See Also: Fold(casino)
Fold(money)
fold(2)(dictionary)
fold(3)(dictionary)
fold(4)(dictionary)
fold(5)(dictionary)
fold(6)(dictionary)
FOLD-COURSE, Eng(law)
fold(encyclopedia)
fold(medicine)

fold(5) (iou)



fold verb1.
[Old English faldan, fealdan = Middle Dutch vouden (vouwen), Old High German faltan (German falten), Old Norse falda, Gothic falTan, from Germanic redupl. strong verb.]
verb trans. Double or bend (a flexible thing) over on itself (also foll. by in, over, together); bend (a portion of a thing) back, down. OE.
W. H. Auden He envies those who have learned, / when reading newspapers, / how to fold them.
b. verb trans. Geology. Cause (rock strata etc.) to undergo bending or curvature. L19.
verb trans. Lay (the arms etc.) together so as to overlap or intertwine; clasp (the hands) together or (now usu.) together. OE.
R. Cobb Even if they had had wings, they would have kept them prudently folded. C. P. Snow His hands, folded on his blotting-paper, stood out heavy-knuckled.
b. Plait; mat (hair). LME-L16.
verb trans. & intrans. Coil, wind. Now only with about, round. ME.
verb trans. Enclose (as) in a fold or folds, swathe, envelop (foll. by in, with); embrace, clasp in one's arms or to one's breast. ME.
Tennyson Shadows of the silver birk Sweep the green that folds thy grave. E. Wharton Mrs Fisher..had folded her in a demonstrative embrace.
verb intrans. Yield to pressure so as to become folded, admit of being folded. Formerly also fig., falter, lose courage; yield, succumb. Now chiefly as folding ppl adjective. ME.
b. Geology. Of rock strata etc.: undergo bending or curvature. M19.
c. Collapse; cease to function, go bankrupt. Also foll. by up. E20.
A. Burgess His trick cycle folded under him. S. Bellow Competitors are trying to steal my chemist from me. Without him I'll have to fold.
verb trans. & intrans. Bend (oneself, a limb, etc.), bow. ME-E17.
With adverbs in specialized senses: fold away make more compact by folding. fold in Cookery add (an ingredient) gently with a spoon, fork, etc., so as to mix it in without stirring or beating. fold out admit of being unfolded. fold up = fold away above; (see also sense 5c above).
Comb.: foldaway adjective adapted to be folded away; foldboat [translating German Faltboot] = FALTBOAT; fold-out noun & adjective (an oversize page in a magazine etc.) which has to be unfolded by the reader; fold-up adjective adapted to be folded up.
foldable adjective L19.