Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
put the screws en · VERB
Pronunciation
Meanings
-
(idiomatic) To apply pressure and coercion.
If in fact […] they put the screws on Berlin in the way that Gromyko said they were going to, then we are... I know that we were bound to invade Cuba under those conditions.
1962, John F. Kennedy, quoted in 2003 by Sheldon M. Stern in Averting 'the Final Failure': John F. Kennedy and the Secret Cuban Missile Crisis meetings →ISBNNear the end of a year when Fox was putting the screws to The Simpsons, the extra effort required of “Lisa’s Wedding” was justly rewarded, earning the episode the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animation.
2013 October 13, Erik Adams, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Lisa’s Wedding” (season six, episode 19; originally aired 3/19/1995)”, in The Onion AV Club:
Forms