[ˈskʌpə], (Noun)

Definitions:
- a hole in a ship's side to carry water overboard from the deck


Phrases:

Origin:
late Middle English: perhaps via Anglo-Norman French from Old French escopir ‘to spit’; compare with German Speigatt, literally ‘spit hole’

[ˈskʌpə], (Verb)

Definitions:
- sink (a ship or its crew) deliberately
(e.g: the ship was scuppered and seriously damaged)

- prevent from working or succeeding; thwart
(e.g: plans for a bypass were scuppered by a public inquiry)


Phrases:

Origin:
late 19th century (as military slang in the sense ‘kill, especially in an ambush’): of unknown origin. The sense ‘sink’ dates from the 1970s