scaffold

[ skaf-uh ld, -ohld ]

/ ˈskæf əld, -oʊld /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR scaffold ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

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

a raised platform or stage for exhibiting spectacles, seating spectators, etc.

any raised framework.

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

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

a system of raised frameworks; scaffolding.

verb (used with object)

to furnish with a scaffold or scaffolding.

to support by or place on a scaffold.

Nearby words

Origin of scaffold

1300–50; Middle English scaffot, skaffaut, scaffalde < Old French escadafaut; akin to catafalque

Related formsun·scaf·fold·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for scaffold

But of course no such “prophetic sight” or “spiritual glance,” as Villard also imagined it, carried that far from the scaffold.
When Robert E. Lee Met John Brown and Saved the Union|Michael Korda|May 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
For me, technology is a delightfully helpful crutch to scaffold me into more advanced meditative practices.
High-Tech Meditation: Swap Your Yogi for a Headset|Gregory Ferenstein|April 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In ordinary practice a scaffold is carried up with the walls and made to rest on them.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3|Various
At a later period this scheme, then no more than the dream of a past age, brought a patriotic citizen of Lucca to the scaffold.
The Civilisation of the Renaissance in Italy|Jacob Burckhardt

Lady Jane Grey, when on the scaffold, yielded nothing in manliness to the others.
Life of Cicero|Anthony Trollope
Their blood reddens the scaffold, and their ashes are thrown to the wind.
History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century (Volume 1)|J. H. Merle D'Aubign
Leisler ascended the scaffold with firm step, and looked at the people he had tried to serve.
The Story of Manhattan|Charles Hemstreet

British Dictionary definitions for scaffold

scaffold

/ (ˈskæfəld, -fəʊld) /

noun

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

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

verb (tr)

to provide with a scaffold

to support by means of a scaffold

Derived Formsscaffolder, noun

Word Origin for scaffold

C14: from Old French eschaffaut, from Vulgar Latin catafalicum (unattested); see catafalque

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for scaffold

scaffold

mid-14c., "wooden framework used in building, etc., temporary structure for workmen to make walls," a shortening of an Old North French variant of Old French eschafaut "scaffold" (Modern French échafaud), probably altered (by influence of eschace "a prop, support") from chaffaut, from Vulgar Latin *catafalicum (see catafalque). Meaning "platform for a hanging" is from 1550s. Dutch schavot, German Schafott, Danish skafot are from French. As a verb from 1540s.

scaffold

noun

verb (used with object)

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of scaffold

Examples from the Web for scaffold

British Dictionary definitions for scaffold

scaffold

noun

verb (tr)

Word Origin for scaffold

Word Origin and History for scaffold

scaffold