scupper

noun scup·per \ ˈskə-pər \

|Updated on: 28 Jul 2018

Examples: scupper in a Sentence

Editor's Note: scupper Has Military Origins

Definition of scupper

1 : an opening cut through the bulwarks of a ship so that water falling on deck may flow overboard

2 : an opening in the wall of a building through which water can drain from a floor or flat roof

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Recent Examples of scupper from the Web

The delay threatens to scupper what would be Liverpool's second lucrative signing of the summer as France boss Didier Deschamps wants all transfer business settled by the end of the week.

— SI.com, "Liverpool's £53m Deal for Lyon's Nabil Fekir Cast Into Doubt After Lingering Injury Concerns," 9 June 2018
To best avoid ice dams, IBHS has created safety guidelines to follow: Keep drains, scuppers, gutters, and downspouts clear of debris.

— madison alcedo, Country Living, "Why You Should Always Clear Snow Off Your Roof," 19 Jan. 2018
And knitting needles can roll on deck and out the scuppers.

— andrea sachs, Philly.com, "On a Windjammer cruise in Maine, passengers knit a seaworthy yarn," 26 Oct. 2017
The towering Dupont Circle fountain is tilting, its huge top basin inching off-kilter and slowly spoiling the flow from its three scuppers.

— steve hendrix, Washington Post, "Where’s the water? In the nation’s capital, dry fountains mar the landscape.," 9 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'scupper.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of scupper

Middle English skopper- (in compounds), perhaps from Anglo-French *escopoir, from escopir to spit out

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

scupper

verb

Definition of scupper

scuppered; scuppering; scuppers

transitive verb

British

: to defeat or put an end to : do in 1a

See scupper defined for English-language learners

Examples of scupper in a Sentence

The latest information could scupper the peace talks.

Recent Examples of scupper from the Web

If that is the case for officials in Bavaria, that would likely scupper Chelsea's chances of landing Higuaín this summer.

— SI.com, "Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski Reveals He 'Doesn't Know' Future Plans Amid Juventus Links," 25 June 2018
Kenji Fujimori, a congressman from the opposition Popular Force party, abstained along with nine others, which scuppered the impeachment.

— The Economist, "The short unhappy presidency of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski," 22 Mar. 2018
City were scuppered in their efforts to sign Mahrez during the last January transfer window but have finally now landed their man on a five-year contract.

— SI.com, "Man City Complete Club Record Signing of Leicester Winger Riyad Mahrez on 5-Year Deal," 10 July 2018
Also in 2007, Bain Capital, the U.S. networking company 3com, and Huawei proposed a multibillion-dollar deal, only to be scuppered by U.S. officials over security concerns.

— alexis c. madrigal, The Atlantic, "How Bad Is Facebook’s New China Problem?," 6 June 2018
However, this latest injury is expected to rule Antonio out for the remained of the season and will scupper his outside chance of booking his spot on the plane to Russia.

— SI.com, "West Ham Star Ruled Out for the Rest of the Season After Suffering Injury in Saints Win," 2 Apr. 2018
But any chance that it would be well received by the Palestinians was scuppered when Mr Kushner’s wife, Ivanka Trump, opened the Jerusalem embassy.

— The Economist, "Donald Trump is undermining the rules-based international order," 7 June 2018
In 2007, a multibillion dollar deal between Bain Capital Management, U.S. networking company 3com, and Huawei got scuppered by U.S. officials over security concerns.

— alexis c. madrigal, The Atlantic, "How Bad Is Facebook’s New China Problem?," 6 June 2018
Alderweireld's season was scuppered by a serious hamstring injury in November which sidelined the centre back for much of the season, managing just three Premier League starts in 2018.

— SI.com, "Report Claims Man Utd Yet to Enter Talks for Tottenham Defender Despite Recent Transfer Speculation," 4 June 2018

scupper Has Military Origins

All efforts to figure out where this verb came from have been defeated, including attempts to connect it to the noun scupper, a 500-year-old word for a drain opening in the side of a ship. (One conjecture, that the blood of shipboard battle was "scuppered" when it was washed down the scuppers, unfortunately lacks backing in the form of any actual evidence of the verb used this way.) All we know for sure is that scupper meant "to ambush and massacre" in 19th-century military slang. Then, just before the century turned, it found its place in a magazine story in the sense of simply "doing (someone) in." The more common modern application to things rather than people being done in or defeated didn't appear until a couple of decades into the 20th century.