

Syn:

English dictionary. 2008.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Screw — (skr[udd]), n. [OE. scrue, OF. escroue, escroe, female screw, F. [ e]crou, L. scrobis a ditch, trench, in LL., the hole made by swine in rooting; cf. D. schroef a screw, G. schraube, Icel. skr[=u]fa.] 1. A cylinder, or a cylindrical perforation,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • screw — [skro͞o] n. [ME screwe < MFr escroue, hole in which the screw turns < L scrofa, sow, infl. by scrobis, vulva] 1. a) a mechanical device for fastening things together, consisting essentially of a cylindrical or conical piece of metal… …   English World dictionary

  • Screw — Screw, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Screwed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Screwing}.] 1. 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. [1913 Webster] 2. To… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Screw — (kurz für: screwing chopping) ist eine Remix Technik der Hip Hop Musik, die aus dem Süden der USA stammt. Dabei wird ein Lied (meist ein Hip Hop Track) in langsamer Geschwindigkeit abgespielt (screwed zu deutsch etwa: heruntergeschraubt), Teile… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • screw — screw·able; screw; screw·drive; screw·driv·er; screw·er; screw·less; screw·man; un·screw; cork·screw; …   English syllables

  • screw — ► NOUN 1) a thin, sharp pointed metal pin with a raised spiral thread running around it and a slotted head, used to join things together by being rotated in under pressure. 2) a cylinder with a spiral ridge or thread running round the outside… …   English terms dictionary

  • screw up — {v. phr.}, {slang}, {semi vulgar}, {best avoided} 1. To make a mess of, to make an error which causes confusion. * /The treasurer screwed up the accounts of the Society so badly that he had to be fired./ 2. To cause someone to be neurotic or… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • screw up — {v. phr.}, {slang}, {semi vulgar}, {best avoided} 1. To make a mess of, to make an error which causes confusion. * /The treasurer screwed up the accounts of the Society so badly that he had to be fired./ 2. To cause someone to be neurotic or… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • Screw 32 — was a Berkeley/ East Bay area punk rock band. Their name is derived from an anti skateboarding measure on the ballots in Concord, California. They were noted for self publicity. For example, they ordered stickers by the thousands and stuck them… …   Wikipedia

  • screw-up — noun count usually singular INFORMAL a situation in which someone makes a big mistake: There s been a big screw up with the mailing list no one s received the invitations. another government screw up …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • screw up — (something) to spoil or damage something. You couldn t screw up much worse than I did. Somehow the lawyer screwed up my appointment again. This is detailed work, and people screw it up once in a while …   New idioms dictionary

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