scotch

Từ điển Oxford Advanced Learner 8th

scotch [scotch scotches scotched scotching] BrE [skɒtʃ] NAmE [skɑːtʃ] verb ~ sth
to stop sth from happening; to take action to end sth
•Plans for a merger have been scotched.
•Rumours that he had fled the country were promptly scotched by his wife.
Verb forms:

Word Origin:
early 17th cent. (as a noun): of unknown origin; perhaps related to the verb ↑skate. The sense ‘render temporarily harmless’ is based on an emendation of Shakespeare's Macbeth iii. ii. 13 as “We have scotch'd the snake, not kill'd it”, originally understood as a use of scotch ‘to cut or score skin’; the sense ‘put an end to’ (early 19th cent.) results from the influence on this of the notion of wedging or blocking something so as to render it inoperative.

• Từ đồng nghĩa / Synonyms:
  economical, frugal, sparing, stinting, Scots, Scottish, Scotch, Scotch whiskey, Scotch whisky, malt whiskey, malt whisky, Scotch malt whiskey, Scotch malt whisky, score, thwart, queer, spoil, foil, cross, frustrate, baffle, bilk