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scuttlebutt

 - 4 dictionary results

scut⋅tle⋅butt

  [skuht-l-buht]
Use scuttlebutt in a Sentence
–noun
1. Nautical.
a. an open cask of drinking water.
b. a drinking fountain for use by the crew of a vessel.
2. Informal. rumor or gossip.
Origin:
1795–1805; 1900–05 for def. 2; scuttle 3 + butt 4
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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scut·tle·butt   (skŭt'l-bŭt')   
n.  

  1. Slang Gossip; rumor.

  2. Nautical

    1. A drinking fountain on a ship.

    2. A cask on a ship used to hold the day's supply of drinking water.


[scuttle1 + butt5.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
scuttlebutt

  1. n.
    news; information; gossip. (The legend of origin is that the scuttlebutt was a butt [= cask, keg] of drinking water located near a scuttle [= hatch]. Sailors gathered there to exchange gossip.) : What's the scuttlebutt on the steeple clock? Why did it stop?
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

scuttlebutt 
1805, "water cask kept on a ship's deck," from scuttle "opening in a ship's deck" (see scuttle (v.2)) + butt "barrel." Earlier scuttle cask (1777). Meaning "rumor, gossip" first recorded 1901, originally nautical slang, traditionally said to be from sailors' custom of gathering around the scuttlebutt to gossip.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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