Screw

verb SCREW skruː

Also spelled skru, screw up face

To frown, scowl, or look vexed — to 'screw' or 'screw up yuh face' is to twist it into a hard, angry expression. Someone who is 'screwing' is sulking or plainly angry, and a person with a habitually sour, hard-set face has a 'screwface'. The word belongs to the rich Jamaican language of the face, where feeling is broadcast in a look, and to screw at someone is to fix them with a dark, forbidding scowl that warns of a bad mood or open displeasure without a word being said.

  • Wah mek yuh a screw suh? Smile likkle.

    Why are you scowling so? Smile a little.

  • Him screw up him face wen him hear di price.

    He scowled when he heard the price.

  • She a screw wid mi from mawnin.

    She's been sulking/angry with me since morning.

From the image of 'screwing up' the face — twisting it tight into a frown; source of the noun 'screwface'.

To frown/scowl/sulk; 'screw up yuh face' = grimace angrily. See [[screwface]].