A cask with a hole cut in its bilge, and kept on deck to hold water for daily use.
drinking fountain. Also, a rumor, usually of local importance.
rumor or gossip En scuttle "hole in a vessel", hole in butt/cask where sailors drank water, talked
A barrel with a hole in used to hold water that sailors would drink from. Also: gossip.
Gossip or unfounded rumor; also a drinking fountain
Gossip. So named after a water cask around which sailors used to gather and drink.
drinking fountain or a rumor
A large barrel containing a supply of fresh water. Several are typically placed belowdecks. The modern term Scuttlebut (which has gained the meaning of 'Rumors') derives from sailing days, when sailors would gather around the fresh water to drink and trade gossip.
A container for drinking water. A drinking fountain. Colloquially, rumors heard at the drinking fountain.
Half of a barrel, filled with soapy water and kept next to the main mast, where crew members went to clean up. Since each crew was often restricted to a particular location on the ship, this was the only location where members of different gangs could exchange information.
The nautical term Scuttlebutt originally (and still) means a water fountain or water cask on a ship. However, it is now more commonly used as slang for "information" or "gossip".
