What is "shuttle"

Shuttle \Shut"tle\, n. [Also shittle, OE. schitel, scytyl, schetyl; cf. OE. schitel a bolt of a door, AS. scyttes; all from AS. sce['o]tan to shoot; akin to Dan. skyttel, skytte, shuttle, dial. Sw. skyttel, sk["o]ttel. [root]159. See Shoot, and cf. Shittle, Skittles.]

1. An instrument used in weaving for passing or shooting the thread of the woof from one side of the cloth to the other between the threads of the warp.

   Like shuttles through the loom, so swiftly glide My feathered hours.
   --Sandys.

2. The sliding thread holder in a sewing machine, which carries the lower thread through a loop of the upper thread, to make a lock stitch.

3. A shutter, as for a channel for molten metal. [R.]

   Shuttle box (Weaving), a case at the end of a shuttle race, to receive the shuttle after it has passed the thread of the warp; also, one of a set of compartments containing shuttles with different colored threads, which are passed back and forth in a certain order, according to the pattern of the cloth woven.

   Shutten race, a sort of shelf in a loom, beneath the warp, along which the shuttle passes; a channel or guide along which the shuttle passes in a sewing machine.

   Shuttle shell (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of marine gastropods of the genus Volva, or Radius, having a smooth, spindle-shaped shell prolonged into a channel at each end.

Shuttle \Shut"tle\, v. i. To move backwards and forwards, like a shuttle.

I had to fly far and wide, shutting athwart the big Babel, wherever his calls and pauses had to be.
--Carlyle.

Old English scytel "a dart, arrow," from Proto-Germanic *skutilaz (cognates: Old Norse skutill "harpoon"), from PIE *skeud- "to shoot, to chase, to throw, to project" (see shoot (v.)). The original sense in English is obsolete; the weaving instrument so called (mid-14c.) from being "shot" across the threads. Sense of "train that runs back and forth" is first recorded 1895, from image of the weaver's instrument's back-and-forth movement over the warp; extended to aircraft 1942, to spacecraft 1969. In some other languages, the weaving instrument takes its name from its resemblance to a boat (Latin navicula, French navette, German weberschiff).

1550s, "move rapidly to and fro," from shuttle (n.); sense of "transport via a shuttle service" is recorded from 1930. Related: Shuttled; shuttling.

n. 1 (context weaving English) The part of a loom that carries the woof back and forth between the warp threads. 2 The sliding thread holder in a sewing machine, which carries the lower thread through a loop of the upper thread, to make a lock stitch. 3 A transport service (such as a bus or train) that goes back and forth between two places, sometimes more. 4 Such a transport vehicle; a shuttle bus; a space shuttle. 5 Any other item that moves repeatedly back and forth between two positions, possibly transporting something else with it between those points (such as, in chemistry, a ''molecular shuttle''). 6 A shutter, as for a channel for molten metal. vb. 1 (context intransitive English) To go back and forth between two places. 2 (context transitive English) To transport by shuttle or by means of a shuttle service.

1. n. badminton equipment consisting of a ball of cork or rubber with a crown of feathers [syn: shuttlecock, bird, birdie]

2. public transport that consists of a bus or train or airplane that plies back and forth between two points

3. bobbin that passes the weft thread between the warp threads

4. v. travel back and forth between two points

The original meaning of the word shuttle is the device used in weaving to carry the weft. By reference to the continual to-and-fro motion associated with that, the term was then applied in transportation and then in other spheres. Thus the word may now also refer to:

A shuttle is a tool designed to neatly and compactly store or a holder that carries the thread across the loom weft yarn while weaving. Shuttles are thrown or passed back and forth through the shed, between the yarn threads of the warp in order to weave in the weft.

The simplest shuttles, known as "stick shuttles", are made from a flat, narrow piece of wood with notches on the ends to hold the weft yarn. More complicated shuttles incorporate bobbins or pirns.

stick shuttle ' des Honegger-Webstuhls von 1860 - Amthaus Rüti 2011-01-21 15-20-30.JPG| Rüti (Switzerland): loom built in 1860, exposed in the former Rüti Abbey's with bobbin.JPG|Threading a bobbin shuttle

Shuttles are often made of wood from the Flowering Dogwood, because it is so hard, resists splintering, and can be polished to a very smooth finish.

Originally shuttles were passed back and forth by hand. However, John Kay invented a loom in 1733 that incorporated a flying shuttle. This shuttle could be thrown through the warp, which allowed much wider cloth to be woven much more quickly and made the development of machine looms much simpler. Though Air Jet, and Water Jet Looms are common in large operations, many companies still use flying shuttle looms. This is due in large part to their being easier to maintain than the more modern Looms. In modern flying shuttle looms, the shuttle itself is made of rounded steel, with a hook in the back which carries the filler, or "pick."

The act of ' kissing the shuttle', in which weavers used their mouths to pull thread through the eye of a shuttle when the pirn was replaced, contributed to the spread of disease.

Shuttle is a space flight simulator game developed by Vektor Grafix and published by Virgin Games. It has been praised as a reasonably accurate simulation game of piloting the NASA Space Shuttle.

Shuttle is a 2009 thriller film about a group of young travelers who are kidnapped by an airport shuttle driver with unknown motives. The film was written and directed by Edward Anderson, and stars Tony Curran, Peyton List, and Cameron Goodman.

Shuttle premiered at South-by-Southwest Music and Film Festival March 8, 2008 in Austin, Texas. The film opened theatrically in limited release in the United States on March 6, 2009.