shuttle
/ˈʃʌtəl/noun, verb
shuttle is spelled S-H-U-T-T-L-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 7.9 times per million words in written English, the 8,266th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, shuttle means “A tool used to carry the woof back and forth between the warp threads on a loom” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of shuttle is shuttles.
How many letters and syllables are in shuttle?
| Letters | 7: S-H-U-T-T-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 7.9 times per million words; the 8,266th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is shuttle?
Shuttle appears 7.9 times per million words in written English, the 8,266th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce shuttle?
- US /ˈʃʌtəl/
- US [ˈʃʌɾəɫ]
Shuttle has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-shuttle.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with shuttle?
3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as shuttle from its last stressed vowel (/ʌtəl/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of shuttle
- shuttles plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- shuttling participle, present
- shuttled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does shuttle mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A tool used to carry the woof back and forth between the warp threads on a loom.
- 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 transport service (such as a bus or train) that goes back and forth between two or more places.
The shuttle bus runs to the airport on a half-hourly basis from the central station.
- 4
Such a transport vehicle; a shuttle bus; a space shuttle.
- 5
Any other item that moves repeatedly back and forth between two positions, possibly transporting something else with it between those points (such as, in chemistry, a molecular shuttle).
- 6
A shuttlecock.
- 7
A shutter, as for a channel for molten metal.
verb
- 1
To go or send back and forth between two places.
- 2
To transport by shuttle or by means of a shuttle service.
Guests can be shuttled to and from the hotel for no extra cost.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Shuttle in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | navette |
| German | Weberschiffchen , Schützen, Webschützen , Pendelverkehr, Shuttlebus |
| Portuguese | naveta, lançadeira , traslado |
| Spanish | lanzadera , bus de cortesía, autobús de enlace, autobús enlazador , transportar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.