Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

screwtape en · VERB · 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.

To mess things up, to corrupt, to be devilish.
- Perhaps, beyond the lands of shadow, it will be exposed as merely a Screwtaped illusion. 2013, Joseph Pearce, C. S. Lewis and the Catholic Church, →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 2015, A. Nonn, King Ludwig's Legacy and Other Poems, →ISBN:
- His collection of songlines and timelines snarled at him like a screwtaped confession. 2007, Palace Pier Blues, →ISBN, page 33:

Spelling	Features	Source
screwtapes	Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres	lexicographic
screwtaped	Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic
screwtaped	Tense=Past	lexicographic
screwtaping	Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic

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

One of a set of slow-tempo, lo-fi psychedelic mixtapes created by DJ Screw around 1992
- 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". 2018, Fernando Orejuela, Stephanie Shonekan, Black Lives Matter and Music: Protest, Intervention, Reflection, →ISBN, page 59:
- In addition, slab riders were not only playing the screwtapes in their decks, they were also rapping on them. 2016, Michelle L. Stefano, Peter Davis, The Routledge Companion to Intangible Cultural Heritage, →ISBN:
- It's something that they have taken from the Screwtapes. The influence is just that great. 2018, Lance Scott Walker, Houston Rap Tapes: An Oral History of Bayou City Hip-Hop, →ISBN, page 312:

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
screwtapes	Number=Plur		lexicographic