scaffold
Americannoun
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a temporary structure for holding workers and materials during the construction, repair, or decoration of a building.
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an elevated platform on which a criminal is executed, usually by hanging.
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a raised platform or stage for shows or performances, the seating of spectators, etc.
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any raised framework or system of such frameworks.
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a suspended platform used by painters, window washers, and others for working on a tall structure, such as a skyscraper.
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Cell Biology, Genetics. any of various extracellular framelike components found naturally in genomic material and synthesized for tissue engineering.
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Metallurgy. any piling or fusion of materials in a blast furnace, obstructing the flow of gases and preventing the uniform descent of the charge.
verb (used with object)
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to furnish (a building or other structure) with a system of temporary platforms for supporting workers and materials during construction, repairs, cleaning, etc..
Our team will scaffold the building in order to provide access for restorative work and maintenance.
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to be the support or foundation for.
All knowledge is scaffolded by its physical and social contexts.
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Education.
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to aid (learners or their learning) using a method in which support in the application of a new skill is gradually reduced until the individual learner can demonstrate it independently, after which the mastered skill becomes the basis for acquiring the next new skill in a similar way.
Showing students how to do something can be an effective first step in scaffolding learning.
The program scaffolds middle-school learners through the scientific inquiry process.
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to design (learning materials, curriculum, etc.) to suit this method of instruction.
This paper explains the model used to scaffold lessons for English language learners.
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noun
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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
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a raised wooden platform on which plays are performed, tobacco, etc, is dried, or (esp formerly) criminals are executed
verb
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to provide with a scaffold
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to support by means of a scaffold
Other Word Forms
- scaffolder noun
- unscaffolded adjective
Etymology
Origin of scaffold
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English scaffalde, scaffot, skaffaut, from Old French escadafaut; akin to catafalque
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.
Parents have since paid for a temporary scaffold bridge that allows people to traverse the condemned bridge.
From Los Angeles Times
With this approach, they found that well before the genome fully activates -- a milestone known as Zygotic Genome Activation -- an elaborate 3D scaffold of DNA is already taking shape.
From Science Daily
These filaments then form a scaffold that determines the condensate's physical characteristics.
From Science Daily
A swarm of tourists craned their necks to see the instalment of the cross's upper arm, visible amid the scaffolding and workers who put finishing touches from their harnesses.
From Barron's
After treatment with dancing molecules, the gelled nanofiber scaffold reduced inflammation, shrank glial scarring, stimulated neurite extension, and encouraged neurons to grow in organized patterns.
From Science Daily
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.
