scuttle
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To deliberately sink one's ship or boat by any means, usually by order of the vessel's commander or owner.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
skuhtuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈskʌtəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
To deliberately sink one's ship or boat by any means, usually by order of the vessel's commander or owner.
intransitive
To move hastily, to scurry.
transitiveby extension
To undermine or thwart oneself or one's position or property, especially deliberately.
transitiveby extension
To deliberately wreck one's vehicle (of any sort).
noun
Container for coal; shaped to permit pouring the coal onto the fire
A container like an open bucket (usually to hold and carry coal).
A small hatch or opening in a boat, sometimes one used for draining water from open deck.
A broad, shallow basket.
A quick pace; a short run.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To move hastily, to scurry.
Used this way, scuttle is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- skitter , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.