screw up

/skru əp/

/skru əp/

Other forms: screwed up; screwing up; screws up

Definitions of screw up
  1. verb
    make a mess of, destroy or ruin
    “the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement”
    synonyms: ball up, blow, bobble, bodge, bollix, bollix up, botch, botch up, bumble, bungle, butcher, flub, fluff, foul up, fumble, louse up, mess up, mishandle, muck up, muff, spoil
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    type of:
    fail, go wrong, miscarry
    be unsuccessful
  2. verb
    make more intense
    “Emotions were screwed up”
    synonyms: heat up, hot up
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    type of:
    compound, deepen, heighten, intensify
    make more intense, stronger, or more marked
  3. verb
    twist into a strained configuration
    “screw up one's face”
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    type of:
    grimace, make a face, pull a face
    contort the face to indicate a certain mental or emotional state
  4. verb
    screw or turn higher
    see moresee less
    type of:
    screw
    turn like a screw
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