How to use scuttle in a sentence

29 example sentences · noun, verb

Scuttle means a container like an open bucket (usually to hold and carry coal). Example: “The Vichy French fleet in Toulon in 1942 scuttled itself as a final "fuck you" to the invading Germans.”

Examples of scuttle by meaning

nounA small hatch or opening in a boat, sometimes one used for draining water from open deck.

The forecastle scuttle was open.1904, Jack London, chapter 32, in The Sea-Wolf (Macmillan’s Standard Library), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC
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.1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 7, in Well Tackled!

verbTo 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.
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.2002, Richard Côté, Theodosia Burr Alston: Portrait of a Prodigy, Corinthian Books, published 2002, →ISBN, page 325
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.2003, Richard Norton Smith, The Colonel: The Life and Legend of Robert R. McCormick, 1880-1955, Northwestern University Press, published...

verbTo undermine or thwart oneself or one's position or property, especially deliberately.

The candidate had scuttled his chances with his unhinged outburst.
Warburg Group collapsed today, scuttling plans by the companies to create one of the world's most powerful investment banks.1994 December 16, Richard W. Stevenson, “Financial Merger Is Scuttled”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
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.2011 June 24, John Upton, “Fusion Experiment Faces New Hurdles”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

verbTo move hastily, to scurry.

Morel scuttled out of the house before his wife came down.1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 8, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC
Frank was crouched in the hallway, but scuttled back to his bedroom just in time.2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN

More sentences with scuttle

Demon attendants scuttled about, carrying trays filled with delectable treats and lots and lots of alcohol.2015 March 20, Mimi Sebastian, The Necromancer's Redemption, ImaJinn Books, →ISBN. From the entry Death in the Afternoon
These verbal blunders give ammunition to her political opponents and may help scuttle her as-yet-to-be-determined presidential bid.2011 March 30, TJ Mayotte, “Dictionary Battles: The Fight to Find Meaning in Doublespeak”, in Patch, Elkridge, MD, archived from the…. From the entry squirmish
Louis Cardinals, so the Spiders’ best players—including Young, Burkett, and Bobby Wallace—were scuttled to St.2011, David H. Martinez, “Teams, Leagues, and Other Groups”, in The Book of Baseball Literacy: Nearly 700 People, Places, Events, Teams…. From the entry crappitude
A woman scuttled towards MacDonald, raising a knife in a hand where fragments of deerflesh clung.2005, S. M. Stirling, The protector's war. From the entry deerflesh
I thought Keith sued to have all of the Tuff City releases scuttled though.2001 June 21, Steve 'Flash' Juon, “JUST FOR FLASH - Ultramagnetic All-Star Rap MP3”, in rec.music.hip-hop (Usenet), retrieved 09 May 2022. From the entry rmhher
Out there in the winter streets a few ashen anthroparians scuttling yet through the falling soot.1979, Cormac McCarthy, Suttree, Random House, page 188. From the entry anthroparian
In a world of unscrupulous sterility, skerricks of life down there were scuttling around vigorously.1969, Clive Barry, Fly Jamskoni, London: Faber and Faber […], →ISBN, page 54. From the entry skerrick
Van chased a sweetlip, and it scuttled safely under a coral ledge.1969, Ben Cropp, Whale of a Shark, page 67. From the entry sweetlip
Once some bandy-legged, lurching creature, an ant-eater or a bear, scuttled clumsily amid the shadows.1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC. From the entry bandy-legged
Goodchild scuttling delightedly: nephophobia, a terror of clouds.2004, Peter Rushforth, Pinkerton's Sister, →ISBN, page 410. From the entry nephophobia
Just then Newo noticed something scuttle across Labertha’s stomach.2003, Charlie Hamilton James, The Matewix, London: HarperCollinsEntertainment, page 182. From the entry Gollumesque
Whoopla laughter scuttling after him and a gold tooth winksome, bawdy dogstar in the ordurous jaws of fellatio major.1979, Cormac McCarthy, Suttree, Random House, page 100. From the entry ordurous
“Come in here before you let those nimshis scuttle you.”1910, Alice Brown, John Winterbourne's Family, page 64. From the entry nimshi
Early the next morning, GRENADIER was abandoned and scuttled by her own crew to prevent imminent capture by an approaching Japanese merchant ship.1949 January 1, Bureau of Ships, “U.S.S. GRENADIER (SS210), Loss in Action, Off Malaya, 22 April 1943”, in Submarine Report: Depth Charge…. From the entry derangement
As fishwomen swam past and mutantlike children scuttled across the ceiling, there was no gentle narrator to chime in with the equivalent of “What is a hobbit?2022 February 14, Eowyn Ivey, “Marlon James’s Moon Witch Tells Her Side of a Haunting Story”, in The New York Times. From the entry mutantlike
New Hampshire’s governor, John Lynch, scuttled the measure, saying, “I know it’s true, but it makes my buttocks clench uncomfortably.” Wussy Democrats like that give this state its waffliness.2011, Roland Boyle [pseudonym; James Howard], “Swingin’ to the Right: A State-by-State Guide (Part 3)”, in The Tea Party Guide to Being a…. From the entry waffliness
He was waiting for a girl a little more adventurous than those content simply to sip their icecream sodas and then scuttle back to the sisters.2010, Stephen King, “1922”, in Full Dark, No Stars, Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN, pages 96–97. From the entry icecream soda
And he quickly changed the subject as the first of the afternoon clouds cottoned the sky and laid shadows across Marlin Hardwick's rustling, winding, scuttling and bird-calling yard.2000, Elizabeth Stead, The Fishcastle, page 124. From the entry cotton
Anyhow, one of them fell, another one pecked badly, and Jerry disengaged himself from the group to scuttle up the short strip of meadow to win by a length.1928, Siegfried Sassoon, Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man, Penguin, published 2013, page 97. From the entry peck

Meaning of scuttle

noun A container like an open bucket (usually to hold and carry coal).
noun A broad, shallow basket.
noun A dish, platter or a trencher.

Full definition of scuttle

Questions about scuttle in a sentence

How do you use scuttle in a sentence?: Scuttle is used as a noun and verb. For example: “The Vichy French fleet in Toulon in 1942 scuttled itself as a final "fuck you" to the invading Germans.”
What is a short sentence with scuttle?: “The forecastle scuttle was open.”
What does scuttle mean?: Scuttle means a container like an open bucket (usually to hold and carry coal).

Adapted from Wiktionary: scuttle (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use scuttle in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/scuttle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.