mindscrew

English

Etymology

mind + screw (to play with; to meddle)

Pronunciation

  • (file)

Noun

mindscrew (plural mindscrews)

  1. (slang) Something that destabilizes, confuses, or manipulates a person's mind.

Synonyms

Verb

mindscrew (third-person singular simple present mindscrews, present participle mindscrewing, simple past and past participle mindscrewed)

  1. To destabilize, confuse, or manipulate a person's mind.
    • 1997, Howard Swindle, Trespasses: Portraits of a Serial Rapist, Penguin, published 1997, →ISBN:
      About half the detectives thought his return to the old neighborhood was proof positive that he was out of control; still others believed he had ice water running through his veins, maybe even mindscrewing the cops by rubbing their noses in the fact they couldn't stop him even though they suspected who he was
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:mindscrew.
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