The expression âcoffee breakâ was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.
SCUTTLE
hatchway, opening, scuttle
(noun) an entrance equipped with a hatch; especially a passageway between decks of a ship
scuttle, coal scuttle
(noun) container for coal; shaped to permit pouring the coal onto the fire
scurry, scamper, skitter, scuttle
(verb) to move about or proceed hurriedly; âso terrified by the extraordinary ebbing of the sea that they scurried to higher groundâ
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology 1
Noun
scuttle (plural scuttles)
A container like an open bucket (usually to hold and carry coal).
A broad, shallow basket.
(obsolete, Northern England and Scotland) A dish, platter or a trencher.
Usage notes
The sense of "dish, platter" survives in compounds like scuttle-dish (a large dish).
Etymology 2
Noun
scuttle (plural scuttles)
A small hatch or opening in a boat. Also, small opening in a boat or ship for draining water from open deck.
(construction) A hatch that provides access to the roof from the interior of a building.
Synonyms
• (hatch that provides access to the roof): roof hatch
Verb
scuttle (third-person singular simple present scuttles, present participle scuttling, simple past and past participle scuttled)
(transitive, nautical) To cut a hole or holes through the bottom, deck, or sides of (as of a ship), for any purpose.
(transitive) To deliberately sink one's ship or boat by any means, usually by order of the vessel's commander or owner.
(transitive, by extension, in figurative use) Undermine or thwart oneself (sometimes intentionally), or denigrate or destroy one's position or property; compare scupper.
Etymology 3
Verb
scuttle (third-person singular simple present scuttles, present participle scuttling, simple past and past participle scuttled)
(intransitive) To move hastily, to scurry.
Usage notes
The word "scuttle" carries a crab-like connotation, and is mainly used to describe panic-like movements of the legs, akin to crabs' leg movements.
Noun
scuttle (plural scuttles)
A quick pace; a short run.
Anagrams
• cutlets, cuttles
Source: Wiktionary
Scut"tle, n. Etym: [AS. scutel a dish, platter; cf. Icel. skutill; both fr. L. scutella, dim. of scutra, scuta, a dish or platter; cf. scutum a shield. Cf. Skillet.]
1. A broad, shallow basket.
2. A wide-mouthed vessel for holding coal: a coal hod.
Scut"tle, v. i. Etym: [For scuddle, fr. scud.]
Definition: To run with affected precipitation; to hurry; to bustle; to scuddle. With the first dawn of day, old Janet was scuttling about the house to wake the baron. Sir W. Scott.
Scut"tle, n.
Definition: A quick pace; a short run. Spectator.
Scut"tle, n. Etym: [OF. escoutille, F. Ă©scoutille, cf. Sp. escotilla; probably akin to Sp. escoter to cut a thing so as to make it fit, to hollow a garment about the neck, perhaps originally, to cut a bosom- shaped piece out, and of Teutonic origin; cf. D. schoot lap, bosom, G. schoss, Goth. skauts the hem of a garnment. Cf. Sheet an expanse.]
1. A small opening in an outside wall or covering, furnished with a lid. Specifically: (a) (Naut.) A small opening or hatchway in the deck of a ship, large enough to admit a man, and with a lid for covering it, also, a like hole in the side or bottom of a ship. (b) An opening in the roof of a house, with a lid.
2. The lid or door which covers or closes an opening in a roof, wall, or the like. Scuttle butt, or Scuttle cask (Naut.), a butt or cask with a large hole in it, used to contain the fresh water for daily use in a ship. Totten.
Scut"tle, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Scuttled; p. pr. & vb. n. Scuttling.]
1. To cut a hole or holes through the bottom, deck, or sides of (as of a ship), for any purpose.
2. To sink by making holes through the bottom of; as, to scuttle a ship.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
7 January 2025
UNINFORMATIVELY
(adverb) in an uninformative manner; ââI canât tell you when the manager will arrive,â he said rather uninformativelyâ
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