fold
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfəʊld/
ipa: [ˈfɔʊ(ɫ)d]
ipa: [ˈfɒʊ(ɫ)d]
enpr: fōld
ipa: /foʊld/
ipa: /fəʉld/
ipa: [fəʉɫd]
ipa: /faʉld/
ipa: [faʉɫd]
homophone: foaled
rhymes: -əʊld
Forms: form: folds
form: folding
form: folded
form: folded
form: folden
Etymology: The verb is from Middle English folden, from Old English fealdan, from Proto-West Germanic *falþan, from Proto-Germanic *falþaną (“to fold”), from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to fold”).
The noun is from Middle English folde, falde, itself derived from the verb.
Senses: glosses: To bend (any thin material, such as paper) over so that it comes in contact with itself.
examples: text: If you fold the sheets, they'll fit more easily in the drawer.
glosses: To make the proper arrangement (in a thin material) by bending.
glosses: To draw or coil (one’s arms, a snake’s body, etc.) around something so as to enclose or embrace it.
examples: text: Fold the egg whites into the batter.
text: 8 Jan 2020, Felicity Cloake in The Guardian, How to make the perfect gluten-free chocolate brownies – recipe
if you want to make life really easy for yourself, may I point you in the direction of Sunflour’s recipe, which folds four eggs and 150g ground almonds into 500g chocolate spread.
topics: cooking
food
lifestyle
glosses: To stir (semisolid ingredients) gently, with an action as if folding over a solid.
examples: text: Cardboard doesn't fold very easily.
glosses: To become folded; to form folds.
examples: text: The chair folded under his enormous weight.
synonyms: buckle#English:_collapse or crumple physically
cave#Verb
cave in#Verb
crumple#Verb
glosses: To fall over; to collapse or give way; to be crushed.
synonyms: buckle#English:_give way, give up, surrender
cave#Verb
cave in#Verb
crumple#Verb
glosses: To give way on a point or in an argument.
examples: text: With no hearts in the river and no chance to hit his straight, he folded.
topics: card-games
poker
glosses: To withdraw from betting.
glosses: To withdraw or quit in general.
glosses: To fail, to collapse, to disband.
examples: text: The company folded after six quarters of negative growth.
topics: business
glosses: Of a company, to cease to trade.
examples: text: He folded his arms in defiance.
glosses: To double or lay together (one’s arms, hands, wings, etc.) so as to overlap with each other.
glosses: To plait or mat (hair) together.
glosses: To enclose in a fold of material, to swathe, wrap up, cover, enwrap.
examples: text: He put out his arms and folded her to his breast. And for a while she lay there sobbing. He looked at us over her bowed head, with eyes that blinked damply above his quivering nostrils. His mouth was set as steel.
ref: 1897, Bram Stoker, chapter 21, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC:
glosses: To enclose within folded arms, to clasp, to embrace (see also enfold).
examples: text: I will not poyſon thee with my attaint, / Nor fold my fault in cleanly coin’d excuſes, / My ſable ground of ſinne I will not paint, / To hide the truth of this falſe nights abuſes.
ref: 1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto), London: […] Richard Field, for Iohn Harrison, […], →OCLC:
glosses: To cover up, to conceal.
glosses: To ensnare, to capture.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
antonyms: unfold
glosses: To split (a line of text) across multiple lines, to obey line length limitations.
Synonyms: sense: bend (thin material) over
word: bend
sense: bend (thin material) over
word: crease
sense: fall over
word: fall over
sense: give way on a point or in an argument
word: concede
sense: give way on a point or in an argument
word: give in
sense: give way on a point or in an argument
word: give way
sense: give way on a point or in an argument
word: yield
Derived terms: sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: befold
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: foldability
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: foldable
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: foldase
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: foldaway
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: fold away
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: foldboat
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: fold-down
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: fold down
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: folder
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: fold flat
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: folding money
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: fold like a cheap suit
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: fold like a cheap suitcase
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: fold like a cheap tent
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: fold like a lawn chair
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: fold mirror
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: fold net
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: foldome
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: foldon
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: fold one's arms
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: fold one's tent
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: foldopathy
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: fold out
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: fold-out
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: foldover
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: foldscope
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: fold up
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: infold
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: know when to fold 'em
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: misfold
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: outfold
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: overfold
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: prefold
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: refold
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: unfold
sense: Terms derived from fold (verb)
word: upfold