Brewer's: Scuttle

To scuttle a ship is to bore a hole in it in order to make it sink. Rather strangely, this word is from the same root as our word shut or bolt (Saxon scyttel, a lock, bolt, or bar). It was first applied to a hole in a roof with a door or lid, then to a hatchway in the deck of a ship with a lid, then to a hole in the bottom of a ship plugged up; then comes the verb to pull out the plug, and leave the hole for the admission of water.

“The Bergen [Norway] fishwomen ... in every direction are coming ... with their scuttles swinging on their arms. In Bergen fish is never carried in any other way.” —H. H. Jackson: Glimpses of Three Coasts, pt. iii. p. 235.

Related Content Allusions Foreign Words and Phrases Latin and Greek Word Elements Names: Their Origins and Meanings Old Testament Names Mythology Ancient Greek Literature & Mythology The Bible (King James version) The Koran (translation by J. M. Rodwell) Shakespeare's Plays Tales from Shakespeare (Charles and Mary Lamb) Frequently Misspelled Words Frequently Mispronounced Words Easily Confused Words Writing & Language