noun
- an instrument containing a reel or spool of the woof thread, used in weaving to carry the thread back and forth between the warp threads
- a smaller but similar thread holder used in tatting, etc.
- a device that carries the lower thread back and forth in making a lock stitch on a sewing machine
- any of several devices having a similar to-and-fro action
- ☆
- a traveling back and forth over an often short route, as by an airplane, train, bus, etc.: kept the planes in a 24-hour shuttle
- the route so traveled
- a shuttle service offered by an airline, esp. one for which reservations are not required: the New York-Washington shuttle
- an airplane, train, bus, etc. used in a shuttle
- space shuttle
- shuttlecock
Origin:
ME schutylle < OE scytel, missile < base of sceotan, to shoot: so called because shot to and fro with the thread in weaving
transitive verb, intransitive verb shuttled, shuttling
- to move or go back and forth rapidly or frequently
- ☆ to move or go by or as by means of a shuttle