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Screw (Grose 1811 Dictionary)

Screw

A skeleton key used by housebreakers to open a lock. To stand on the screw signifies that a door is not bolted, but merely locked.

Definition taken from The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, originally by Francis Grose.

See also the definition in Nathan Bailey's 1736 dictionary of canting and thieving slang.

Screen * To Screw

Nearby

Nathan Bailey's 1736 Dictionary of canting and thieving slang

John S. Farmer's collection of canting songs and slang rhymes

Buy a modern reprint of this book from Amazon CA; US;

About

Francis Grose was independently wealthy, having inherited money from his father, a jeweller. Finding himself overspending, he published a number of books; his Provincial Glossary seems to have been the starting-point for the Vulgar Tongue reproduced here.

Scraggy
Scragg’em Fair
Scrap
Scrape
Scraper
Scraping
Scratch
Scratch Land
Scratch Platter
Screen
Screw
To Screw
Screw Jaws
Scrip
Scroby
Scrope
Scrub
Scrubbado
Scull
Scull
Scull Thatcher