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

The agreement is probably too advantageous to be completely scuttled, but its limits can be stretched.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026

By 1992, more than $50 million had been spent in restoration and renovation, but the project was scuttled by a bankruptcy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 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

Rising electricity prices are one reason data centers are facing a growing wave of local opposition, which has delayed or scuttled tens of billions of dollars worth of projects.

From Barron's ● Nov. 21, 2025

And she was just about to get another ding when a crab scuttled out from under a piece of driftwood.

From "The Wild Robot" by Peter Brown

Related Words

• scamper
• scurry