\Shut"tle\, n. [Also shittle, OE. schitel, scytyl,
schetyl; cf. OE. schitel a bolt of a door, AS. scyttes; all
from AS. sce['o]tan to shoot; akin to Dan. skyttel, skytte,
shuttle, dial. Sw. skyttel, sk["o]ttel. [root]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.
         Like shuttles through the loom, so swiftly glide My
         feathered hours.                      --Sandys.
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.
3. A shutter, as for a channel for molten metal. [R.]
{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} (Zo["o]l.), 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.

\Shut"tle\, v. i.
To move backwards and forwards, like a shuttle.
      I had to fly far and wide, shutting athwart the big
      Babel, wherever his calls and pauses had to be.
                                               --Carlyle.