scaffold

/ˈskæfoʊld/

/ˈskæfəʊld/

Other forms: scaffolding; scaffolds; scaffolded

An elevated temporary platform is called a scaffold. The scaffold is used because it is much safer and efficient to have workers and their materials on a platform than scrambling up and down ladders all day.

A scaffold is also the platform on which criminals used to be executed publicly by hanging or beheading. If you watch a lot of swashbuckler movies, you'll have seen depictions of a helpless person being threatened with beheading by a villain on a scaffold in a crowded square. Suddenly, out of the crowd a hero appears and saves the day, after which they ride off into the sunset.

Definitions of scaffold

1. noun

   a temporary arrangement erected around a building for convenience of workers
   type of:

   arrangement

   an orderly grouping (of things or persons) considered as a unit; the result of arranging
2. noun

   a platform from which criminals are executed (hanged or beheaded)
   type of:

   platform

   a raised horizontal surface
3. verb

   provide with a scaffold for support
   “scaffold the building before painting it”

   type of:

   hold, hold up, support, sustain

   be the physical support of; carry the weight of