Crossword clues for scuttlebutt
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
scuttlebutt \scut"tle*butt`\ (sk[u^]t"t'l*b[u^]t`), n.
See scuttle butt.
A drinking fountain on board a ship or at a naval station.
The latest gossip; rumors.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1805, "cask of drinking water kept on a ship's deck, having a hole (scuttle) cut in it for a cup or dipper," from scuttle "opening in a ship's deck" (see scuttle (v.2)) + butt (n.2) "barrel." Earlier scuttle cask (1777). Meaning "rumor, gossip" first recorded 1901, originally nautical slang, traditionally said to be from the sailors' custom of gathering around the scuttlebutt to gossip. Compare water-cooler, figurative for "workplace gossip" mid-20c.
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context nautical countable English) A butt with a scuttle, a keg of drinking water with a hole cut in it, on board ship. 2 (context informal uncountable English) gossip, rumour, idle chatter.
WordNet
Wikipedia
Scuttlebutt in slang usage means rumor or gossip, deriving from the nautical term for the cask used to serve water (or, later, a water fountain).
The term corresponds to the colloquial concept of a water cooler in an office setting, which at times becomes the focus of congregation and casual discussion. Water for immediate consumption on a sailing ship was conventionally stored in a scuttled butt: a butt (cask) which had been scuttled by making a hole in it so the water could be withdrawn. Since sailors exchanged gossip when they gathered at the scuttlebutt for a drink of water, scuttlebutt became Navy slang for gossip or rumours.
Usage examples of "scuttlebutt".
He barely listened to what else they said in the mixture of scuttlebutt and smalltalk.
The scuttlebutt was that they got shipped home, but nobody knew for sure what had happened.
So they ate in companiable silence for a minute until Picard began talking about some of the galactic scuttlebutt he heard from his fellow captains: promotions and reassignments and the like.
Lewrie knew any scuttlebutt from below decks would reach the captain through Brai!
He let Bascombe take his place and went to the scuttlebutt for a measure of fresh water, grateful for the shade of the old scrap canvas that was rigged over the quarterdeck as an awning.
Ebby had heard scuttlebutt about the close call on the roof after the aborted defection.
According to the scuttlebutt, but his chances ran somewhere between slim and none.
All sorts of delightful rumors were bouncing around the scuttlebutt circuit.
He was more worried about those who might be on the other side of the law, the various scoundrels and sharpies who would be more likely to have heard the latest scuttlebutt and be looking to profit from it.
Scuttlebutt had it that the stockpiles of antihydrogen were sufficient for only eighteen months of naval operations, a stockpile only sporadically replaced by daring raids on Mollie processing plants.
Scuttlebutt began that maybe there was something to the use of dogs after all.
Naturally, it was Marshal Fagin who, the scuttlebutt said, would be eased out of his duties on the mountain now that the Hostage Rescue Team had arrived who disagreed.
Museum scuttlebutt held that Brisbane had intended to be a gemologist, but was forced into law school by a pragmatic father.
I had gleaned from family scuttlebutt that the girl was a potential paramount, if she could only manage to overcome some serious inhibitions that still kept portions of her creativity, redactive power, and coercivity latent.
Nothing was ever done about the bridge, of course, but Roger, who gets around to the coffeeshops a lot, came up with the scuttlebutt.