screw up phrasal verb ( see also ↑ screw )
1 . informal to make a bad mistake or do something very stupid SYN mess up :
You’d better not screw up this time.
2 . screw something ↔ up informal to spoil something by doing something stupid SYN mess something up :
She realized that she had screwed up her life.
3 . screw up your eyes/face to move the muscles in your face in a way that makes your eyes seem narrow:
He screwed up his eyes against the bright light.
Her face was screwed up with pain.
4 . screw somebody ↔ up informal to make someone feel very unhappy, confused, or upset so that they have emotional problems for a long time SYN mess somebody up :
It really screwed her up when her mother died.
⇨ ↑ screwed up
5 . screw up the/enough courage to do something ( also screw up your courage to do something ) to be brave enough to do something you are very nervous about:
I finally screwed up enough courage to talk to her.