A threaded fastener with a helical ridge that creates mechanical advantage when rotated. Also used as a verb meaning to fasten with such a device or to rotate something.
From Old French 'escroue' meaning 'nut of a bolt', ultimately from Latin 'scrofa' meaning 'sow' (female pig), referring to the spiral shape resembling a pig's tail. The mechanical application emerged in the 15th century.
The screw is one of the six classical simple machines and represents humanity's mastery of the inclined plane wrapped around a cylinder. Archimedes is often credited with inventing the screw pump, but the fastening screw wasn't standardized until the Industrial Revolution - before then, each screw had to be hand-fitted to its specific nut!
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