scaffoldings

Noun

scaffolding (usually uncountable, plural scaffoldings)

1. (usually) A temporary modular system of tubes, bamboo or wood forming a framework used to support people and material in the construction or repair of buildings and other large structures.
   • […] 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.2007 December 21, The New York Times, “Museum and Gallery Listings”, in New York Times
2. (usually) Source code etc. that is incomplete and serves as a basis for further development.
3. (figuratively, usually) Any framework or support.
   • We refer to the process by which socialization agents support emotional activity within the child as emotional scaffolding.2013, Michael F. Mascolo, Sharon Griffin, What Develops in Emotional Development?, page 205