Scuttle means to move quickly with short, hurried steps, often in a nervous or secretive way. A mouse scuttles across the kitchen floor when it hears footsteps. A crab scuttles sideways along the beach. When you're late for class and trying not to be noticed, you might scuttle to your seat, hoping the teacher won't call attention to you.

The word captures both the speed and the style of movement: quick, close to the ground, and often a bit awkward or furtive. Picture how a beetle moves when you lift a rock, rushing to find new cover.

Scuttle also means to deliberately sink your own ship, usually to prevent enemies from capturing it. During battles, naval captains sometimes scuttled their vessels by opening holes in the hull and letting water flood in. In a broader sense, you can scuttle any plan or project by sabotaging it yourself. If your soccer team was planning a fundraiser but you accidentally told everyone the wrong date, you might have scuttled the whole event. When you scuttle something, you ruin it before it can succeed.