What does screwing mean?
Screwing is most often the present participle of screw, meaning to fasten or tighten something by turning it into or against another surface. The expression also appears in the common gerundial phrase “screwing up,” meaning making a mistake or ruining something. Its register can become much more forceful: in vulgar British and American English, screwing may mean copulating, and it may be used informally as an intensifier, as in “screwing difficult.” These meanings share the ordinary mechanical verb but differ sharply in tone and social setting. As a noun, screwing can name the action or process of fastening something with a screw, though this use is less common than the verbal forms. The word is especially useful for recognizing how a single everyday term can move from a literal workshop meaning to informal criticism, strong emphasis, and obscenity without changing its basic form.
To fasten, attach, or tighten something by turning it; informally, to spoil or ruin something; in vulgar slang, to copulate or to intensify an expression forcefully.
"He was screwing the lid onto the jar when the thread stripped."
The literal sense is neutral. The ruin sense is informal, while the sexual and intensifying senses are vulgar.
The action or process of fastening or tightening something by turning it; by extension, an act of copulation in vulgar usage.
"The repeated screwing of the hinges loosened the cabinet."
This gerundial noun is uncommon in general speech and is sometimes treated as a mass noun rather than a regularly counted one.
The plural is rare and is used mainly when separate acts or instances of fastening are being counted.
"The technician logged the day's screwings in the maintenance system."
From tightening a bolt to delivering the strongest language in English, “screwing” packs several sharply different uses into one word.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does screwing come from?
Screwing is the present participle and gerund of the English word screw, whose ultimate origin is uncertain. The verb initially referred to fastening or tightening with a screw and later acquired figurative senses involving ruin, deception, and vulgar sexual meaning. Screwdriver, screw-up, and screwball continue the same English word family through the older root screw.
Related word forms
How screwing is actually used
The register varies sharply by sense. Mechanical uses are neutral, while the meanings involving ruin, sex, and emphatic intensity are informal or vulgar. The intensifier is especially associated with English and is not appropriate for formal writing.