☼ Concept Map

''scupper'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260920205749-00-⌔

scupper - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Noun

scupper (plural scuppers)

  • (nautical) A drainage hole on the deck of a ship.
  • (architecture) A similar opening in a wall or parapet that allows water to drain from a roof.
    • ✤ I have said that our roof was decidedly Biblical in style; but to make it a dry one, something of a nautical character was added to its architecture, for on either side were scuppers, and it was slightly arched in the centre[.]1

Verb

scupper (third-person singular simple present scuppers, present participle scuppering, simple past and past participle scuppered)

  • (transitive, UK) To thwart or destroy, especially something belonging or pertaining to another.
    • ✤ Coordinate term: scuttle
    • ✤ The bad media coverage scuppered his chances of being elected.
    • ✤ [“]The only chance was to get the guns and try a rescue. Of course they may scupper them at once in revenge.[”]2
    • ✤ This is the face of American exceptionalism […] threatening to scupper both the court and, failing that, UN peace-keeping operations in Bosnia and anywhere else the US might have forces deployed on such work.3
    • ✤ Anthony Watson’s late interception and Owen Farrell’s 100% kicking contribution also helped scupper the Wallabies, despite the promise of their exciting new centre Jordan Petaia and the roadrunner pace of winger Marika Koroibete.4
    • ✤ Pacers should have all been withdrawn by now, but that has been scuppered by a failure to deliver new trains on time and delays to infrastructure projects. The most high-profile withdrawals were to be Northern’s Class 142s and ‘144s’ (the latter by the end of 2018, and the ‘142s’ by the end of last year).5

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈskʌpə/
  • (US) IPA: /ˈskʌpɚ/
  • (Northern England) IPA: /ˈskʊpə/
  • Audio (Australia): 🔊
  • Rhymes: -ʌpə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

Uncertain. Perhaps from Middle English scope (“scoop”) or Dutch schop (“shovel”) +‎ -er; or from Dutch scheppen (“to draw off”).

Etymology 2

Of unknown origin; possibly verbized form of Etymology 1, but this is unlikely.

Printed 2026-09-20.

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Footnotes

  1. 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 111: ↩

  2. 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC: ↩

  3. 2002 July 2, Hugo Young, “We can’t allow US tantrums to scupper global justice”, in The Guardian ‎: ↩

  4. 2019 October 19, Robert Kitson, “England into World Cup semi-finals after bruising victory over Australia”, in The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media: ↩

  5. 2020 May 20, John Crosse, “Soon to be gone… but never forgotten”, in RAIL, page 62: ↩