scroll

American  

[skrohl] / skroʊl /

noun

scrolls plural

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)

scrolls, present (3rd person singular) scrolled, past participle, past scrolling present participle

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)

scrolls, present (3rd person singular) scrolled, past participle, past scrolling present participle

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

Derived Forms

• scroll-like
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• scrolls
  plural

Participles

• scrolling
  present
• scrolled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• scroll
  simple
• scrolls
  simple
• have scrolled
  perfect
• has scrolled
  perfect
• am scrolling
  progressive
• are scrolling
  progressive
• is scrolling
  progressive
• have been scrolling
  perfect progressive
• has been scrolling
  perfect progressive

Past

• scrolled
  simple
• had scrolled
  perfect
• was scrolling
  progressive
• were scrolling
  progressive
• had been scrolling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will scroll
  simple
• will have scrolled
  perfect
• will be scrolling
  progressive
• will have been scrolling
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scroll scrolls scrolled scrolling

"If features such as infinite scroll or surveillance advertising aren't safe, they shouldn't be on social media in the first place," said Michiel van Hulten, EU director at public policy organisation Reset Tech.

From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 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

Some consumers may be content to scroll through passable AI-generated prose while fighting off pop-up ads.

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

When it came to Traveler, the last Grandma had heard was that he’d told me about submitting our texts to my scroll.

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows

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

On her phone, the lock screen still has a candid moment from their wedding, while in her gallery she scrolls back, further and further, to find Shubham again.

From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026

A little later in our conversation, he pulls out his phone, scrolls for a second, then hits play.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 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

Later that day he searched again, prying hastily through piles of scrolls and hastily restacking them, staring defeated into that dusty, innocent cupboard.

From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

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

Her voice broke as she scrolled through dozens of photos and videos on her phone.

From Barron's ● May 22, 2026

Elliott checked and scrolled compulsively, bypassing the parental controls, sneaking down to grab his phone from the family charging unit in the kitchen at night.

From Slate ● May 12, 2026

A tenth-grader in Oregon scrolled through more than 200 between 9 and 11:40 a.m. on March 6.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026

I scrolled to page 2 and found some that had.

From "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor

And even if that fact might make you depressed, scrolling will deplete one’s cynicism until it’s replaced by another attention-grabbing post.

From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2026

It's a song that has become inescapable, whether you're scrolling on TikTok, listening to the radio or even filling up your trolley on the weekly shop.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

Catherine Garcia scanned her Lightning Lane pass at the entrance to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and immediately started scrolling to secure the next reservation at Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

The government also announced plans for a default setting that will disable addictive features like infinite scrolling for older teenagers.

From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026

He swallowed me into a bear hug, then settled back in his chair, humming along with the CD still playing in the background, and picked up the laptop to resume his scrolling.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

Related Words

• manuscript