scuttled

[ skuht-ld ]

adjective

1. (of a vessel) deliberately sunk, often by opening seacocks or making openings in the hull:

   It is important to ensure that the scuttled vessel is suitably weighted and negatively buoyant so it will sink rapidly and remain stable on the bottom.

2. abandoned, dropped, cut, or thwarted, as a hope, plan, program, etc.:

   In the fallout over the scuttled deal, two executives were fired for ethical violations related to the negotiations.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of scuttle ¹.

Word History and Origins

Origin of scuttled¹

First recorded in 1740–50; scuttle ¹( def ) + -ed ²( def ) for the adjective senses; scuttle ¹( def ) + -ed ¹( def ) for the verb sense

Example Sentences

But his incipient campaign was scuttled, and he soon separated from his fourth wife.

From The Daily Beast

“This strategy seemed do-able and brilliant,” Salem nonetheless wrote of the scuttled scheme in his self-review.

From The Daily Beast

The dispute was settled with so many bombs and bullets that both plans were scuttled.

From The Daily Beast

The plan was scuttled two years ago, according to published reports.

From The Daily Beast

I hoped my translator, who had scuttled off, would raise the alarm.

From The Daily Beast

My spurs fairly lifted the dun horse, and we scuttled in the opposite direction like a scared antelope.

From Project Gutenberg

In her nostrils was the autumn perfume of the woods, and as they strode forward in silence a rabbit scuttled from their path.

From Project Gutenberg

I covered the entire floor, shaking a bit in nervousness as a rat scuttled to safety.

From Project Gutenberg

The smugglers scuttled the ship and endeavoured to escape, but were captured, and are thought to have been all hanged.

From Project Gutenberg

From the grass nine Indians arose, stooped, and scuttled off like a covey of running quail.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• scamper
• scurry