to put on the screw
Preserved but no longer current.
A phrase surviving from the days when the thumb screw was used as a form of torture to extract confessions or money. To press for payment, as a screw presses by gradually increasing pressure. Hence to apply the screw, to give the screw another turn, to take steps (or additional steps) to enforce one's demands.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to put on the screw” mean?
A phrase surviving from the days when the thumb screw was used as a form of torture to extract confessions or money. To press for payment, as a screw presses by gradually increasing pressure. Hence to apply the screw, to give the screw another turn, to take steps (or additional steps) to enforce one's demands.
Is “to put on the screw” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.