(countable, nautical) Originally (now, chiefly, historical), a cask with a hole cut into its top, used to provide drinking water on board a ship; now (by extension, informal), a drinking fountain on a modern ship.
[T]he scuttle-butts are on the starboard side of the galley. You will find a bottle on one of them that will serve as a dipper. Drink moderately, for your life's sake, and get a pannikin from the galley and bring it aft, filled.
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(uncountable, originally, US, nautical, _, slang) Gossip, idle chatter; also, rumour.
When the eight new tankers of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey start on their coastwise service, their crews will be assured of the proper preservation of their perishable foods. Carrier refrigerating systems will provide for the 1…
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(transitive, rare) To spread (information) by way of gossip or rumour.
The Pentagon rumor factory hasn't been very busy lately, but some reports are being scuttlebutted about that the U.S. military chiefs are being downgraded in the pecking order and that their military advice has been bypassed or ignored b…
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