Login

Green’s Dictionary of Slang

cluster-screw n.

[SE cluster + screw n.¹ (1); a semi-bowdlerized fig. version of clusterfuck n.]

(US)

a chaotic situation.

1976		(con. 1969) C.R. Anderson Grunts 48: The big man is still seeing a cluster-screw. [Ibid.] 65: You saw what a cluster-screw that outfit was.
2002		Warpig.com 🌐 The second the field they have their first game on gets a little out of whack, bam, you now have the same problem on the next field they’re on, which then very quickly becomes a scheduling problem [...] and you’re very quickly in a clusterscrew.
2006		(con. 1964) H.D. Guthre To Whom It May Concern 340: Watching this whole cluster screw from the air, Scanlon and the rest of the crew realized this would be one hell of a mess trying to get those damned helicopter slicks into the LZ.