scroll

A roll of paper or parchment; a writing formed into a roll.

Noun

  1. A roll of paper or parchment; a writing formed into a roll.
  2. An ornament formed of undulations giving off spirals or sprays, usually suggestive of plant form. Roman architectural ornament is largely of some scroll pattern.
  3. Spirals or sprays in the shape of an actual plant.
    • I lose myself in a flawed henna plant jutting toward the scroll. Its rose-pink eyes burst off the stems. - 1985, Peter Balakian, “The Oriental Rug”, in Robert Pack, Jay Parini, editors, Introspections: American poets on...
  4. A mark or flourish added to a person's signature, intended to represent a seal, and in some States allowed as a substitute for a seal. [U.S.] Alexander Mansfield Burrill.
  5. The carved end of a violin, viola, cello or other stringed instrument, most commonly scroll-shaped but occasionally in the form of a human or animal head.

    Synonyms: fiddlehead

  6. A skew surface.
  7. A kind of sweet roll baked in a somewhat spiral shape.
    • I ordered a glass of lemonade and a coffee scroll.
  8. The incremental movement of graphics on a screen, removing one portion to show the next.
    • […] the computer sends orders, via electrical impulses, to recompose the liquid crystal structure inside the cells quickly which results in the familiar smooth scroll of the pointer on your screen. - 2005, Alberto de...
  9. A spiral waterway placed round a turbine to regulate the flow.
  10. A turbinate bone.
  11. A rough draft of anything.
  12. The act of scrolling.
    • I gave the terms and conditions a quick scroll before signing up to the website.
    • Silicon Valley’s dirtiest design feature – which is everywhere once you spot it – is the infinite scroll, likened to the “bottomless soup bowl” experiment, in which participants will keep mindlessly eating from a soup...

Origin

From Middle English scrowle, scrolle, from earlier scrowe, scrouwe (influenced by Middle English rolle), from Old French escroe, escrowe, escrouwe (“scroll, strip of parchment”), from Frankish *skrōda (“a shred”), from Proto-Germanic *skraudō, from *skrew- (“to cut; cutting tool”), extension of *(s)ker- (“to cut”). Doublet of shred and escrow.

Forms

scrolls

Verb

  1. To change one's view of data on a computer's display by moving in gradual increments, typically using an input device or touch screen.
    • She scrolled the offending image out of view.
    • She kept scrolling until she found the desired paragraph.
    • Use the stylus to scroll up and down the list or flip through the pages left and right. - 2008, “PDA”, in Cory in the House: Instruction Booklet, Burbank, California: Disney Interactive Studios; Nintendo, page 10:

    Coordinate Terms: swipe

  2. To move in or out of view horizontally or vertically.
    • The rising credits slowly scrolled off the screen.
    • The piano plays on. I watch those little rectangles as they scroll down from the top. - 2017, Patricia Taxxon, “Player Piano”, in Black and White:
    • Pavement scrolled beneath the headlight beams, reminding Emma of a conveyor belt. - 2018, Darrin Doyle, Scoundrels Among Us: Stories:
  3. To continuously and aimlessly consume content on social media, especially on websites or apps with a scrolling feed, such as Instagram, TikTok, or X.
    • With millions of creators worldwide, many of whom are generating income through brand partnerships, affiliate deals, and platform monetization, influencers are likely popping up any time you pick up a phone to scroll. -...
  4. To flood a chat system with numerous lines of text, causing legitimate messages to scroll out of view before they can be read.
    • Hey, stop scrolling!
    • It's cool but i know why I prefer newsgroups : I just got banned for scrolling or summat : i was typing one word in each message so pppl^([sic]) could read it cos it was going so fast - geez. - 1998, rOOth, “Brain's...
    • If you want to join this riot, we urge you to! You wont have to worry about being TOSed or reported because there will be no Guides online! So do whatever you want—punt, scroll, tos, just turn AOL into a war zone! -...
  5. To draft; to write in rough outline.

Forms

scrolls scrolling scrolled

Derived

cheesymite scroll doomscrolling garlic scroll infinite scroll overscroll push-scrolling scroll bar scroll-gall scroll lock scroll saw scroll weight scroll wheel scrollytelling side scroller side-scrolling Vitruvian scroll wave scroll