Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to kill.

1885		Pall Mall Gaz 2 Apr. 3/2: The fierce warriors who ‘scupper’ Tommy Atkins within the lines of Suakin .
1899		Boy’s Own Paper 27 May 554: I threw it at the dog, and I’m sorry it didn’t scupper him.
1903		Portsmouth Eve. News 26 Aug. 3/5: A few Boers tried to get into the place and we scuppered the lot.
1907		Times Dispatch (Richmond, VA) 6 Jan. 53/4: ‘I suppose they’ve scuppered poor old Swizzle-Stick Smith all right’.
1917		‘Sapper’ No Man’s Land 132: I hope the old boy hasn’t been scuppered [i.e. killed].
1925		(con. WWI) Fraser & Gibbons Soldier and Sailor Words 253: Scuppered: To be killed. Dead.
1929		(con. 1916) F. Manning Her Privates We (1986) 246: Go on. I’m scuppered.
1940		A.P. Herbert Let Us Be Glum (1941) 60: Each day we slaughtered 26 or so; We scuppered 700 odd in May.
1968		S. Gore Holy Smoke 33: But you take this time when he scuppered all them Gyppos in the Red sea.

2. to defeat, to ruin, to put an end to.

1895		Kipling ‘The Lost Legion’ in Verses 1889-1896 255: With never a gunboat to help us / When we’re scuppered and left in the lurch.
1898		Copper Co. Eve News (Calumet, MI) 16 Mar. 3/4: A big coughing mass [...] bounded past him up the hill [...] ‘Scuppered,’ said John Chinn, watching the flight.
1916		‘Taffrail Stand By! [ebook] [T]he chances were £100 to 1/2d. that the Huns would come out [...] and try to scupper the lot of us.
1918		Eve. Star (Wash., DC) 7 July 34/5: Always supposing we don’t get scuppered in the process.
1922		N.Y. Herald 30 Apr. 1/5: France is being scuppered at Genoa.
1933		M. Marshall Tramp-Royal on the Toby 79: That fairly scuppered Edie.
1948		C. Day Lewis Otterbury Incident 13: Our job was to intercept them, scupper the tank and prevent it reaching the school gates.
1989		Viz June/July 47: Bah! [...] now my attempt has been scuppered.
1991		Reeves & Mortimer Vic Reeves Big Night Out n.p.: Scuppered Lord Wolesey’s speedboat.
2000		Indep. 21 June 3: They had arrived three hours late, scuppering their plans for a genteel brunch.
2017		V. McDermid Insidious Intent (2018) 107: ‘It nearly scuppered ReMit before we got started’.
2018		G. Gilmore Base Nature [ebook] Her attempt to play at the tournament in Queensland had been scuppered by the press.