- present participle of scaffold.
scaffolding
Americannoun
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a system of temporary structures having platforms to support workers and materials during the construction, repair, or decoration of a building.
The scaffolding on the cathedral is finally coming down, and the workers can move on.
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materials for building such structures.
We sell aluminum scaffolding to clients all over the country.
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the act or process of building such structures.
During the scaffolding of the building complex, a specially designed lift carried all the pieces to their places.
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Education.
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a method of instruction in which the learner is provided with gradually reduced support in the application of a new skill until they can demonstrate it independently: the mastered skill then provides the basis for acquiring the next new skill in a similar way.
Through careful scaffolding, my students learned to persevere and use a range of strategies to solve math problems.
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the preparation or design of learning materials for use with this method.
This grading approach requires the careful and strategic scaffolding of lesson plans and assignments.
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anything that forms a support or basis for something else.
The general framework of subtasks provides a scaffolding for the more complex computational tasks.
adjective
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relating to or involving raised platforms or their construction.
A variety of different scaffolding materials are available for your building project.
The fair is aimed at reps from companies that regularly hire scaffolding contractors.
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Education. relating to, involving, or intended for a method of teaching skills by giving the learner gradually reduced support in applying a new skill until they can demonstrate it independently, after which it becomes the basis for learning the next skill.
Some scaffolding exercises were given to students to strengthen their understanding.
noun
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a scaffold or system of scaffolds
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the building materials used to make scaffolds
Etymology
Origin of scaffolding
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English skaf(f)aldyng; equivalent to scaffold + -ing 1
Explanation
The platforms and supports workers stand on while they're repairing the outside of a building is called scaffolding. Without scaffolding, it would be nearly impossible to reach the highest part of a tall structure. If you've visited a large city (or even a small one), you've definitely seen scaffolding, which sometimes surrounds an entire building. You may have even walked underneath these temporary structures, which are erected to make repairs or construct brand new buildings. Scaffolding is composed of horizontal platforms and sturdy vertical supports, and it's also used to support stagehands as they work in the theater, at outdoor concert venues, and on film sets.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Scaffolding engulfs the inside of the giant multi-billion-dollar structure, rising all the way up to the 100-metre-high ceiling.
From Barron's • Dec. 26, 2025
Scaffolding was constructed, removed and adjusted throughout various parts of the positioning.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 30, 2024
Scaffolding around new, yet-to-be-completed mega-mansions could be seen peeking over high, green walls that keep out onlookers.
From New York Times • Dec. 26, 2022
Scaffolding allows you to kick your fears to the curb, while you complete work that’s 20 feet or more above the ground.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 2, 2022
Daddy, of course, sitting by his window in the carpenter's house, had seen the Twilight Scaffolding sweep past and had climbed into it.
From A Prisoner in Fairyland by Blackwood, Algernon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
