scroll

American  

[skrohl] / skroʊl /

noun

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)

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)

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

• scroll-like adjective

Etymology

Origin of scroll

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

Example Sentences

“All the people across the nation of Malawi are talking about these four German shepherd dogs,” Sekeya said in one post as generic images of the dogs scrolled behind him.

From The Wall Street Journal

You might need to scroll or flip your screen to landscape to see all of the data.

From MarketWatch

In the era of the endless scroll, how closely are you actually looking at what you see?

From BBC

The Microsoft-owned site was long used primarily for job hunting and corporate posturing—but data show people are now scrolling longer.

From The Wall Street Journal

If my current New Year’s resolution resembles past ones, I might be back to scrolling X by March.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• manuscript