scroll

American  

[skrohl] / skroʊl /

noun

• scrolls
  plural

1. a roll of parchment, paper, copper, or other material, especially one with writing on it.

   a scroll containing the entire Old Testament.

2. something, especially an ornament, resembling a partly unrolled sheet of paper or having a spiral or coiled form.

3. a list, roll, roster, or schedule.

4. (in Japanese and Chinese art) a painting or text on silk or paper that is either displayed on a wall hanging scroll or held by the viewer hand scroll and is rolled up when not in use.

5. the curved head of a violin or other bowed instrument.

6. a note, message, or other piece of writing.

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verb (used with object)

• scrolls,
  present (3rd person singular)
• scrolled,
  past participle,  past
• scrolling
  present participle

1. to cut into a curved form with a narrow-bladed saw.

2. Computers. to move (text) up, down, or across a display screen, with new text appearing on the screen as old text disappears.

verb (used without object)

• scrolls,
  present (3rd person singular)
• scrolled,
  past participle,  past
• scrolling
  present participle

1. Computers. to move text vertically or horizontally on a display screen in searching for a particular section, line, etc.

scroll British  

/ skrəʊl /

noun

1. a roll of parchment, paper, etc, usually inscribed with writing

2. an ancient book in the form of a roll of parchment, papyrus, etc

3. 1. a decorative carving or moulding resembling a scroll

   2. ( as modifier )

      a scroll saw

   3. ( in combination )

      scrollwork

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verb

1. (tr) to saw into scrolls

2. to roll up like a scroll

3. computing to move (text) from right to left or up and down on a screen in order to view text that cannot be contained within a single display image

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• scroll-like
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• scrolls
  plural

Participles

• scrolling
  present
• scrolled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• scroll
  simple
• scrolls
  simple
• have scrolled
  perfect
• has scrolled
  perfect
• am scrolling
  progressive
• are scrolling
  progressive
• is scrolling
  progressive
• have been scrolling
  perfect progressive
• has been scrolling
  perfect progressive

Past

• scrolled
  simple
• had scrolled
  perfect
• was scrolling
  progressive
• were scrolling
  progressive
• had been scrolling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will scroll
  simple
• will have scrolled
  perfect
• will be scrolling
  progressive
• will have been scrolling
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of scroll

1350–1400; Middle English scrowle; blend of scrow, aphetic variant of escrow and rowle roll

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Explanation

A rolled up piece of paper is a scroll. If you write a poem on a sheet of paper, roll it up, and tie it with a ribbon, you can call it a scroll. Before books existed, people wrote stories or important information on parchment or papyrus and rolled them into scrolls for easy storage and transport. Sometimes, a scroll would serve as a work of art, a decorated tale that would occasionally be unrolled and displayed. These days, when you scroll through something, you're probably reading it on a computer, moving down the screen.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scroll scrolls scrolled scrolling

In the joke that inspires the special’s title, she measures an Instagram comment’s subzero value in a wide scope, lampooning the communal yet cartoonish nature of our endless scroll.

From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026

"If people want to doom scroll… that's fine, that's up to them."

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

Researchers in Italy announced in June the first complete virtual unrolling of a scroll, which turned out to be a treatise on ethics.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

If you scroll through Twitter, you might encounter Tanden engaging in a testy back-and-forth with progressive journalist Mehdi Hasan.

From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026

She rolled up the scroll and slid it into the tube that the hawk wore like a pack, settled on his back between his wings.

From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack

The text scrolls as he speaks, and it can also be controlled via a ring on his finger.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

The technology is transforming the work of historians not only by decoding documents, but also by analysing millions of medieval manuscripts or helping read ancient scrolls.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

Shalom, the Hebrew word for peace and wholeness, appears after a crisis in the Book of Numbers, and it is written with a break in its third letter in all Torah scrolls.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Mygal scrolls through the Telegram app on her phone, checking channels that monitor the direction of drone attacks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026

Several members of the council began to dig through piles of old scrolls, as if hoping to find an answer to his question.

From "Gregor the Overlander" by Suzanne Collins

“Now Hiring” flashed on one man’s screen as he scrolled.

From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2026

He took out his phone and scrolled old pictures.

From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026

“This is crazy,” she thought as she scrolled through them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

Venegas scrolled through his phone while Penna shuffled past us to grab a drink from the office fridge.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

The ten pizza-slice video screens scrolled constantly changing images associated with each category in the library cataloging system.

From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein

Did you catch the kids scrolling through Torque highlights?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

But that’s hard to see when the internet has built such a wide chasm between people, reducing the impact of writing in favor of scrolling.

From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2026

After scrolling through the shingles subreddit and reading about other immunocompromised millennials struggling to get the shot, I didn’t think I’d easily qualify.

From Slate ● Nov. 1, 2026

Critics say social networks use addictive algorithms to keep kids glued to their screens, and warn excessive scrolling can damage their mental health.

From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026

I study a scrolling list of her info.

From "Warcross" by Marie Lu

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Related Words

• manuscript

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