shuttle

American  

[shuht-l] / ˈʃʌt l /

noun

1. a device in a loom for passing or shooting the weft thread through the shed from one side of the web to the other, usually consisting of a boat-shaped piece of wood containing a bobbin on which the weft thread is wound.

2. the sliding container that carries the lower thread in a sewing machine.

3. a public conveyance, as a train, airplane, or bus, that travels back and forth at regular intervals over a particular route, especially a short route or one connecting two transportation systems.

4. shuttlecock.

5. (often initial capital letter) space shuttle.

---

verb (used with object)

• shuttles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• shuttled,
  past participle,  past
• shuttling
  present participle

1. to cause (someone or something) to move to and fro or back and forth by or as if by a shuttle.

   They shuttled me all over the seventh floor.

verb (used without object)

• shuttles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• shuttled,
  past participle,  past
• shuttling
  present participle

1. to move to and fro.

   constantly shuttling between city and suburb.

shuttle British  

/ ˈʃʌtəl /

noun

1. a bobbin-like device used in weaving for passing the weft thread between the warp threads

2. a small bobbin-like device used to hold the thread in a sewing machine or in tatting, knitting, etc

3. 1. a bus, train, aircraft, etc, that plies between two points, esp one that offers a frequent service over a short route

   2. short for space shuttle

4. 1. the movement between various countries of a diplomat in order to negotiate with rulers who refuse to meet each other

   2. ( as modifier )

      shuttle diplomacy

5. badminton short for shuttlecock

---

verb

1. to move or cause to move by or as if by a shuttle

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• shuttlelike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• shuttling
  present
• shuttled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• shuttle
  simple
• shuttles
  simple
• have shuttled
  perfect
• has shuttled
  perfect
• am shuttling
  progressive
• are shuttling
  progressive
• is shuttling
  progressive
• have been shuttling
  perfect progressive
• has been shuttling
  perfect progressive

Past

• shuttled
  simple
• had shuttled
  perfect
• was shuttling
  progressive
• were shuttling
  progressive
• had been shuttling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will shuttle
  simple
• will have shuttled
  perfect
• will be shuttling
  progressive
• will have been shuttling
  perfect progressive

---

Etymology

Origin of shuttle

before 900; Middle English shotil (noun), Old English scytel dart, arrow; cognate with Old Norse skutill harpoon; akin to shut, shoot ¹

---

Explanation

A shuttle runs between two or more places regularly. The benefit to staying at a hotel close to the airport is that you can take a shuttle, or a regular bus that travels back and forth, to catch your plane in the morning. Airport shuttles are often buses, although they can also be trains, vans, or any other form of transportation. Some airplanes are shuttles, flying passengers on quick trips. You can also use the word shuttle as a verb, to describe what the bus itself does as it moves back and forth. The original meaning of shuttle is the part of a hand loom that moves to and fro in weaving.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shuttle shuttles shuttled shuttling

These shuttle ships use a route close to Oman's coastline.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

In 2012, the shuttle landed at LAX on top of a modified Boeing 747 and made its final voyage across Los Angeles to the California Science Center at Exposition Park.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026

Its cyan-colored vehicles will compete with Ubers, Lyfts and autonomous taxis to shuttle customers across busy streets and freeways.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

Rails: Nearly 200 electromagnets along the rails generate a magnetic field that pulls the shuttle along the track and turns them off again as it passes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

She’d thread it and throw the shuttle and start working the foot treadles.

From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney

Graham shuttles off this mortal coil with no such vindication.

From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2026

Moxi – which shuttles medical supplies around hospitals – might respond by displaying its heart-shaped LED eyes and a beep beep greeting of its own.

From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026

One of three surviving space shuttles, the Endeavour made 25 successful missions into space between 1992 and 2011.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026

At Denali, CEO Ryan Watts says that engineering receptor-mediated shuttles has been his life for 20 years.

From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026

The families of weaver ants engage in child labor, holding their larvae like shuttles to spin out the thread that sews the leaves together for their fungus gardens.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

It might feel bad seeing other kids being shuttled from hobby to hobby, but that doesn’t mean you’re doing a bad job as a parent because yours must pick one at a time.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

Witkoff later confirmed on X that the talks had been held "through the mediators, who shuttled between the two sides throughout the day".

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

Guests were shuttled to the Storm King Art Center, where we were greeted with Blank Street Coffee and lavender vanilla scoops from Laz’s Ice Cream.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

Instead of leaving on either that jet or “former” Air Force One, the president secretly hopped into an airport catering truck and shuttled to an Air Force C-32A, a smaller military plane.

From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026

It was 4:30 p.m. when FBI agents apprehended him and shuttled him off in a car to FBI headquarters.

From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple

Tau operates a fleet of eight robots, shuttling them around the city two at a time in a blue Honda minivan.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

The 41-year-old crown prince is shuttling between heavily guarded palaces equipped with bunkers and is guarded by a handpicked security team, officials familiar with his movements said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

To keep exports flowing from Gulf Arab states, the US military has been providing protection for tankers shuttling oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

Elon Musk’s Tesla robotaxis and Amazon-owned Zoox are shuttling customers autonomously, but are nowhere near the scale at which Waymo operates.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

She has been shuttling back and forth between patients and families all afternoon.

From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• airplane
• plane
• shuttle bus
• spacecraft
• train

---