scupper
noun
[ ˈskʌpə ]
• a hole in a ship's side to carry water overboard from the deck.
Origin:
late Middle English: perhaps via Anglo-Norman French from Old French escopir ‘to spit’; compare with German Speigatt, literally ‘spit hole’.
scupper
verb
• sink (a ship or its crew) deliberately.
• "the ship was scuppered and seriously damaged"
• prevent from working or succeeding; thwart.
• "plans for a bypass were scuppered by a public inquiry"
Similar:
ruin,
wreck,
destroy,
devastate,
wreak havoc on,
damage,
spoil,
mar,
injure,
blast,
blight,
smash,
shatter,
dash,
torpedo,
scotch,
mess up,
sabotage,
poison,
louse up,
screw up,
foul up,
put the kibosh on,
banjax,
do for,
blow a hole in,
nix,
queer,
cock up,
dish,
euchre,
cruel,
bring to naught,
fuck up,
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.
