shuttle

[ shuht-l ]

/ ˈʃʌt l /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR shuttle ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

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

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.

shuttlecock(def 1).

(often initial capital letter) space shuttle.

verb (used with object), shut·tled, shut·tling.

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), shut·tled, shut·tling.

to move to and fro: constantly shuttling between city and suburb.

Nearby words

Origin of shuttle

before 900; Middle English shotil (noun), Old English scytel dart, arrow; cognate with Old Norse skutill harpoon; akin to shut, shoot¹

Related formsshut·tle·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for shuttle

The first shuttle flights with two crew members used ejection seats and full pressure suits.
Can Anyone Make Space Safe for Civilians?|Clive Irving|November 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Once a day, she says, a shuttle bus took them into town, dropping them not so subtly near the train station.
Italy's Latest Export Is Refugees, and the Rest of Europe Is Not Happy|Barbie Latza Nadeau|August 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He used the Lear—which seated only six and had no bar—mostly to shuttle his pals between Los Angeles, Palm Springs, and Las Vegas.
Frank Sinatra and the Birth of the Jet Set|William Stadiem|August 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Back and forth between Washington and New York on that shuttle all the time.
Liz Cheney's Agenda; Ted Cruz's Prospects|Michael Tomasky|July 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST

And they are not alone in their indifference to this latest round of shuttle diplomacy.
Kerry's Talks Are Really Just Maintaining the Status Quo|Lisa Goldman|July 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Then he sends his shuttle, containing a bobbin full of thread, sliding across over the odd threads and under the even.
Makers of Many Things|Eva March Tappan
To seem and not to be, is throwing the shuttle 35 without weaving.
Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources|James Wood
I got the loan o' a loom, and in order to support my wife and family, I had to sit down to drive the shuttle again.
Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 17|Alexander Leighton
Mere sensual love runs like this, from desire to hate and back again, to and fro, "swifter than a weaver's shuttle."
Shadows of Flames|Amelie Rives
The shuttle is an oblong piece of wood, on which the cross-thread is wound.
The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 1|Hubert Howe Bancroft

British Dictionary definitions for shuttle

shuttle

/ (ˈʃʌtəl) /

noun

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

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

a bus, train, aircraft, etc, that plies between two points, esp one that offers a frequent service over a short route
short for space shuttle

the movement between various countries of a diplomat in order to negotiate with rulers who refuse to meet each other
(as modifier)shuttle diplomacy

badminton short for shuttlecock

verb

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

Word Origin for shuttle

Old English scytel bolt; related to Middle High German schüzzel, Swedish skyttel. See shoot, shot

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for shuttle (1 of 2)

shuttle

Old English scytel "a dart, arrow," from West Germanic *skutilaz (cf. Old Norse skutill "harpoon"), from PIE *skeud- "to shoot, to chase, to throw, to project" (see shoot (v.)). The original sense in English is obsolete; the weaving instrument so called (mid-14c.) from being "shot" across the threads. Sense of "train that runs back and forth" is first recorded 1895, from image of the weaver's instrument's back-and-forth movement over the warp; extended to aircraft 1942, to spacecraft 1969. In some other languages, the weaving instrument takes its name from its resemblance to a boat (cf. Latin navicula, French navette, German weberschiff).

Word Origin and History for shuttle (1 of 2)

shuttle

1550s, "move rapidly to and fro," from shuttle (n.); sense of "transport via a shuttle service" is recorded from 1930. Related: Shuttled; shuttling.

shuttle

noun

verb (used with object), shut·tled, shut·tling.

verb (used without object), shut·tled, shut·tling.

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Origin of shuttle

Examples from the Web for shuttle

British Dictionary definitions for shuttle

shuttle

noun

verb

Word Origin for shuttle

Word Origin and History for shuttle (1 of 2)

shuttle

Word Origin and History for shuttle (1 of 2)

shuttle