verb

scupper

SKUP-er/ˈskʌpər/

To cause a plan or effort to fail.

The downpour scuppers the outdoor celebration by soaking the table and collapsing the cake.

A sudden downpour scuppers a carefully prepared outdoor celebration: an unoccupied table is soaked, its cake has collapsed, and the two organizers abandon the setup with dismayed expressions.

Etymology

The documented noun denotes an opening that drains water from a ship’s deck, and its ancestry is uncertain. The supplied sources do not establish its connection to ruining a plan.

In context

The Scottish Parliament67:34

money's in danger of being frittered away perhaps in part in funding consultants and analysis to scupper the project not progress it

Debate: City Deal and Regional Economic Partnership - 22 January 2019

More examples

Bad weather could scupper the rescue effort.
A disagreement over money scuppered the deal.
Repeated delays are scuppering our chances of finishing on time.

Forms

scupper · scuppers · scuppered · scuppering

Similar words

thwart: Emphasizes preventing success, often through active opposition or obstruction.
sabotage: Implies deliberately undermining a plan, often secretly or deceptively.
derail: Disrupts progress without necessarily causing a plan to fail completely.