I. ˈskrōl noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English scrowle, alteration (influenced by rolle roll) of scrowe, from Middle French escroe, escroue scrap, strip of parchment, scroll, of Germanic origin; akin to Middle Dutch schrode piece cut off, shred — more at shred
1.
a. : a long strip (as of papyrus, leather, or parchment) used as the body of a written document and often having a rod with handles at one or both ends for convenience in rolling and storing it
when parchment became available … its greater strength permitted the transcription of the entire book on to one long scroll — A.P.Davies
b. archaic : a written message (as a letter)
do not exceed the prescript of this scroll — Shakespeare
c. : a roster of names : list
his name was placed high upon the scroll of the world's great — J.C.Fitzpatrick
d. : an ornamental riband with rolled ends often inscribed with a motto ; specifically : escrol
e. : a formal testimonial usually engraved or hand illuminated on special paper (as parchment or vellum)
the guest of honor received a framed scroll — Springfield (Massachusetts) Union
2.
a. : something that is likened to a scroll
a great glissando, a scroll from the wind instruments — Sacheverell Sitwell
history which forms the running scroll of his … experience — S.H.Adams
b. : a crescentic deposit of a meandering stream on a floodplain
3. : a part or ornament more or less resembling a scroll in shape: as
a. : any of various spiral or convoluted forms in ornamental design derived from the curves of a loosely or partly rolled parchment scroll
an oval mat with a row of scrolls forming the center — Mabel Roffey & Charlotte Cross
b.
(1) : a volute of an Ionic, Corinthian, or composite capital
(2) : a curved molding common in medieval work
c. : a spiral formation or ornament of furniture — see flemish scroll; leg illustration
d. : the curved head of a bowed stringed musical instrument — see violin illustration
e. : scrollhead
f.
(1) : a spiral-shaped rib or slot for gearing with a slot on a radially moving part (as the jaw of a scroll chuck)
(2) : a casing for a turbine wheel having a spiral waterway of converging aperture
(3) : a similar casing on a centrifugal pump or blower
(4) : a curved portion at the end of a leaf spring
(5) : a loop or coil of copper tubing inside a still
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II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
1. : to inscribe on or as if on a scroll
the panel on which 38B was delicately scrolled — Kay Boyle
2. : to form into or adorn with scrolls
the river is scrolled in shining bends across the flatlands
intransitive verb
: to curl up or roll out like a scroll
bright yellow material, with scrolling scarlet roses — H.E.Bates
the long hourly routine scrolled ahead of me — Nathaniel Burt
III. transitive verb
: to cause (text or graphics on a display screen) to move vertically or horizontally usually one line or column at a time as if by unrolling a scroll
intransitive verb
1. : to move text or graphics across a display screen
2. of text or graphics : to move across a screen
• scroll·able ˈskrōləbəl adjective