Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - scuttle

 I. noun  Etymology: Middle English scutel, from Latin scutella drinking bowl, tray, diminutive of scutra platter  Date: 15th century  1. a shallow open basket for carrying something (as grain or garden produce)  2. a metal pail that usually has a bail and a sloped lip and is used especially for carrying coal  II. noun  Etymology: Middle English skottell lid of a ~  Date: 15th century  1. a small opening in a wall or roof furnished with a lid: as  a. a small opening or hatchway in the deck of a ship large enough to admit a person and with a lid for covering it  b. a small hole in the side or bottom of a ship fitted with a covering or glazed  2. a covering that closes a ~  III. transitive verb  (~d; scuttling)  Date: 1642  1. to cut a hole through the bottom, deck, or side of (a ship); specifically to sink or attempt to sink by making holes through the bottom  2. destroy, wreck; also scrap 2  IV. noun  Etymology: perhaps blend of scud and shuttle  Date: 1623  1. a quick shuffling pace  2. a short swift run  V. intransitive verb  (~d; scuttling)  Date: 1657 scurry