Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. shuttlecock, bird, birdie, shuttle(noun)

   badminton equipment consisting of a ball of cork or rubber with a crown of feathers

2. shuttle(noun)

   public transport that consists of a bus or train or airplane that plies back and forth between two points

3. shuttle(verb)

   bobbin that passes the weft thread between the warp threads

4. shuttle(verb)

   travel back and forth between two points

Wiktionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. shuttle(Noun)

   The part of a loom that carries the woof back and forth between the warp threads

2. shuttle(Noun)

   A transport service (such as a bus or train) that goes back and forth between two places.

3. shuttle(Noun)

   Any other item that moves repeatedly back and forth between two positions, possibly transporting something else with it between those points (such as, in chemistry, a molecular shuttle).

4. shuttle(Verb)

   To go back and forth between two places.

5. shuttle(Verb)

   To transport by shuttle or by means of a shuttle service.

Origin: From scytel, from skutilaz (compare Old Norse skutill), from skut- (see shoot). Name for loom weaving instrument, recorded from 1338, is from a sense of being "shot" across the threads. The back-and-forth imagery inspired the extension to "passenger trains" in 1895, aircraft in 1942, and spacecraft in 1969, as well as older terms such as shuttlecock.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Shuttle(noun)

   an instrument used in weaving for passing or shooting the thread of the woof from one side of the cloth to the other between the threads of the warp

2. Shuttle(noun)

   the sliding thread holder in a sewing machine, which carries the lower thread through a loop of the upper thread, to make a lock stitch

3. Shuttle(noun)

   a shutter, as for a channel for molten metal

4. Shuttle(verb)

   to move backwards and forwards, like a shuttle

Origin: [Also shittle, OE. schitel, scytyl, schetyl; cf. OE. schitel a bolt of a door, AS. scyttes; all from AS. scetan to shoot; akin to Dan. skyttel, skytte, shuttle, dial. Sw. skyttel, skttel. 159. See Shoot, and cf. Shittle, Skittles.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Shuttle

   A shuttle is a tool designed to neatly and compactly store or a holder that carries the thread across the loom weft yarn while weaving. Shuttles are thrown or passed back and forth through the shed, between the yarn threads of the warp in order to weave in the weft. The simplest shuttles, known as "stick shuttles", are made from a flat, narrow piece of wood with notches on the ends to hold the weft yarn. More complicated shuttles incorporate bobbins or pirns. Shuttles are often made of wood from the Flowering Dogwood, because it is so hard, resists splintering, and can be polished to a very smooth finish. Originally shuttles were passed back and forth by hand. However, John Kay invented a loom in 1733 that incorporated a flying shuttle. This shuttle could be thrown through the warp, which allowed much wider cloth to be woven much more quickly and made the development of machine looms much simpler. The act of 'kissing the shuttle', in which weavers used their mouths to pull thread through the eye of a shuttle when the pirn was replaced, contributed to the spread of disease.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Shuttle

   shut′l, n. an instrument used for shooting the thread of the woof between the threads of the warp in weaving.—v.t. and v.i. to move to and fro, like a shuttle.—n. Shutt′lecock, a rounded cork stuck with feathers, driven with a battledore: the game itself.—adv. Shutt′lewise, in the manner of a shuttle.—adj. Shutt′le-wit′ted, flighty. [From base of A.S. sceótan, shoot; Dan. and Sw. skyttel.]

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of shuttle in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of shuttle in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Sample Sentences & Example Usage

1. Federica Mogherini:

   I guess we will have to do a little bit of shuttle diplomacy.

2. Dana Rohrabacher:

   The space shuttle is the most effective device known to man for destroying dollar bills.

3. New Hampshire Perry:

   They didn't hand me a manual to say, 'Here's how you deal with a space shuttle disintegrating in your state,'.

4. Mark Geyer:

   It is, I think, consistent with those -- the beginning of shuttle and beginning of Apollo, i think it's in the same category.

5. Ronald Reagan:

   The distance between the present system and our proposal is like comparing the distance between a Model T and the space shuttle. And I should know I've seen both.

Images & Illustrations of shuttle