Definitions

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

  • noun A tool used for turning screws.
  • noun A cocktail made with vodka and orange juice.

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

  • noun A hand or machine tool which engages with the head of a screw and allows torque to be applied to turn the screw, thus driving it in or loosening it.
  • noun A drink made of vodka and orange juice.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

screw +‎ driver.

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Examples

  • Everyone tells me I can just use a hammer and flat-head screwdriver to loosen the top collar piece, and then turn the bottom where I want it and tighten the top again with the hammer/screwdriver… but it doesn’t make sense to me that you could go down on the bottom collar without a spanner – doesn’t the spring want to force it up, causing way too much resistance to turn by hand?

    kevynwight Diary Entry kevynwight 2005

  • And if that wasn't hard enough, during an encounter with Zero the Doctor's sonic screwdriver is destroyed.

    TV REVIEW: Doctor Who - 'The Eleventh Hour' 2010

  • Click the third manipulator, and click the UFO in the room you are transported to to receive an IC board, and pick up a screwdriver from a chair on the far right.

    Archive 2008-05-01 2008

  • In one episode ( "Daleks in Manhattan" or "Evolution of the Daleks" - can't recall), the writers made an effort (however brief) to show that the sonic screwdriver is not the Universal Fixxer-Upper Device by having the Doctor drop it beyond his reach.

    August 2007 2007

  • In one episode ( "Daleks in Manhattan" or "Evolution of the Daleks" - can't recall), the writers made an effort (however brief) to show that the sonic screwdriver is not the Universal Fixxer-Upper Device by having the Doctor drop it beyond his reach.

    Thoughts on Doctor Who, Season 3 (so far) 2007

  • It’s not an inherently “Information Architecture” activity any more than the screwdriver is an “auto repair” tool.

    inkblurt · A Layer Model for the IA Profession 2006

  • 3 - Use the key on the wardrobe and take the screwdriver from the locked compartment.

    Archive 2009-02-01 2009

  • Photobucket Ten’s screwdriver is on the left, Eleven’s is on the right.

    Planet-x.com.au » 10th_letter: Warning! Dr. Who nerdiness ahead! 2010

  • Don’t know about you, but I could make a pretty good weapon out of nice, thin screwdriver of that length, and just what else are you going to do with it inside the aircraft cabin?

    Up In the Air and Down on the Ground « Hyperpat’s HyperDay 2006

  • Don’t know about you, but I could make a pretty good weapon out of nice, thin screwdriver of that length, and just what else are you going to do with it inside the aircraft cabin?

    2006 December « Hyperpat’s HyperDay 2006

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