Advertisement - Continue reading below

Definition of "scupper" [scup•per]

  • Nautical An opening in the side of a ship at deck level to allow water to run off. (noun)
  • An opening for draining off water, as from a floor or the roof of a building. (noun)
  • Chiefly British To overwhelm or massacre. (verb-transitive)
  • To ruin or destroy: "The world oil glut combined with disastrous federal energy policies to scupper Alberta's economy” ( Christian Science Monitor). (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "scupper" in a sentence
  • "Race one between Alinghi and Damiani Italia saw Damiani win the first start and lead upwind only to have a erroneous 'over the line' call scupper the race which was re-started 20 minutes later."
  • "He told the BBC News Channel's Straight Talk that the prime minister wanted to "scupper" his party by leaving "a legacy afterwards which is difficult". ""
  • "Like Love Story there's an underlying threat of a cruel fate about to scupper the lives of this mismatched yet oddly yoked pair."