scaffolding, vbl. n.
(ˈskæfəldɪŋ)
Forms: 4 skaf(f)aldyng, 5 scafaldynge, 5–6 Sc. scaffating, 6 Sc. scaffalding, scauffaulding, skaffeltein, skalfatting, 6– scaffolding. Also β. 6 skaffollyng, 7, 9 (dial.) scaffling.
[f. scaffold n. and v. + -ing1.]
1. The temporary framework of platforms and poles constructed to provide accommodation for workmen and their materials during the erection, repairing, or decoration of a building.
| 1347–8 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 546 In flakes et Skaffaldyng pro opere ejusdem capelle, 15 d. 1498 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 389 To mak scaffating for the masounis and holl barrowis. 1512 Ibid. IV. 279 Half ane hundretht rauchteris for skaffeltein. 1512 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 608 Lyme, sand, scaffoldyng,..and euery other thyng concernyng the same vawtyng. 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. Wks. 1851 III. 129 Knowing that their high office was but as the scaffolding of the Church yet unbuilt. 1760 Phil. Trans. LI. 636 It burnt the wooden props or scaffolding which supported the column. 1816 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 214 In London,..the scaffolding for the workmen, in erecting the walls of a building, is external; but in Liverpool,..the scaffolding is wholly within the building. 1859 Reeve in Jephson Brittany xvi. 268 note, The large building..on the right,..is new, the scaffolding not yet taken down. 1901 J. Black's Carp. & Build., Scaffolding 87 The old fashioned cradles, swing-boats, ladders, or pole scaffolding. |
| β 1531 Lett. & Pap. Hen. VIII, V. 185 Cartes caryng of skaffollyng out of the Kinges storehouse. 1663 Gerbier Counsel 27 Never..suffer them to begin their Scafflings in the morning. 1886 Cheshire Gloss., Scaffling, a scaffold for building. |
| fig. 1622 Massinger & Dekker Virg. Mart. ii. iii, The sight of whips, rackes, gibbets, axes, fires Are scaffoldings, by which my soule climbes vp To an Eternal habitation. 1697 C. Leslie Snake in Grass (ed. 2) 241 That is but scaffolding to pull down our Church, and to build their own. 1712 Pope Lett. (1735) I. 182 Sickness, contributing..to the shaking down this Scaffolding of the Body. 1718 Prior Knowledge 478 New change of terms, and scaffolding of words. 1742 Young Nt. Th. ix. 590 Teach me, by this stupendous scaffolding, Creation's golden steps, to climb to Thee. 1860 Pusey Min. Proph. Introd. p. viii, My wish has been to give the results rather than the process by which they were arrived at; to exhibit the building, not the scaffolding. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xviii. xiv. (1872) VIII. 58 That will be an excellent scaffolding for recapture of Silesia next year. 1874 Sayce Compar. Philol. i. 9 Laws of phonology..forming the scaffolding of the higher and more comprehensive generalisations of the master-science itself. |
† b. A wooden platform or framework;
= scaffold n. 3, 4, 7.
Obs.| 1537 Lyndesay Q. Magdalene 106 Minor Poems (1871) 557 Rycht costlie scaffalding, Depayntit weill with Gold and asure fyne. 1732 T. Lediard Sethos II. viii. 159 The lords and ladies were plac'd on scaffoldings behind the king. 1787 Generous Attachment III. 64 He ascended a small scaffolding, and from thence..harrangued them. 1789 Mrs. Piozzi Journ. France II. 27 Small calves dangle from a sort of neat scaffolding. |
c. Coal-mining. (See
quot.)
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 980 The upper portion of the coal is first worked, then a scaffolding of coal is left, 2 or 3 feet thick, according to the compactness of the coal. |
d. transf. A supporting framework.
| 1886 Mivart in Encycl. Brit. XX. 451/1 The skull of the Chamæleons has even more the aspect of an osseous scaffolding than has that of ordinary Lizards. |
2. The action of the verb
scaffold.
a. The formation of ‘scaffolds’ in a blast-furnace; also
concr. = scaffold n. 8.
| 1864 Percy Metall., Iron & Steel 491 The old method of blowing-in furnaces, called the ‘scaffolding’ system, is now seldom resorted to. 1880 Wright in Encycl. Brit. XIII 299/1 If the hearth slopes too gently, the fall of the materials downwards as the reduced metal and cinder melt is apt to be retarded, and ‘scaffolding’ to be produced. 1883 Science I. 102 At the Durham furnace, a chill had caused a large scaffolding. 1884 W. H. Greenwood Steel & Iron (ed. 2) 139 Blowing in, blowing out, scaffolding, &c., of the blast furnace. |
b. The action of placing on a scaffold.
| 1862 D. Wilson Preh. Man I. 366 The scaffolding and final sepulture of the bones of the dead, as practised among many of the Red Indian tribes. |
3. attrib. and
Comb. (
cf. scaffold n. 9), as
scaffolding † hole,
scaffolding pole,
scaffolding timber,
scaffolding work.
| 1512–13 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 610 Olde scaffoldyng tymbre. 1663 Gerbier Counsel 27 Make small scaffling holes. 1759 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Pinus, The Trees..will make good Putlocks for the Bricklayers, and serve for Scaffolding Poles. 1813 Vancouver Agric. Devon 89 The scaffolding-poles, planks, and ropes, are always provided by the employer. |