scaffolding

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• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈskæfəldɪŋ/, /ˈskæˌfoʊldɪŋ/

Inherited from Middle English scaffaldyng, skaffaldyng, equivalent to scaffold +‎ -ing.

scaffolding (usually uncountable, plural scaffoldings)

1. A temporary modular system of tubes (or formerly wood) forming a framework used to support people and material in the construction or repair of buildings and other large structures.
   • 2007 December 21, The New York Times, “Museum and Gallery Listings”, in New York Times‎:

     […] transparent scaffoldings partially draped with often hallucinatory nets of lines, gouges, hatching and cross-hatching that somehow also depict varying degrees of flesh, features and expression.

2. (programming) Source code etc. that is incomplete and serves as a basis for further development.
3. (figurative) Any framework or support.
   • 2013, Michael F. Mascolo, ‎Sharon Griffin, What Develops in Emotional Development? (page 205)

     We refer to the process by which socialization agents support emotional activity within the child as emotional scaffolding.

• scaffold
• scaffolder

From scaffold +‎ -ing.

scaffolding

1. present participle of scaffold