scull
Americannoun
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sculls
plural
-
an oar mounted on a fulcrum at the stern of a small boat and moved from side to side to propel the boat forward.
-
either of a pair of oars rowed by one rower.
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a boat propelled by an oar or oars.
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a light, narrow racing boat for one, two, or sometimes four rowers, each equipped with a pair of oars.
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sculls, a race involving such boats.
verb (used with object)
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sculls,
present (3rd person singular)
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sculled,
past participle, past
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sculling
present participle
verb (used without object)
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sculls,
present (3rd person singular)
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sculled,
past participle, past
-
sculling
present participle
noun
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a single oar moved from side to side over the stern of a boat to propel it
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one of a pair of short-handled oars, both of which are pulled by one oarsman, esp in a racing shell
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a racing shell propelled by an oarsman or oarsmen pulling two oars
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(plural) a race between racing shells, each propelled by one, two, or four oarsmen pulling two oars
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an act, instance, period, or distance of sculling
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
scullsimple
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scullssimple
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have sculledperfect
-
has sculledperfect
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am scullingprogressive
-
are scullingprogressive
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is scullingprogressive
-
have been scullingperfect progressive
-
has been scullingperfect progressive
Past
-
sculledsimple
-
had sculledperfect
-
was scullingprogressive
-
were scullingprogressive
-
had been scullingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of scull
1300–50; Middle English sculle < ?
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Back on land, the crew donned blazers and burned an old wooden scull in Peterhouse’s garden.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
These classes teach beginners in small groups to scull in stable, single boats, emphasizing boat skills and introducing rowers to larger boats.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 29, 2023
First, the current world champion in the women's single scull will compete in the rowing events in Tokyo, and then next March she is hoping to compete in cross-country skiing at the Beijing Winter Paralympics.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2021
In scull rowing, the athlete propels the boat by swinging two oars at the same time.
From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2021
“There was only one person in it; seemed to me he was acting rather queerly; he’d row for a while, then stand up in the stern and scull a bit, then row again.”
From A Scout of To-day by Isabel Hornibrook
The author, who lives in Culver City, is still married to the erstwhile sailor, but she now sculls at UCLA’s Marina Aquatics Center.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2025
The author, who lives in Culver City, is still married to the erstwhile sailor, but she now sculls at UCLA’s Marina Aquatic Center.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2025
In the mixed double sculls PR3, Great Britain's Annie Caddick and Sam Murray pipped Germany to claim silver.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2024
And to finish off the morning, GB’s Annabel Caddick and Samuel Murray secured silver in the PR3 mixed double sculls after holding off the threat of German duo Jan Helmich and Hermine Krumbein.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2024
They set it in the water and a moment later Bland came out, with the sculls.
From "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner
They sculled upside-down, slapped their pecs and flukes seemingly just for fun, maybe just to hear the resonant, smacking sound.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 29, 2019
"I sculled my tee shot on 17. It never got much off the ground and hit the ground only about 70 or 80 yards from the tee," Miller said.
From Golf Digest ● Jun. 25, 2019
Final flat whites were sculled at overpriced cafes and out-of-office signatures attached to emails.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 21, 2018
But on Sept. 23 the 72-year-old took to the Mississippi River near the Bass Street Landing and sculled for the first time in his life.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 17, 2014
Elizabeth sculled now in this direction, now in that, in the hope that it was merely distance that had removed the ship from sight.
From The Girl Crusoes A Story of the South Seas by Mrs. Herbert Strang
A gifted athlete, he became the first Indian to win the Macklin Sculls - a prestigious single sculling race - at the Calcutta Lake Club in 1938.
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026
The longer you stay underwater, kicking your feet, sculling your arms against all that heaviness and bright blue, the worse it gets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2022
They leaned against their kitchen counters for backbends and handstands and used resistance bands to practice sculling, the vigorous hand and forearm movements that help propel the swimmers.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 28, 2021
During covid we got our sculling license, so we’d do some sculling for maybe an hour.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 8, 2021
“You seem a little old for this,” she said, sculling out spoons of flesh from her half melon.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
