"thumbscrew" meaning in English

See thumbscrew in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈθʌmskɹuː/ Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-thumbscrew.wav Forms: thumbscrews [plural]
Etymology: From thumb + screw. Etymology templates: {{affix|en|thumb|screw}} thumb + screw Head templates: {{en-noun}} thumbscrew (plural thumbscrews)
  1. A screw that can be turned with the thumb and fingers. Translations (type of screw): крилчат винт (krilčat vint) [masculine] (Bulgarian), sormiruuvi (Finnish), Rändelschraube [feminine] (German), Flügelschraube [feminine] (German), χειρόβιδα (cheiróvida) [feminine] (Greek), χειροκοχλίας (cheirokochlías) [feminine] (Greek), scriú sciathánach [masculine] (Irish), اشکلک شست (Persian), бара́шек (barášek) [masculine] (Russian)
    Sense id: en-thumbscrew-en-noun-PJ9smtwM Disambiguation of 'type of screw': 100 0 0
  2. An instrument of torture used to crush the fingers. Synonyms (torture instrument): pilliwinks Translations (torture instrument): δακτυλήθρα (daktulḗthra) [feminine] (Ancient Greek), aixafapolzes [masculine] (Catalan), peukaloruuvi (Finnish), poucette [feminine] (French), grésillons [masculine, plural] (French), Daumenschraube [feminine] (German), bís ordóige [feminine] (Irish), schiaccia pollici [masculine] (Italian), اشکنک (eškanak) (Persian), اشکلک (eškalak) (Persian), empulgueras [feminine, plural] (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-thumbscrew-en-noun-~spZfKml Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Ancient Greek translations, Terms with Bulgarian translations, Terms with Catalan translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with Georgian translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Greek translations, Terms with Irish translations, Terms with Italian translations, Terms with Persian translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 31 55 14 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 29 59 12 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 32 60 9 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 31 63 6 Disambiguation of Terms with Ancient Greek translations: 22 61 17 Disambiguation of Terms with Bulgarian translations: 20 62 18 Disambiguation of Terms with Catalan translations: 21 65 14 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 21 65 14 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 23 61 16 Disambiguation of Terms with Georgian translations: 18 71 12 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 22 63 15 Disambiguation of Terms with Greek translations: 21 66 13 Disambiguation of Terms with Irish translations: 21 65 14 Disambiguation of Terms with Italian translations: 24 63 13 Disambiguation of Terms with Persian translations: 20 68 13 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 24 63 13 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 23 67 10 Disambiguation of 'torture instrument': 2 97 2 Disambiguation of 'torture instrument': 2 97 2
  3. (figuratively) A weakness that can be taken advantage of. Tags: figuratively
    Sense id: en-thumbscrew-en-noun-~otohjtk
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: thumb-screw, thumb screw

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

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          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
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        },
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          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
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          "lang": "Russian",
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        "An instrument of torture used to crush the fingers."
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          "sense": "torture instrument",
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          "word": "poucette"
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          "sense": "torture instrument",
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          "sense": "torture instrument",
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            "feminine"
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        },
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          "sense": "torture instrument",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
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          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "torture instrument",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "schiaccia pollici"
        },
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          "_dis1": "2 97 2",
          "code": "fa",
          "lang": "Persian",
          "roman": "eškanak",
          "sense": "torture instrument",
          "word": "اشکنک"
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          "_dis1": "2 97 2",
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          "roman": "eškalak",
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          "word": "اشکلک"
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          "_dis1": "2 97 2",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "torture instrument",
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            "plural"
          ],
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        }
      ]
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          "text": "Law 33: Discover Each Man's Thumbscrew ― Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power",
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        "A weakness that can be taken advantage of."
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        "(figuratively) A weakness that can be taken advantage of."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
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      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
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      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
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        "(figuratively) A weakness that can be taken advantage of."
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      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "krilčat vint",
      "sense": "type of screw",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "крилчат винт"
    },
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      "sense": "type of screw",
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      "code": "de",
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      "sense": "type of screw",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Rändelschraube"
    },
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      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "type of screw",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Flügelschraube"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "cheiróvida",
      "sense": "type of screw",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "χειρόβιδα"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "cheirokochlías",
      "sense": "type of screw",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "χειροκοχλίας"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "type of screw",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "scriú sciathánach"
    },
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      "code": "fa",
      "lang": "Persian",
      "sense": "type of screw",
      "word": "اشکلک شست"
    },
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      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "barášek",
      "sense": "type of screw",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "бара́шек"
    },
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      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "torture instrument",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "aixafapolzes"
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      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "torture instrument",
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      "sense": "torture instrument",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "poucette"
    },
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      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "torture instrument",
      "tags": [
        "masculine",
        "plural"
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      "word": "grésillons"
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      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "torture instrument",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Daumenschraube"
    },
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      "code": "grc",
      "lang": "Ancient Greek",
      "roman": "daktulḗthra",
      "sense": "torture instrument",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "δακτυλήθρα"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "torture instrument",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "bís ordóige"
    },
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      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "torture instrument",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "schiaccia pollici"
    },
    {
      "code": "fa",
      "lang": "Persian",
      "roman": "eškanak",
      "sense": "torture instrument",
      "word": "اشکنک"
    },
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      "code": "fa",
      "lang": "Persian",
      "roman": "eškalak",
      "sense": "torture instrument",
      "word": "اشکلک"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "torture instrument",
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "empulgueras"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
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  ],
  "word": "thumbscrew"
}

Download raw JSONL data for thumbscrew meaning in English (4.6kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.