shuttle
- 01 B1 Intermediate
n.a bus, train, or plane that travels regularly back and forth between two specific places.
n.a transport service or vehicle that makes frequent trips between two or more fixed points.
Simple“The hotel provides a free shuttle to the airport every thirty minutes.”
In context“The university operates a frequent shuttle between the main campus and the research facility to accommodate students with split schedules.”
Usageoften used as a compound noun like 'shuttle bus' or 'airport shuttle'
Synonymsshuttle buscommuter service - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a spacecraft designed to travel into space and return to Earth multiple times.
n.a reusable spacecraft designed to transport people and cargo between Earth and space.
Simple“The space shuttle landed safely after its mission to the space station.”
In context“The retirement of the space shuttle fleet marked the end of an era in reusable orbital vehicle technology.”
Synonymsspacecraftorbiter - 03 C2 Proficiency
n.a tool used in weaving to carry thread back and forth across a loom.
n.a device used in weaving for passing the thread of the weft between the threads of the warp.
Simple“The weaver moved the wooden shuttle quickly through the threads of the loom.”
In context“Traditional hand-weaving requires significant dexterity to catch the shuttle as it emerges from the shed of the warp threads.”
- 04 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.another name for a shuttlecock, the object hit in badminton.
n.a synonym for shuttlecock; the feathered or plastic projectile used in the game of badminton.
Simple“The wind was so strong that it was hard to hit the shuttle over the net.”
In context“The player replaced the damaged shuttle after the feathers became ruffled during a particularly intense rally.”
Synonymsshuttlecockbirdie - 05 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to travel or move someone back and forth between two places.
v.to travel or transport people or goods frequently between two locations.
Simple“The van shuttles guests from the train station to the mountain resort.”
In context“The diplomat spent the entire week shuttling between the two capitals in a desperate attempt to broker a peace agreement.”
Usagecan be used transitively with an object or intransitively
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.