scuttled

American  

[skuht-ld] / ˈskʌt 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.

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verb

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

Etymology

Origin of scuttled

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

See Examples For:

scuttled

But a merger with Ares Acquisition, a blank check company backed by the Los Angeles firm, was scuttled in October 2023 as investors cooled on special-purpose acquisition companies and became cautious on new issues.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

The Federal Trade Commission scuttled a Blockbuster acquisition External link of Hollywood Video in 2005 as a merger to monopoly; Blockbuster, the supposed rental behemoth, declared bankruptcy a few years later.

From Barron's ● Feb. 4, 2026

In a potential sign of Netflix’s confidence, it agreed to pay Warner a so-called breakup fee of $5.8 billion if the deal was scuttled because the companies couldn’t obtain necessary approvals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025

Similar concerns scuttled the United Arab Emirates’ attempts to acquire the jet, he added.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2025

Her other mother’s hand scuttled off Coraline’s shoulder like a frightened spider.

From "Coraline" by Neil Gaiman

Related Words

• scamper
• scurry