Scuttlebutt
WordNet
noun
(1) A report (often malicious) about the behavior of other people
"The divorce caused much gossip"
WiktionaryText
Noun
- A keg of water on board ship, around which sailors would gossip.
- Gossip, rumour, idle chatter.
- 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage 2007, p. 3:
- Since their orders had come through, the “scuttlebutt” among the excited and curious crew had been of little besides the fabled “White City” [...].
- 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage 2007, p. 3: