Scuppered a deal

"He alleges that Microsoft scuppered a 1998 deal with Compaq to produce..."

Anyone know what "scuppered" means?

I looked up scupper in an American dictionary where it explains that a scupper is a nautical term for the holes at the side of a ship that allow the water to run off.

I have also heard it used to describe destroying a ship - if not by sinking than grounding. "After passengers ceased to visit the aging steam boat, the owners scuppered it."

So in the sentence you gave, it means that Microsoft deliberately destroyed the deal with Compac. And as it happens, that's completely consistent with Microsoft.

I suspect the Brits will find this use of scuppered in their dictionaries and it will be in the OED of course.

_The Oxford English Reference Dictionary_ gives:

scupper v.tr.
Brit. sl.
1 sink (a ship or its crew).
2 defeat or ruin (a plan etc.).
3 kill.[19th c.: orig. unkn.]

Of course, even Microsoft's _Encarta World English Dictionary, North American Edition_ gives: .

scup·per 2 [skuppr ] (past scup·pered, past participle scup·pered, present participle scup·per·ing, 3rd person present singular scup·pers) transitive verb
1. NAUTICAL sink ship: to sink a ship, especially to sink your own vessel intentionally
2. wreck or ruin something: to wreck, defeat, or ruin something
[Late 19th century. Origin uncertain: perhaps from scupper1.]