Meaning of the first turn of the screw pays all debts | Babel Free
/θə‿fɚɹst‿tɚn‿ʌv‿θə‿skɹu‿peɪ̯z‿ɑl‿dɛts/Definitions
One's problems on shore may be forgotten at the first turn of one's ship's propeller.
Examples
“On the one hand was Martyn's dictum that the 'first turn of the screw pays all debts';”
“—The first turn of the screw pays all debts, he had muttered (crossing himself) in the stern of the Purdue Victory, where the deck shuddered underfoot as the blades of the single screw churned Boston's water beneath him;”
“The first turn of the screw pays all debts, they say, except when there is a warship about.”
CEFR level
C2
Mastery
This word is part of the CEFR C2 vocabulary — mastery level.
This word is part of the CEFR C2 vocabulary — mastery level.