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.

---

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

With a sneeze of surprise, Fred scuttled away—from rock to rock, tidal pool to sea—until the beach was covered by spiny iguanas munching free seaweed.

From Literature

U.S. skier Jackie Miles was preparing for the 2018 Olympics in South Korea when she crashed in Garmisch, Germany, and suffered a devastating knee injury that scuttled her trip to the Games.

From Los Angeles Times

Rowan had crept away and scuttled upstairs to the room he now shared with Annad.

From Literature

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

Daniel scuttled off in a blur, so fast even Zeke couldn’t see him move between the split-second little stops he did across the sand.

From Literature

Related Words

• scamper
• scurry