Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One of the short pieces of lumber supporting the floor of a scaffold.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In carpentry, one of a number of short pieces of timber used in building to carry the floor of a scaffold.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Arch.) One of the short pieces of timber on which the planks forming the floor of a scaffold are laid, -- one end resting on the ledger of the scaffold, and the other in a hole left in the wall temporarily for the purpose.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun architecture One of the short pieces of timber on which the planks forming the floor of a scaffold are laid, one end resting on the ledger of the scaffold, and the other in a hole left in the wall temporarily for the purpose.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Alteration (influenced by log) of obsolete putlock : perhaps put + lock.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From put +‎ log.

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Examples

  • He could not climb down the scaffolding, for it did not reach to the ground — it was built on joists stuck into putlog holes in the wall.

    The Pillars of the Earth FOLLETT, Ken 1989

  • The solid oak burst with the blow, and the gun stuck fast, like a builder's putlog.

    Lorna Doone; a Romance of Exmoor 1862

  • The solid oak burst with the blow, and the gun stuck fast, like a builder’s putlog.

    Lorna Doone Richard Doddridge 2004

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