1758, "run, fly, make off," perhaps originally nautical slang; 1805, "flow or gush out with force" (Scottish), of uncertain origin, possibly from a Scandinavian source (cf. Old Norse skjota "to shoot") related to shoot (v.). Related: Scooted; scooting. As a noun from 1864.
[origin unknown; perhaps ultimately fr a Scandinavian cognate of shoot, by way of Scottish dialect; British naval scout, in the first verb sense, is found by 1758; the first noun sense may have an entirely different derivation than the two verb senses]