scuttle Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun container for coal; shaped to permit pouring the coal onto the fire
    coal scuttle.
  2. noun an entrance equipped with a hatch; especially a passageway between decks of a ship
    opening; hatchway.
  3. verb to move about or proceed hurriedly
    scamper; skitter; scurry.
    • so terrified by the extraordinary ebbing of the sea that they scurried to higher ground

WordNet

Scut"tle noun
Etymology
AS. scutel a dish, platter; cf. Icel. skutill; both fr. L. scutella, dim. of scutra, scuta, a dish or platter; cf. scutum a shield. Cf. Skillet.
Definitions
  1. A broad, shallow basket.
  2. A wide-mouthed vessel for holding coal: a coal hod.
Scut"tle intransitive verb
Etymology
For scuddle, fr. scud.
Definitions
  1. To run with affected precipitation; to hurry; to bustle; to scuddle.
    With the first dawn of day, old Janet was scuttling about the house to wake the baron. Sir W. Scott.
Scut"tle noun
Definitions
  1. A quick pace; a short run. Spectator.
Scut"tle noun
Etymology
OF. escoutille, F. éscoutille, cf. Sp. escotilla; probably akin to Sp. escoter to cut a thing so as to make it fit, to hollow a garment about the neck, perhaps originally, to cut a bosom-shaped piece out, and of Teutonic origin; cf. D. schoot lap, bosom, G. schoss, Goth. skauts the hem of a garnment. Cf. Sheet an expanse.
Definitions
  1. A small opening in an outside wall or covering, furnished with a lid. Specifically: (a) (Naut.) A small opening or hatchway in the deck of a ship, large enough to admit a man, and with a lid for covering it, also, a like hole in the side or bottom of a ship. (b) An opening in the roof of a house, with a lid.
  2. The lid or door which covers or closes an opening in a roof, wall, or the like. se scuttlebutt Totten.
Scut"tle transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Scuttled ; present participle & verbal noun Scuttling
Definitions
  1. To cut a hole or holes through the bottom, deck, or sides of (as of a ship), for any purpose.
  2. To sink by making holes through the bottom of; as, to scuttle a ship. Scuttlebutt. 1. scuttle butt. 2. A drinking fountain on boards a ship or at a naval station. 3. The latest gossip; rumors.

Webster 1913