Word: fold Part of Speech: verb 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”). Cognate with Dutch vouwen, German falten. The noun is from Middle English folde, falde, itself derived from the verb. Pronunciation: /ˈfəʊld/, [ˈfɒʊɫd], /ˈfɒld/, /ˈfəwld/, [ˈfɔwɫd] 1. To bend (any thin material, such as paper) over so that it comes in contact with itself. Labels: transitive Example: Next, fold the paper over, so the right half is on top of the left half. Example: The newspaper was folded under his arm. 2. To make the proper arrangement (in a thin material) by bending. Labels: transitive Example: If you fold the sheets, they'll fit more easily in the drawer. Example: The clothes were folded by the housekeeper. 3. To draw or coil (one’s arms, a snake’s body, etc.) around something so as to enclose or embrace it. Labels: transitive 4. To stir (semisolid ingredients) gently, with an action as if folding over a solid. Labels: transitive Example: Fold the egg whites into the batter. Example: 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. 5. To become folded; to form folds. Labels: intransitive Example: Cardboard doesn't fold very easily. 6. To fall over; to collapse or give way; to be crushed. Labels: informal, intransitive Example: The chair folded under his enormous weight. 7. To give way on a point or in an argument. Labels: intransitive, transitive Example: He folded that point and didn't bring it up again. Example: He kept saying it was my fault, but when I brought up Sausalito, he folded. 8. To withdraw from betting. Labels: intransitive Example: With no hearts in the river and no chance to hit his straight, he folded. 9. To withdraw or quit in general. Labels: broadly, intransitive 10. To fail, to collapse, to disband. Labels: intransitive 11. Of a company, to cease to trade. Labels: intransitive Example: The company folded after six quarters of negative growth. 12. To double or lay together (one’s arms, hands, wings, etc.) so as to overlap with each other. Labels: transitive Example: He folded his arms in defiance. 13. To plait or mat (hair) together. Labels: obsolete, transitive 14. To enclose in a fold of material, to swathe, wrap up, cover, enwrap. Labels: transitive 15. To enclose within folded arms, to clasp, to embrace (see also enfold). Labels: transitive Example: 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. 16. To cover up, to conceal. Labels: figuratively, transitive Example: 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. 17. To ensnare, to capture. Labels: obsolete, transitive 18. To split (a line of text) across multiple lines, to obey line length limitations. Labels: transitive