English

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Etymology

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From un- +‎ screw.

Verb

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unscrew (third-person singular simple present unscrews, present participle unscrewing, simple past and past participle unscrewed)

  1. (transitive) To loosen a screw or thing by turning it.
    I'm having some trouble unscrewing the lid of this jar.
    • 1984 May 31, Joseph Giovannini, “THE ENDURING FASCINATION OF SECRET PLACES”, in The New York Times[1]:
      It requires opening a complex lock with a key that also unscrews a bolt six inches long. Unscrewing the bolt itself takes six minutes.
    • 2003 July 6, Edward Tenner, “'Our Own Devices'”, in The New York Times[2]:
      A young orangutan in the San Diego Zoo became famous for unbolting the screening of his crib, removing the wires, and moving through the zoo nursery, unscrewing lightbulbs.
    • 2018 December 31, Natalie Kitroeff, “‘A Pumping Conspiracy’: Why Workers Smuggled Breast Pumps Into Prison”, in The New York Times[3]:
      Ms. Van Son unscrewed the pump’s handle and shoved it into her bra.
    • 2019 July 3, Mariel Padilla and Derrick Bryson Taylor, “The Bottle Cap Challenge Spins On, Helped by Cars, Sandals and Mariah Carey”, in The New York Times[4]:
      The challenge is how to unscrew the cap with a roundhouse kick without knocking the bottle over.

Antonyms

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Translations

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