scaffold

American  

[skaf-uhld, -ohld] / ˈskæf əld, -oʊld /

noun

scaffolds plural

1. a temporary structure for holding workers and materials during the construction, repair, or decoration of a building.

2. an elevated platform on which a criminal is executed, usually by hanging.

3. a raised platform or stage for shows or performances, the seating of spectators, etc.

4. any raised framework or system of such frameworks.

5. a suspended platform used by painters, window washers, and others for working on a tall structure, such as a skyscraper.

6. Cell Biology, Genetics. any of various extracellular framelike components found naturally in genomic material and synthesized for tissue engineering.

7. Metallurgy. any piling or fusion of materials in a blast furnace, obstructing the flow of gases and preventing the uniform descent of the charge.

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verb (used with object)

scaffolds, present (3rd person singular) scaffolded, past participle, past scaffolding present participle

1. to furnish (a building or other structure) with a system of temporary platforms for supporting workers and materials during construction, repairs, cleaning, etc..

   Our team will scaffold the building in order to provide access for restorative work and maintenance.

2. to be the support or foundation for.

   All knowledge is scaffolded by its physical and social contexts.

3. Education.

   1. to aid (learners or their learning) using a method in which support in the application of a new skill is gradually reduced until the individual learner can demonstrate it independently, after which the mastered skill becomes the basis for acquiring the next new skill in a similar way.

      Showing students how to do something can be an effective first step in scaffolding learning.

      The program scaffolds middle-school learners through the scientific inquiry process.

   2. to design (learning materials, curriculum, etc.) to suit this method of instruction.

      This paper explains the model used to scaffold lessons for English language learners.

scaffold British  

/ ˈskæfəld, -fəʊld /

noun

1. a temporary metal or wooden framework that is used to support workmen and materials during the erection, repair, etc, of a building or other construction

2. a raised wooden platform on which plays are performed, tobacco, etc, is dried, or (esp formerly) criminals are executed

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verb

1. to provide with a scaffold

2. to support by means of a scaffold

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• scaffolder
  noun
• unscaffolded
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• scaffolds
  plural

Participles

• scaffolding
  present
• scaffolded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• scaffold
  simple
• scaffolds
  simple
• have scaffolded
  perfect
• has scaffolded
  perfect
• am scaffolding
  progressive
• are scaffolding
  progressive
• is scaffolding
  progressive
• have been scaffolding
  perfect progressive
• has been scaffolding
  perfect progressive

Past

• scaffolded
  simple
• had scaffolded
  perfect
• was scaffolding
  progressive
• were scaffolding
  progressive
• had been scaffolding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will scaffold
  simple
• will have scaffolded
  perfect
• will be scaffolding
  progressive
• will have been scaffolding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of scaffold

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English scaffalde, scaffot, skaffaut, from Old French escadafaut; akin to catafalque

Explanation

An elevated temporary platform is called a scaffold. The scaffold is used because it is much safer and efficient to have workers and their materials on a platform than scrambling up and down ladders all day. A scaffold is also the platform on which criminals used to be executed publicly by hanging or beheading. If you watch a lot of swashbuckler movies, you'll have seen depictions of a helpless person being threatened with beheading by a villain on a scaffold in a crowded square. Suddenly, out of the crowd a hero appears and saves the day, after which they ride off into the sunset.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scaffold scaffolds scaffolded scaffolding

Physically and spiritually, San Juan Capistrano is centered around its mission, one of 21 established by the Catholic Church under the Spanish crown in the 18th and 19th centuries, forming the scaffold of modern-day California.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026

It then spends hours creating a cone-shape "scaffold" of dozens of tension lines, around which it finally wraps a thinner type of silk before retreating upwards.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026

Blueprint's artificial structures, which can be created in many different shapes, are built on a 3D-printed scaffold of a biodegradable polyester called polycaprolactone, which supports a collagen structure.

From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026

It reminds me of the old joke about the guy in the Wild West who, before he was hanged for horse stealing, said “This will be a real lesson to me,” mournfully, from the scaffold.

From MarketWatch ● May 13, 2026

By noon on Friday, June 30, 1882, 250 reporters and officials stood in the prison courtyard in front of a scaffold, waiting for Guiteau to appear.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow

This underscores why technology like mRNA vaccine scaffolds, the technology used to inoculate against COVID, is so important.

From Salon ● May 20, 2026

"But especially in the psychedelic field, completely new scaffolds are incredibly rare. And this is the discovery of a brand-new therapeutic scaffold."

From Science Daily ● May 14, 2026

For example, in the civilian context, when construction workers fall off scaffolds and can’t walk until receiving surgery and physical therapy, their employers have to provide them workers’ compensation.

From Slate ● Feb. 19, 2026

The restoration lasted over a year, and in that time the cathedral was turned into a bit of a building site, with a maze of scaffolds set up on the altar and transept.

From BBC ● Dec. 23, 2024

But the foreman had identical scaffolds built for all the men on the job, and even suggested that Dad send the original to the Mechanics Institute, where it won a prize.

From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey

It’s “yet another advantage IBM can bring to bear in enabling, scaling, and governing production AI systems that will necessarily need to be scaffolded atop existing IT architectures,” Boolani wrote.

From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026

Their work proved that the new scaffolded cryo-EM approach can illuminate how drug molecules bind with and inhibit cellular proteins like KRAS, and could help guide the development of more effective drugs.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2023

Looming as we approached the nexus of Olive and Stewart, Seattle’s version of Times Square, was an enormous, elevated sign featuring a scaffolded Great Northern Railway mountain goat atop a showy slogan: “EMPIRE BUILDER.”

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 23, 2023

This book is scaffolded around her father’s unfinished novel, found in a desk drawer just days after his death in 2001, about, among other things, trying to fly without wings.

From New York Times ● Apr. 13, 2022

From the unfinished, scaffolded building a figure emerged, came running.

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya

The event was advertised almost exclusively offline, with flyers wheatpasted to construction scaffolding and guidebooks available at independent bookstores.

From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026

Now, time is running out on the bird as the rising tide of concrete, scaffolding and rebar obscures Pinky from pedestrian view along the south side of Colorado Boulevard.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

Beatty joined the crowd of spectators outside the center on Friday afternoon as workers were setting up scaffolding around the sign.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026

Even with that scaffolding, the scale of the Bond project was daunting.

From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026

They had reached the scaffolding by the Chase Bank, a few blocks down, when Anat stared down at the pavement.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

Related Words

• scaffolding
• stage