screwup

or screw-up

[ skroo-uhp ]
/ ˈskruˌʌp /

noun Slang.

a mistake or blunder: The package was delayed through an addressing screwup.
a habitual blunderer.

Origin of screwup

1955–60; Americanism; noun use of verb phrase screw up

Definition for screw-up (2 of 2)

Origin of screw

1375–1425; late Middle English scrwe, screw(e) (noun); compare Middle French escro(ue) nut, Middle Dutch schrûve, Middle High German schrûbe screw

OTHER WORDS FROM screw

screw·a·ble, adjective screw·er, noun screw·less, adjective screw·like, adjective

Example sentences from the Web for screw-up

British Dictionary definitions for screw-up

screw
/ (skruː) /

noun

verb

See also screw up

Derived forms of screw

screwer, noun screwlike, adjective

Word Origin for screw

C15: from French escroe, from Medieval Latin scrōfa screw, from Latin: sow, presumably because the thread of the screw is like the spiral of the sow's tail

usage for screw

The use of this otherwise utilitarian word in a sexual sense, though recorded in an 18th century slang dictionary, does not appear to have really taken off until well into the 20th. Although a classic example of the anatomical metaphor for the sex act seen from the male point of view, it can be used as a transitive verb by women, which suggests that the metaphor is all but dead

Idioms and Phrases with screw-up

screw