Birmingham screwdriver

noun

A hammer.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounBirmingham screwdriver (plural Birmingham screwdrivers)

plural Birmingham screwdrivers

  1. UKslangA hammer.

    “I feel like I've been walloped with a Birmingham screwdriver!”

    2014, RJ Smith, Cataclysm, Storyteller Entertainment, LLC, →ISBN
    2 more examples

    I'll be watching the fucker like a hawk with a Birmingham screwdriver to the ready should I spot anything untoward.

    2003, Alex Ferrier, “Insurance Payout?”, in uk.rec.motorcycles (Usenet)

    Tinkering – the Midlands, especially, had a tradition, killed off by the introduction of the MoT test, of men who built cars called 'specials', bodged with a Birmingham screwdriver from components of other cars.

    2012, Jonathan Meades, Museum Without Walls, Random House, →ISBN

Origin

Humorously suggesting that people from Birmingham rely on the use of force to solve problems.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Birmingham screwdriver. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Birmingham%20screwdriver

MLA

“Birmingham screwdriver.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Birmingham%20screwdriver. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Birmingham screwdriver,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Birmingham%20screwdriver.

Source: Birmingham screwdriver on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.