scroll
Americannoun
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a roll of parchment, paper, copper, or other material, especially one with writing on it.
a scroll containing the entire Old Testament.
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something, especially an ornament, resembling a partly unrolled sheet of paper or having a spiral or coiled form.
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a list, roll, roster, or schedule.
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(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.
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the curved head of a violin or other bowed instrument.
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a note, message, or other piece of writing.
verb (used with object)
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to cut into a curved form with a narrow-bladed saw.
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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)
noun
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a roll of parchment, paper, etc, usually inscribed with writing
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an ancient book in the form of a roll of parchment, papyrus, etc
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a decorative carving or moulding resembling a scroll
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( as modifier )
a scroll saw
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( in combination )
scrollwork
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verb
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(tr) to saw into scrolls
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to roll up like a scroll
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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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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scrollsimple
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scrollssimple
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have scrolledperfect
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has scrolledperfect
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am scrollingprogressive
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are scrollingprogressive
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is scrollingprogressive
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have been scrollingperfect progressive
-
has been scrollingperfect progressive
Past
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scrolledsimple
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had scrolledperfect
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was scrollingprogressive
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were scrollingprogressive
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had been scrollingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of scroll
1350–1400; Middle English scrowle; blend of scrow, aphetic variant of escrow and rowle roll
Explanation
A rolled up piece of paper is a scroll. If you write a poem on a sheet of paper, roll it up, and tie it with a ribbon, you can call it a scroll. Before books existed, people wrote stories or important information on parchment or papyrus and rolled them into scrolls for easy storage and transport. Sometimes, a scroll would serve as a work of art, a decorated tale that would occasionally be unrolled and displayed. These days, when you scroll through something, you're probably reading it on a computer, moving down the screen.
Vocabulary lists containing scroll
Ancient Egypt - Introductory
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"Invictus"
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Ancient Egypt - Middle School and High School
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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.
See Examples For:
A majority of Europeans surveyed in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Spain, for a YouGov poll published on Thursday want platforms to remove "harmful" design features like endless scroll and personalised content feeds.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
We scroll through videos starring unruly passengers or mangled bags, and read about the last resting place for lost luggage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
Other treasures on view include a charred 18th-century Torah scroll that survived the British ransacking of a synagogue, George Washington’s inaugural chair and Bible, and a New York printing of the Declaration of Independence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Play as Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El, while the game’s credits roll, zapping the names of developers with her laser vision as they scroll past to score extra points you can redeem in the SuperShop.
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026
The most surprising part was when school came back last fall and people were talking about my scroll.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
"There's a million different ones. Different times of the day," says the 30-year-old as she scrolls through the alerts on her phone.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
On our Zoom call, Herberhold scrolls through the TikTok feed she uses as a shell account to study the Com network.
From Slate ● May 12, 2026
"It's the first time that he is wearing tefillin", Bandel said enthusiastically, referring to the small black leather boxes containing Torah scrolls.
From Barron's ● Apr. 9, 2026
Two scrolls from the Egyptian ‘Book of the Dead,’ one newly restored, form the breathtaking centerpiece of a show that reveals the considerable art involved in the ancient civilization’s burial rites.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026
No complete copy was known to Westeros, however; even the Citadel’s lacked twenty-seven scrolls.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
As they scrolled through social media posts about the governor’s race, they found a cause to unite them.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2026
Schools are on the front line of this issue as an environment where social media is a form of currency, and content is scrolled through, spread, and shared.
From Slate ● May 12, 2026
Elsewhere, a couple of people scrolled on their mobiles, seemingly incapable of focusing on the big screen.
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2026
As I scrolled through posts on WallStreetBets, I realized that the crowd gathered online was all about risk accentuation, not mitigation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026
She scrolled through her document, not looking up.
From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner
Options for changing the platforms’ design could include disabling features such as default autoplay and infinite scrolling or creating screen time breaks for users, it said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
You’re scrolling, looking for one person that’s like, “this guy stinks” and then you go, “that’s my day. This is what everyone thinks of me right now.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
It added that an overnight curfew and measures to stop infinite scrolling for under-18s were also being considered as part of the legislation.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
And these furtive ads are so prevalent that mere diligence in scrolling or brush-ups on digital literacy aren’t sufficient solutions.
From Slate ● Jun. 27, 2026
Lounging on my bed, I eye my Monday to-do list warily but keep scrolling through social media on my phone instead.
From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott
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.
