screw up

present singular third person screws up · participle present screwing up · participle past screwed up · past screwed up

1. transitiveTo tighten or secure with screws.
2. transitiveTo raise by turning a rotary handle.

   A crunch on the gravel brought me back to the present. A triffid came swaying down the drive toward the gate. I leaned across and screwed up the window.

   1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 78

3. transitiveTo raise (rent, fees, etc.) to extortionate levels.

   As far as was possible he kept his subjects as mindless fighting-cocks, troops that could be promised to one power if there was a chance of screwing up another power to a bigger subsidy.

   1942, Rebecca West, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, Canongate, published 2006, page 1052

4. transitiveTo raise or summon up.

   trying to screw up enough courage to ask her out

5. transitiveTo twist into a contorted state.

   The baby screwed up his face and began to bawl.

   2 more examples

   “Where’s the man with the trumpet?” Ralph, sensing his sun-blindness, answered him. “There’s no man with a trumpet. Only me.” The boy came close and peered down at Ralph, screwing up his face as he did so.

   1954, William Golding, chapter 1, in Lord of the Flies, Penguin

   “I asked her if she and your father were related, and she explained who she was. To my eyes, they could be twins!” Gilbert and Auntie Flip Frank screwed up his face. “You think so?”

   2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN

6. datedtransitiveTo squint.

   [...] Hands deep in pockets, head aslant, And eyes screwed up against the light [...]

   1919, Richard Aldington, A Village

   1 more example

   As they were finishing breakfast came the postman with a letter from Derby. Mrs. Morel screwed up her eyes to look at the address.

   1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “chapter 8”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC

7. colloquialtransitiveTo make a mess of; to ruin.

   Don't screw this up! You've gotta be a part of this too.

   2007 March 16, Capcom Production Studio 4, quoting Trilo, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All, Europe: Capcom, →OCLC, Nintendo DS, scene: Part 3: Investigation, Circus Entrance, level/area: Turnabout Big Top

   2 more examples

   “Why shouldn't it be my fault, right? I screwed up my kid. I screwed up my marriage. I screwed up my fucking life. We don't need to beat around the bush.” He smirked, shook his head.

   2015, Ania Ahlborn, Within These Walls, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 147

   Don’t screw this up.” That’s what Bandcamp CEO Ethan Diamond hears over and over again from artists and labels about the company he founded in 2008.

   2019 September 30, Hank Shteamer, “Future 25: Ethan Diamond, Co-founder of Bandcamp”, in Rolling Stone

8. colloquialintransitiveTo blunder; to make a mistake.

   Still, it may be too soon to conclude that the Fed has royally screwed up.

   2025 August 2, Bryan Mena, “Did the Fed just royally screw up?”, in CNN Business, archived from the original on 20 Aug 2025

   1 more example

   Let me finish… you screwed up, but you screwed up for the right reasons. You're going to make mistakes, but it's how you deal with those mistakes, that's going to make the difference.

   2000, Bob Gookin, The President's Man (television production), spoken by Joshua McCord (Chuck Norris)

   Synonyms: blow it, bobble, boob, crap up, miscue, drop a bollock, drop the ball, err