scaffold

[skaf-uh ld, -ohld]

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.

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. 2018

Related Words for scaffolded

constructed, beamed, trussed, scaffolded, timbered

Examples from the Web for scaffolded

Historical Examples of scaffolded

When we came to the forks, we found that the skins we had scaffolded were all safe.
Captives Among the Indians
James Smith
Weather-beaten wooden buildings there are, scaffolded structures, shaken by the vibration of coal-crushing machinery within.
The Immigrant Tide, Its Ebb and Flow
Edward A. Steiner
In the afternoon we scaffolded some meat, and nearly completed the frame of a skin canoe, which we concluded to build.
The Expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike, Volume II (of 3)
Elliott Coues
The sticks are scaffolded to the regulation height, all alike in length, amply soldered in the middle and free at either end.
The Life of the Fly
J. Henri Fabre
These bears and other beasts are there baited in plots of ground, scaffolded about for the beholders to stand safe.
The Survey of London
John Stow

British Dictionary definitions for scaffolded

scaffold

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 scaffolded

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.