The circular motion of the screw would trap water in the threads and would continue to raise the water higher as the screw turned. Many areas that were considered arid were brought under cultivation as a result of Archimedes' screw. A similar device is still used today to transport some dry materials, such as grain. Another early use for a screw was to gradually exert pressure in a press, for squeezing the juice from grapes and the oil from olives. Exerting pressure with the use of a screw is also the concept behind many types of clamps, and even some car jacks.
Meat grinders use a screw mechanism to force the meat through the grinding plate.
Your jar of peanut butter and bottle of soda both have screw-on lids. The propeller on ships and airplanes are another example of the inclined plane wrapped around a shaft. As a fastener the screw is unsurpassed in its ability to hold. Depending on the kind of thread, there is many times more surface area on a screw as there is on an equivalent nail. But the increased surface area of the screw is only the beginning of its holding ability.