What does "shuttle" mean?
A tool used to carry the woof back and forth between the warp threads on a loom.
Shuttle
/ˈʃʌtəl/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A tool used to carry the woof back and forth between the warp threads on a loom.
- Grammar: shuttle is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: birdie, shuttlecock, air transport, air travel.
- Useful contrasts: disposable launcher, land, remain.
- Usage evidence: Where can I get a shuttle bus at the airport?
How to use "shuttle"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "shuttle" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "shuttle" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "shuttle" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "shuttle" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "shuttle" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "birdie" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "shuttle", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A tool used to carry the woof back and forth between the warp threads on a loom.
"My dayes are ſwifter then a weauers ſhuttle, and are ſpent without hope."
- 2 bobbin that passes the weft thread between the warp threads wordnet
- 3 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.
- 4 public transport that consists of a bus or train or airplane that flies back and forth between two points wordnet
- 5 A transport service (such as a bus or train) that goes back and forth between two or more places.
"The shuttle bus runs to the airport on a half-hourly basis from the central station."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 badminton equipment consisting of a ball of cork or rubber with a crown of feathers wordnet
- 7 Such a transport vehicle; a shuttle bus; a space shuttle.
"You're saying we take the parking shuttles, reinforce them with aluminum siding and then head to the gun store where our friend Andy plays some cowboy-movie, jump-on-the-wagon bullshit."
- 8 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).
- 9 A shuttlecock.
- 10 A shutter, as for a channel for molten metal.
Verb
- 1 To go or send back and forth between two places. intransitive, transitive
"On several occasions during the next several months my attempts to see the logs were met alternately with this denial of their existence or a denial of my right to see them. After being shuttled from station to headquarters and headquarters to station, I finally consulted with GCNs attorney, John Ward."
- 2 travel back and forth between two points wordnet
- 3 To transport by shuttle or by means of a shuttle service. transitive
"Guests can be shuttled to and from the hotel for no extra cost."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Where can I get a shuttle bus at the airport?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "shuttle"?
Common synonyms include: birdie, shuttlecock, air transport, air travel, airfreight, alternate.
How do you use "shuttle" in a sentence?
Where can I get a shuttle bus at the airport?
How do you pronounce "shuttle"?
Pronounced /ˈʃʌtəl/.
Etymology
From a merger of two words: * Middle English shutel, shotel, schetel, schettell, schyttyl, scutel (“bar; bolt”), from Old English sċyttel, sċutel (“bar; bolt”), equivalent to shut + -le * Middle English shutel, schetil, shotil, shetel, schootyll, shutyll, schytle, scytyl (“missile; projectile; spear”), from Old English sċytel, sċutel (“dart, arrow”), from Proto-Germanic *skutilaz. The name for a 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.