Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A device for drawing corks from bottles, consisting of a pointed metal spiral attached to a handle.
  • adjective Spiral in shape.
  • intransitive & transitive verb To move or cause to move in a spiral or winding course.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To cause to move like a corkscrew; direct or follow out in a spiral or twisting way.
  • noun A tool consisting of a helicoidal piece or “screw” of steel, with a sharp point and a transverse handle, used to draw corks from bottles.
  • Having the form of a corkscrew; spiral: as, a corkscrew curl.
  • noun A geared logging-locomotive.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb colloq. To press forward in a winding way.
  • adjective shaped like a corkscrew; spiral; helical.
  • adjective a spiral staircase around a solid newel.
  • noun An instrument with a screw or a steel spiral for drawing corks from bottles.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An implement for opening bottles that are sealed by a cork. Sometimes specifically such an implement that includes a screw-shaped part, or worm.
  • noun The screw-shaped worm of a typical corkscrew.
  • noun boxing, martial arts A type of sharp, twisting punch, often one thrown close and from the side.
  • noun amusement rides A type of inversion used in roller coasters.
  • adjective Having the tightly winding shape of a corkscrew.
  • verb intransitive To wind or twist in the manner of a corkscrew; to move with much horizontal and vertical shifting.
  • verb transitive To cause something to twist or move in a spiral path or shape.
  • verb To extract information or consent from someone.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a bottle opener that pulls corks
  • verb move in a spiral or zigzag course

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From cork +‎ screw

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Examples

  • "It's what we call a corkscrew lie down here," I explained.

    The Holiday Round 1919

  • "It's what we call a corkscrew lie down here," I explained.

    Happy Days 1919

  • If you want to splurge on a handsome gift, a corkscrew is a stately way to go.

    A Year of Wine Tyler Colman 2008

  • If you want to splurge on a handsome gift, a corkscrew is a stately way to go.

    A Year of Wine Tyler Colman 2008

  • Tirabuzón is a word for corkscrew, which is sort of what Fernando's Sunday pitch, his screwball, looks like to National Baseball League batters as it twists and dips.

    The Music of Mexico 2006

  • Tirabuzón is a word for corkscrew, which is sort of what Fernando's Sunday pitch, his screwball, looks like to National Baseball League batters as it twists and dips.

    The Music of Mexico 2006

  • They stay at a relatively high altitude, then bank hard and come down in what's called a corkscrew landing.

    Corkscrew Over Baghdad 2007

  • A corkscrew is a familiar illustration of the screw.

    General Science Bertha M. Clark

  • The thing which might have been mistaken for a tricycle turned upside-down was the inexpressibly important instrument to which the corkscrew was the key.

    The Ball and the Cross 1905

  • Ballyvaughan called the corkscrew (you can guess why) and drove and drove and drove, and then Car 1 turned around, and we followed and Car 3 followed us.

    TravelPod.com TravelStream? ? Recent Entries at TravelPod.com 2010

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