1
a
: an oar used at the stern of a boat to propel it forward with a thwartwise motion
b
: either of a pair of oars usually less than 10 feet (3 meters) in length and operated by one person
2
: a racing shell propelled by one or two persons using sculls
sculled; sculling; sculls
: to propel (a boat) by sculls or by a large oar worked thwartwise
: to scull a boat
sculler
noun
Synonyms
Examples of scull in a Sentence
Noun
He took first place in the single sculls.
Verb
She sculled along the river.
a couple sculled past in a racing shell
Recent Examples on the Web
Julia Daye, Miami Herald, 22 Mar. 2024
Two of the sculls flipped, throwing 18 teens into the water, police said.
—Julia Daye, Miami Herald, 22 Mar. 2024
The athlete sits in a rowing scull mounted at the center of the CAVE, with the r3 robot's ropes connected to the outer ends of the oar.
—IEEE Spectrum, 27 Sep. 2010
In 2015, USRowing picked Groom to oversee a selection camp and then coach men’s quadruple sculls at the World Rowing Junior Championships in Rio de Janeiro, the fourth year in a row the organization chose him to coach a junior team.
—Gus Garcia-Roberts, Anchorage Daily News, 15 July 2023
John, who will compete in the single scull, is the Olympic hopeful, his brothers say.
—Lori Riley, courant.com, 21 Feb. 2021
Melvin certainly left with a breakthrough victory in the lightweight men’s single scull division.
—Matt Szabo, Daily Pilot, 6 Aug. 2019
Inside the two-story, 16,500-foot facility, sculls are stacked in four bays on the ground floor, while a fifth is set aside for sailing.
—New York Times, 17 July 2019
The men’s lightweight double scull of Amar Bhatia and Noah Cours qualified for the A final, finishing sixth nationally (6:56.98).
—Anthony Ciardelli, latimes.com, 18 June 2019
Will Brantley, Field & Stream, 1 June 2023
Regardless, Toro Arana was determined to learn how to scull.
—Olivia Reiner, USA TODAY, 23 July 2021
Then came a lost decade when the Great Eight sculling all-stars or collegians took the trophy as US Rowing either sent development boats or nobody at all.
—BostonGlobe.com, 21 Oct. 2019
Rowers competed in masters, junior, and novice categories in both sweep rowing and sculling events.
—Bill Roth, Anchorage Daily News, 23 July 2019
The next came when Jobe, who had put his tee shot into the bunker left of the green, chunked his recovery into the rough and then sculled his chip across the green.
—Don Markus, baltimoresun.com, 16 July 2017
Sitting snug in the rear of the boat, coxswains yell commands to rowers, drowning out wind and sculling noise.
—David Whiting, Orange County Register, 24 May 2017
Noun
Twenty-eight teen rowers launched three sculls from the Saugatuck Rowing Club after school March 20, according to the Westport Police Department’s Facebook post.
—Julia Daye, Miami Herald, 22 Mar. 2024
Two of the sculls flipped, throwing 18 teens into the water, police said.
—Julia Daye, Miami Herald, 22 Mar. 2024
The athlete sits in a rowing scull mounted at the center of the CAVE, with the r3 robot's ropes connected to the outer ends of the oar.
—IEEE Spectrum, 27 Sep. 2010
In 2015, USRowing picked Groom to oversee a selection camp and then coach men’s quadruple sculls at the World Rowing Junior Championships in Rio de Janeiro, the fourth year in a row the organization chose him to coach a junior team.
—Gus Garcia-Roberts, Anchorage Daily News, 15 July 2023
John, who will compete in the single scull, is the Olympic hopeful, his brothers say.
—Lori Riley, courant.com, 21 Feb. 2021
Melvin certainly left with a breakthrough victory in the lightweight men’s single scull division.
—Matt Szabo, Daily Pilot, 6 Aug. 2019
Inside the two-story, 16,500-foot facility, sculls are stacked in four bays on the ground floor, while a fifth is set aside for sailing.
—New York Times, 17 July 2019
The men’s lightweight double scull of Amar Bhatia and Noah Cours qualified for the A final, finishing sixth nationally (6:56.98).
—Anthony Ciardelli, latimes.com, 18 June 2019
Verb
Others prefer a quieter approach with an electric trolling motor, or perhaps even drifting with river currents and steering with a sculling paddle.
—Will Brantley, Field & Stream, 1 June 2023
Regardless, Toro Arana was determined to learn how to scull.
—Olivia Reiner, USA TODAY, 23 July 2021
Then came a lost decade when the Great Eight sculling all-stars or collegians took the trophy as US Rowing either sent development boats or nobody at all.
—BostonGlobe.com, 21 Oct. 2019
Rowers competed in masters, junior, and novice categories in both sweep rowing and sculling events.
—Bill Roth, Anchorage Daily News, 23 July 2019
The next came when Jobe, who had put his tee shot into the bunker left of the green, chunked his recovery into the rough and then sculled his chip across the green.
—Don Markus, baltimoresun.com, 16 July 2017
Sitting snug in the rear of the boat, coxswains yell commands to rowers, drowning out wind and sculling noise.
—David Whiting, Orange County Register, 24 May 2017
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'scull.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near scull
Cite this Entry
“Scull.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scull. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
scull
1 of 2 noun1
a
: an oar used at the stern of a boat to drive it forward with a side-to-side motion
b
: one of a pair of short oars for use by one person
2
: a boat driven by one or more pairs of sculls
scull
2 of 2 verb
: to move a boat by a scull or sculls
sculler
noun
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