screwdriver
(ˈskruːdraɪvə(r))
1. A tool for turning screws into or out of their places. It is shaped like a chisel, with a blunt end which fits into the nick in the head of the screw.
| 1779 in Dict. Amer. Eng. (1944) IV. 2045/1, 1 doz. draw rings, screw driver, and gimlet. 1812 P. Nicholson Mech. Exerc. 353 Screw Driver, a tool used to turn screws into their places. 1840 Thackeray Catherine vii, A screwdriver and a crowbar. 1842 Gwilt Archit. §2109 Some [bits]..are provided with a screw-driver for sinking small screws into wood. |
| Comb. 1893 Dunglison's Dict. Med. Sci. (ed. 21), Screw⁓driver teeth, peculiar teeth seen in young subjects of hereditary syphilis. |
2. punningly. One who drives a ‘screwy’ horse.
| 1835 C. J. Apperley Nimrod's Hunting Tours 215 (Farmer) Mr. Charles Boultbee, the best screw driver in England. |
3. A cocktail made of vodka and iced orange juice.
orig. U.S.| 1956 House & Garden Feb. 112/2 Screwdriver. This has become the most popular drink the West Coast has seen in years. Merely add 2 ounces of vodka to a tall glass of orange juice. Ideal for Sunday brunch. 1959 M. Dolinsky There is no Silence v. 79, I didn't have the screwdriver she wanted, but she settled for a bourbon and soda. 1967 F. Warner Madrigals 30 Draining down screwdrivers in topless Broadway. 1977 Times 10 Aug. 14/4 The men who dispense manhattans, grasshoppers and screwdrivers..by the shakerful. |
Hence
ˈscrewdrive v. trans. (
nonce-wd.), to drive in as if with a screwdriver.
| 1894 Clark Russell Good Ship Mohock I. 105 He stared at me for some moments fixedly, as though he would screw⁓drive his gaze through my brain. |