n. [ Also shittle, OE. schitel, scytyl, schetyl; cf. OE. schitel a bolt of a door, AS. scyttes; all from AS. sceótan to shoot; akin to Dan. skyttel, skytte, shuttle, dial. Sw. skyttel, sköttel. √159. See Shoot, and cf. Shittle, Skittles. ] 1. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Like shuttles through the loom, so swiftly glide
My feathered hours. Sandys. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A shutter, as for a channel for molten metal. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Shuttle box (Weaving), a case at the end of a shuttle race, to receive the shuttle after it has passed the thread of the warp; also, one of a set of compartments containing shuttles with different colored threads, which are passed back and forth in a certain order, according to the pattern of the cloth woven. --
Shutten race, a sort of shelf in a loom, beneath the warp, along which the shuttle passes; a channel or guide along which the shuttle passes in a sewing machine. --
Shuttle shell (Zool.), any one of numerous species of marine gastropods of the genus Volva, or Radius, having a smooth, spindle-shaped shell prolonged into a channel at each end. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To move backwards and forwards, like a shuttle. [ 1913 Webster ]

I had to fly far and wide, shutting athwart the big Babel, wherever his calls and pauses had to be. Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A cork stuck with feathers, which is to be struck by a battledoor in play; also, the play itself. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To send or toss to and fro; to bandy; as, to shuttlecock words. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Shuttlecock. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Back and forth, like the movement of a shuttle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a reusable vehicle that can carry people or objects into orbit around the earth and return to be used again for subsequent trips; -- distinguished from rockets that are used only once. The present (1997) American space shuttle is a manned vehicle, having an external fuel tank that is expendable and not re-used. [ PJC ]