screwdriver (skrodri" ver)

A tool, in form like a blunt chisel, which fits into the nick in the head of a screw, and is used to turn the screw, in order to cause it to enter its place or to withdraw it. screwed (skröd), p. a. [Pp. of screwl, v.] "Tight"; intoxicated; drunk. [Slang.] Alone it stood, while its fellows lay strew'd, Like a four-bottle man in a company screw'd, Not firm on his legs, but by no means subdued. Barham , In golds by Legends, I. 161. She walked so unsteadily as to attract the compa ionate regards of divers kind-hearted boys, who. bade her be of good cheer, for she was "only a little screwed." Dickens , Martin Chuzzlewit, xxv. screwed-work (skröd'wèrk), n. In wood - turn ing, work in which the cutting is done in a spiral direction, so as to leave a spiral fillet, bead, or other ornamental spiral pattern upon the finished article, as in balusters, etc. Chestnut or sycamore is far more suitable for the production of screwed - work . Campin , Hand-turning, p. 257. screw-elevator (skrö'el"ē-va-tor), n. 1. A form of pa enger-elevator in which the cage is lifted by a screw.-2. A dentists' tool, consisting of a staff having a gimlet-screw on the end to screw into the root of a tooth in order to pull it out.-3. In surg ., a conical screw of hard rubber used to force open the jaws of maniacs or persons suffering from lockjaw. E. H. Knight.