Adjacent Words

Fold definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FOLD, n. [See the verb, to fold.]
1. A pen or inclosure for sheep; a place where a flock of sheep is kept, whether in the field or under shelter.
2. A flock of sheep. Hence in a scriptural sense, the church, the flock of the Shepherd of Israel.
Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold. John 10.
3. A limit. [Not in use.]
FOLD, n.
1. The doubling of any flexible substance, as cloth; complication; a plait; one part turned or bent and laid on another; as a fold of linen.
2. In composition, the same quantity added; as two fold, four fold, ten fold, that is, twice as much, four times as much, ten times as much.
FOLD, v.t. [Heb. The primary sense is to fall, or to lay, to set, throw or press together.]
1. To double; to lap or lay in plaits; as, to fold a piece of cloth.
2. To double and insert one part in another; as, to fold a letter.
3. To double or lay together, as the arms. He folds his arms in despair.
4. To confine sheep in a fold.
FOLD, v.i. To close over another of the same kind; as, the leaves of the door fold.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an angular or rounded shape made by folding; "a fold in the napkin"; "a crease in his trousers"; "a plication on her blouse"; "a flexure of the colon"; "a bend of his elbow" [syn: fold, crease, plication, flexure, crimp, bend]
2: a group of people who adhere to a common faith and habitually attend a given church [syn: congregation, fold, faithful]
3: a geological process that causes a bend in a stratum of rock [syn: fold, folding]
4: a group of sheep or goats [syn: flock, fold]
5: a folded part (as in skin or muscle) [syn: fold, plica]
6: a pen for sheep [syn: fold, sheepfold, sheep pen, sheepcote]
7: the act of folding; "he gave the napkins a double fold" [syn: fold, folding] v
1: bend or lay so that one part covers the other; "fold up the newspaper"; "turn up your collar" [syn: fold, fold up, turn up] [ant: open, spread, spread out, unfold]
2: incorporate a food ingredient into a mixture by repeatedly turning it over without stirring or beating; "Fold the egg whites into the batter"
3: cease to operate or cause to cease operating; "The owners decided to move and to close the factory"; "My business closes every night at 8 P.M."; "close up the shop" [syn: close up, close, fold, shut down, close down] [ant: open, open up]
4: confine in a fold, like sheep [syn: pen up, fold]
5: become folded or folded up; "The bed folds in a jiffy" [syn: fold, fold up]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English falod; akin to Old Saxon faled enclosure Date: before 12th century 1. an enclosure for sheep 2. a. a flock of sheep b. a group of people or institutions that share a common faith, belief, activity, or enthusiasm II. transitive verb Date: before 12th century to pen up or confine (as sheep) in a fold III. verb Etymology: Middle English, from Old English fealdan; akin to Old High German faldan to fold, Greek diplasios twofold Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. to lay one part over another part of <fold a letter> 2. to reduce the length or bulk of by doubling over <fold a tent> 3. to clasp together ; entwine <fold the hands> 4. to clasp or enwrap closely ; embrace 5. to bend (as a layer of rock) into folds 6. a. to incorporate (a food ingredient) into a mixture by repeated gentle overturnings without stirring or beating b. to incorporate closely 7. a. to concede defeat by withdrawing (one's cards) from play (as in poker) b. to bring to an end intransitive verb 1. to become doubled or pleated 2. to fail completely ; collapse; especially to go out of business 3. to fold one's cards (as in poker) • foldable adjective IV. noun Date: 13th century 1. a part doubled or laid over another part ; pleat 2. something that is folded together or that enfolds 3. a. a bend or flexure produced in rock by forces operative after the depositing or consolidation of the rock b. chiefly British an undulation in the landscape 4. a margin apparently formed by the doubling upon itself of a flat anatomical structure (as a membrane) 5. a crease made by folding something (as a newspaper)

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. v. & n. --v. 1 tr. a bend or close (a flexible thing) over upon itself. b (foll. by back, over, down) bend a part of (a flexible thing) in the manner specified (fold down the flap). 2 intr. become or be able to be folded. 3 tr. (foll. by away, up) make compact by folding. 4 intr. (often foll. by up) colloq. a collapse, disintegrate. b (of an enterprise) fail; go bankrupt. 5 tr. poet. embrace (esp. fold in the arms or to the breast). 6 tr. (foll. by about, round) clasp (the arms); wrap, envelop. 7 tr. (foll. by in) mix (an ingredient with others) using a gentle cutting and turning motion. --n. 1 the act or an instance of folding. 2 a line made by or for folding. 3 a folded part. 4 a hollow among hills. 5 Geol. a curvature of strata. Phrases and idioms: fold one's arms place one's arms across the chest, side by side or entwined. fold one's hands clasp them. folding door a door with jointed sections, folding on itself when opened. folding money esp. US colloq. banknotes. fold-out an oversize page in a book etc. to be unfolded by the reader. Derivatives: foldable adj. Etymology: OE falden, fealden f. Gmc 2. n. & v. --n. 1 = SHEEPFOLD. 2 a body of believers or members of a Church. --v.tr. enclose (sheep) in a fold. Etymology: OE fald

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fold Fold, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Folded; p. pr. & vb. n. Folding.] [OE. folden, falden, AS. fealdan; akin to OHG. faltan, faldan, G. falten, Icel. falda, Dan. folde, Sw. f[*a]lla, Goth. fal?an, cf. Gr.? twofold, Skr. pu?a a fold. Cf. Fauteuil.] 1. To lap or lay in plaits or folds; to lay one part over another part of; to double; as, to fold cloth; to fold a letter. As a vesture shalt thou fold them up. --Heb. i. 12. 2. To double or lay together, as the arms or the hands; as, he folds his arms in despair. 3. To inclose within folds or plaitings; to envelop; to infold; to clasp; to embrace. A face folded in sorrow. --J. Webster. We will descend and fold him in our arms. --Shak. 4. To cover or wrap up; to conceal. Nor fold my fault in cleanly coined excuses. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fold Fold, v. i. To become folded, plaited, or doubled; to close over another of the same kind; to double together; as, the leaves of the door fold. --1 Kings vi. 34.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fold Fold, v. t. To confine in a fold, as sheep.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fold Fold, n. [From Fold, v. In sense 2 AS. -feald, akin to fealdan to fold.] 1. A doubling,esp. of any flexible substance; a part laid over on another part; a plait; a plication. Mummies . . . shrouded in a number of folds of linen. --Bacon. Folds are most common in the rocks of mountainous regions. --J. D. Dana. 2. Times or repetitions; -- used with numerals, chiefly in composition, to denote multiplication or increase in a geometrical ratio, the doubling, tripling, etc., of anything; as, fourfold, four times, increased in a quadruple ratio, multiplied by four. 3. That which is folded together, or which infolds or envelops; embrace. Shall from your neck unloose his amorous fold. --Shak. Fold net, a kind of net used in catching birds.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fold Fold, v. i. To confine sheep in a fold. [R.] The star that bids the shepherd fold. --Milton.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fold Fold, n. [OE. fald, fold, AS. fald, falod.] 1. An inclosure for sheep; a sheep pen. Leaps o'er the fence with ease into the fold. --Milton. 2. A flock of sheep; figuratively, the Church or a church; as, Christ's fold. There shall be one fold and one shepherd. --John x. 16. The very whitest lamb in all my fold. --Tennyson. 3. A boundary; a limit. [Obs.] --Creech. Fold yard, an inclosure for sheep or cattle.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(folds, folding, folded) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. If you fold something such as a piece of paper or cloth, you bend it so that one part covers another part, often pressing the edge so that it stays in place. He folded the paper carefully... Fold the omelette in half... ...a folded towel. VERB: V n, V n prep/adv, V-ed 2. A fold in a piece of paper or cloth is a bend that you make in it when you put one part of it over another part and press the edge. Make another fold and turn the ends together. = crease N-COUNT 3. The folds in a piece of cloth are the curved shapes which are formed when it is not hanging or lying flat. The priest fumbled in the folds of his gown. N-COUNT: usu pl 4. If a piece of furniture or equipment folds or if you can fold it, you can make it smaller by bending or closing parts of it. The back of the bench folds forward to make a table... This portable seat folds flat for easy storage... Check if you can fold the buggy without having to remove the raincover. ...a folding beach chair. VERB: V adv/prep, V adj, V n, V-ing, also V n adj • Fold up means the same as fold. When not in use it folds up out of the way... Fold the ironing board up so that it is flat. ? unfold PHRASAL VERB: V P, V n P 5. If you fold your arms or hands, you bring them together and cross or link them, for example over your chest. Meer folded his arms over his chest and turned his head away... Mrs Ringrose sat down and folded her hands in her lap. VERB: V n, V n 6. If a business or organization folds, it is unsuccessful and has to close. (mainly BRIT BUSINESS) 2,500 small businesses were folding each week. VERB: V 7. When someone joins an organization or group, you can say that they have come into the fold. When they leave the organization or group, you can say that they leave the fold. The EU wanted to bring the US back into the fold... He might find it difficult to return to the family fold when he realizes his mistake. N-SING: the/poss N, usu the supp N

Easton's Bible Dictionary

an enclosure for flocks to rest together (Isa. 13:20). Sheep-folds are mentioned Num. 32:16, 24, 36; 2 Sam. 7:8; Zeph. 2:6; John 10:1, etc. It was prophesied of the cities of Ammon (Ezek. 25:5), Aroer (Isa. 17:2), and Judaea, that they would be folds or couching-places for flocks. "Among the pots," of the Authorized Version (Ps. 68:13), is rightly in the Revised Version, "among the sheepfolds."

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Pen (for sheep), cot or cote, enclosure. 2. Flock (or sheep). 3. Plait, double, doubling, folding, gather, plicature. II. v. a. 1. Double, lay in folds. 2. Wrap, inwrap, envelop, infold.

Moby Thesaurus

KO, alveolation, alveolus, antrum, arena, armpit, assembly, average, bang, bar, barricade, basin, batten, batten down, be ruined, become insolvent, bend, bisect, bolt, bomb, bosom, bowl, break, brethren, bust, button, button up, call off, cancel, cave, cave in, cavity, choke, choke off, churchgoers, cincture, clap, clasp, class, clip, close, close down, close up, coat, coating, collapse, collop, complete, concave, concavity, confine, congregation, constrict, contain, container, contract, coop, corrugation, court, courtyard, cover, covering, crap out, crash, crater, crease, crimp, crinkle, crisp, crypt, cup, curtilage, cut, deal, deflate, delete, delimited field, depression, dip, disk, dispose of, dog-ear, double, double over, draw a blank, drop a bomb, drop the ball, drop the curtain, embosom, embrace, enclave, enclose, enclosure, end off, enfold, envelop, enwrap, expunge, extinguish, fail, fall in, fan, fasten, feuille, field, film, finalize, finish, flap, flock, flop, flounce, flummox, flute, foil, fold over, fold up, follicle, frill, funnel chest, furrow, gather, get it over, get left, get over with, get through with, give the quietus, give way, go bankrupt, go broke, go into receivership, go to pot, go to ruin, go under, go up, ground, hole, hollow, hollow shell, hug, implode, infold, interfold, kayo, key, kibosh, kill, knock out, lacuna, laity, lamella, lamina, laminated glass, laminated wood, lap, lap over, latch, lay an egg, laymen, leaf, list, lock, lock out, lock up, lose out, membrane, middle, minyan, nonclerics, nonordained persons, not hack it, not make it, occlude, overlap, padlock, pale, paling, pane, panel, parish, parishioners, park, patina, peel, pellicle, pen, people, perfect, pit, plait, plank, plat, plate, plating, pleat, plica, plicate, plumb, ply, plywood, pocket, polish off, press, pucker, punch bowl, puncture, put paid to, quad, quadrangle, quill, rasher, ridge, rimple, rivel, ruck, ruff, ruffle, safety glass, scoop, scrag, scum, seal, seal off, seal up, seculars, secure, sheep, sheet, shell, shoot down, shut, shut down, shut the door, shut up, sink, sinus, skin, slab, slam, slat, slice, snap, society, socket, square, squeeze, squeeze shut, strangle, strike out, table, tablet, take the count, theater, toft, trough, tuck, turn over, twill, veneer, vug, wafer, whiff, wipe out, wrap, wrinkle, yard, zap, zip up, zipper