Sculled

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Moved a small boat forward by using two short oars, each rowed with one hand
2. Operated a pair of oars at the back to steer or drive a boat through the water
3. Navigated a vessel by pushing water with sculls attached to the stern

Etymology: "Sculled" is the past tense of "scull", a verb meaning to row a boat with a pair of oars, one in each hand, or with a single oar worked over the stern. The noun "scull" came into Middle English as "sculle", the name of a type of oar, and its ultimate source is uncertain. One proposed route runs through the Old Norse "skola", meaning "to rinse" or "wash", which fits the idea of an oar being swept through the water from side to side. The verb is thought to have developed from the noun, so that rowing with such an oar became "to scull". Some scholars have also suggested that the verb may be linked to Danish, Norwegian, or Swedish words such as "skål", but this connection is less certain. The word is related to but distinct from "skull", "school" and "skua", which are separate words with their own histories.