scroll

plural scrolls

1. A roll of paper or parchment; a writing formed into a roll.
2. architectureAn 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 one of their own poems, Hanover and London: University Press of New England for Middlebury College Press, published 1997, →ISBN, page 31

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. artsThe 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. geometryA skew surface.
7. cookingA kind of sweet roll baked in a somewhat spiral shape.

   I ordered a glass of lemonade and a coffee scroll.

8. computer graphicsThe 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 Lózar Muñoz, Liquid Crystal Dynamics: Defects, Walls and Gels, page 1

9. engineeringA spiral waterway placed round a turbine to regulate the flow.
10. anatomyA turbinate bone.
11. obsoleteA rough draft of anything.
12. computingThe act of scrolling.

    I gave the terms and conditions a quick scroll before signing up to the website.

    1 more example

    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 bowl if it keeps refilling.

    2024 December 9, Siân Boyle, “Is doom scrolling really rotting our brains? The evidence is getting harder to ignore”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 26 Feb 2026

present singular third person scrolls · participle present scrolling · participle past scrolled · past scrolled

1. ambitransitivecomputingTo 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.

   3 more examples

   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

   He usually used it to scroll messages across his face.

   2011, Scott Sigler, The All-Pro, BookBaby

2. intransitiveTo move in or out of view horizontally or vertically.

   The rising credits slowly scrolled off the screen.

   2 more examples

   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. intransitiveTo 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.

   2026 March 9, Cyrus Veyssi, “In Defense of Influencers”, in TIME, archived from the original on 14 Mar 2026

4. InternetdatedintransitiveTo 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!

   2 more examples

   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 chat”, in alt.music.queen (Usenet)

   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!

   2003, Michael Newton, The Encyclopedia of High-tech Crime and Crime-fighting, AOL Riot on June 1, 1998, page 21

5. obsoletetransitiveTo draft; to write in rough outline.