scuttle

noun

1. A container like an open bucket (usually to hold and carry coal).

   “All through dinner—which was long, in consequence of such accidents as the dish of potatoes being mislaid in the coal skuttle and the handle of the corkscrew coming off and striking the young woman in the chin—Mrs. Jellyby preserved the evenness of her disposition.”

   “On the way, with superior precaution, we got out our saucepan. The kitchen fire was red, but low; the coal-cellar was locked, and there was nothing in the scuttle but a little coal-dust and the piece of brown paper that is put in to keep the coals from tumbling out through the bottom where the hole is.”

2. A broad, shallow basket.
3. (Northern-England, Scotland, obsolete)A dish, platter or a trencher.
4. A small hatch or opening in a boat, sometimes one used for draining water from open deck.

   “My knife was at my hip. I returned to my hut for the shotgun, made sure it was loaded, and went down to the Ghost. With some difficulty, and at the expense of a wetting to the waist, I climbed aboard. The forecastle scuttle was open. I paused to listen for the breathing of the men, but there was no breathing.”

   “The detective kept them in view. He made his way casually along the inside of the shelter until he reached an open scuttle close to where the two men were standing talking. Eavesdropping was not a thing Larard would have practised from choice, but there were times when, in the public interest, he had to do it, and this was one of them.”

5. A drained trough between the windscreen and bonnet of a motor vehicle, forming the intake to the heating/air-conditioning system, often also containing the windscreen wiper motor.
6. A drained trough between the windscreen and bonnet of a motor vehicle, forming the intake to the heating/air-conditioning system, often also containing the windscreen wiper motor.
7. A hatch that provides access to the roof from the interior of a building.
8. A quick pace; a short run.

   “She scarce gave me time to return her salute, before she quitted the shop with an easy scuttle, and stepped again into her coach”

verb

1. (transitive)To cut a hole or holes through the bottom, deck, or sides of (as of a ship), for any purpose.
2. (transitive)To deliberately sink one's ship or boat by any means, usually by order of the vessel's commander or owner.

   “The Vichy French fleet in Toulon in 1942 scuttled itself as a final "fuck you" to the invading Germans.”

   “"My men, the schooner coming up on our weather quarter is a Portuguese pirate. His character is known; he scuttles all the ships he boards, dishonours the women, and murders the crew."”

   “In this version, the Patriot was boarded by pirates (or the crew and passengers were overpowered by mutineers), who murdered everyone and then looted and scuttled the ship.”

   “To lay the foundation for an all-weather dock at Shelter Bay, he filled an old barge with worn-out grindstones from the Thorold paper mill, then scuttled the vessel.”

   “He decided that before scuttling the ship to prevent her falling into enemy hands he had to get the dead and wounded ashore.”

3. (broadly, transitive)To deliberately wreck one's vehicle (of any sort).

   “The third and equally important fact is that at the time of gear retraction more than ample runway remained to brake to a successful stop and even had there been a fire in the left engine no necessity existed for scuttling the aircraft.”

4. (broadly, transitive)To undermine or thwart oneself or one's position or property, especially deliberately.

   “The candidate had scuttled his chances with his unhinged outburst.”

   “The proposed merger of the Morgan Stanley Group and the S. G. Warburg Group collapsed today, scuttling plans by the companies to create one of the world's most powerful investment banks.”

   “But the $3.5 billion ignition facility, derided by some critics as taxpayer-financed science fiction, is running into new challenges that may further delay and perhaps scuttle its goal.”

   “By pushing for such an extreme and indefensible position, the old-media moguls sparked a tremendous outcry, which caused the legislation to be redrafted and then scuttled, at least temporarily”

5. (intransitive)To move hastily, to scurry.

   “With the first dawn of day, old Janet was scuttling about the house to wake the baron.”

   “there was a wisp or two of fine seaweed that had somehow got in, and a small crab was still alive and scuttled across the corner, yet the coffins were but little disturbed.”

   “Morel scuttled out of the house before his wife came down.”

   “Frank was crouched in the hallway, but scuttled back to his bedroom just in time. With her bloomers still round her ankles Auntie Flip scampered sideways like a crab back to the living room.”