Library / English Dictionary

SCUPPER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Drain that allows water on the deck of a vessel to flow overboard

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("scupper" is a kind of...):

drain; drainpipe; waste pipe (a pipe through which liquid is carried away)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Put in a dangerous, disadvantageous, or difficult position

Synonyms:

endanger; expose; peril; queer; scupper

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "scupper" is one way to...):

affect; bear on; bear upon; impact; touch; touch on (have an effect upon)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "scupper"):

compromise (expose or make liable to danger, suspicion, or disrepute)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Wait in hiding to attack

Synonyms:

ambuscade; ambush; bushwhack; lie in wait; lurk; scupper; waylay

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "scupper" is one way to...):

wait (stay in one place and anticipate or expect something)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Credits

 Context examples: 

Well, while things stood thus, suddenly the HISPANIOLA struck, staggered, ground for an instant in the sand, and then, swift as a blow, canted over to the port side till the deck stood at an angle of forty-five degrees and about a puncheon of water splashed into the scupper holes and lay, in a pool, between the deck and bulwark.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)