scupper (skuper)

[Prob. so named because the water seems to 'spit' forth from it; Many a kid of beef have I seen rolling in the scuppers, and the bearer lying at his length on the decks. R. H. Dana , Jr. , Before the Mast, p. 34. Scupper-leather ( naut . ), a piece of leather placed on the outside of a ve el, under the scupper, to prevent the flow from it from soiling the paint on the ve el's side. In modern ships it is commonly replaced by a guard of metal.