Definition of "scuttle" in English

noun

1. A container like an open bucket (usually to hold and carry coal).

2. A broad, shallow basket.

3. (obsolete, Northern England and Scotland) A dish, platter or a trencher.

noun

1. A small hatch or opening in a boat, sometimes one used for draining water from open deck.

2. (automotive) A drained trough between the windscreen and bonnet of a motor vehicle, forming the intake to the heating/air-conditioning system, often also containing the windscreen wiper motor.

3. (construction) A hatch that provides access to the roof from the interior of a building.

verb

1. (transitive, nautical) To cut a hole or holes through the bottom, deck, or sides of (as of a ship), for any purpose.

2. (transitive) To deliberately sink one's ship or boat by any means, usually by order of the vessel's commander or owner.

   • The Vichy French fleet in Toulon in 1942 scuttled itself as a final "fuck you" to the invading Germans.

3. (transitive, by extension) To deliberately wreck one's vehicle (of any sort).

4. (transitive, by extension) To undermine or thwart oneself or one's position or property, especially deliberately.

   • The candidate had scuttled his chances with his unhinged outburst.

verb

1. (intransitive) To move hastily, to scurry.

noun

1. A quick pace; a short run.