screwtape

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word screwtape. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word screwtape, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say screwtape in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word screwtape you have here. The definition of the word screwtape will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofscrewtape, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Etymology 1

In reference to the C. S. Lewis book The Screwtape Letters (1942), about an inexperienced demon sent to tempt a man to sin, from screw +‎ tape.

Pronunciation

  • (file)

Verb

screwtape (third-person singular simple present screwtapes, present participle screwtaping, simple past and past participle screwtaped)

  1. To mess things up, to corrupt, to be devilish.
    • 2007, Palace Pier Blues, →ISBN, page 33:
      His collection of songlines and timelines snarled at him like a screwtaped confession.
    • 2013, Joseph Pearce, C. S. Lewis and the Catholic Church, →ISBN:
      Perhaps, beyond the lands of shadow, it will be exposed as merely a Screwtaped illusion.
    • 2015, A. Nonn, King Ludwig's Legacy and Other Poems, →ISBN:
      ...but they never got the chance From the rulers near-almighty down to the lower ranks of the CF hierarchy screw-taping rejection editors at the BBC and controlling clerky types at this or that ministry

Etymology 2

After DJ Screw, the Houston Southsider who produced the tapes.

Noun

screwtape (plural screwtapes)

  1. One of a set of slow-tempo, lo-fi psychedelic mixtapes created by DJ Screw around 1992
    • 2016, Michelle L. Stefano, Peter Davis, The Routledge Companion to Intangible Cultural Heritage, →ISBN:
      In addition, slab riders were not only playing the screwtapes in their decks, they were also rapping on them.
    • 2018, Lance Scott Walker, Houston Rap Tapes: An Oral History of Bayou City Hip-Hop, →ISBN, page 312:
      It's something that they have taken from the Screwtapes. The influence is just that great.
    • 2018, Fernando Orejuela, Stephanie Shonekan, Black Lives Matter and Music: Protest, Intervention, Reflection, →ISBN, page 59:
      Screwed Up Click member E.S.G. notes that "the reason why the niggas was talkin' about the SLABs and shit was because these was the niggas [SLAB riders] goin's to Screw's house makin' the screwtapes".