fold

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the act of folding

   I gave the napkins a double fold.

2. 2
   noun

   an angular or rounded shape made by folding

   a fold in the napkin

3. 3
   verb

   become folded or folded up

   The bed folds in a jiffy

4. 4
   verb

   bend or lay so that one part covers the other

   fold up the newspaper

5. 5
   verb

   To make the proper arrangement (in a thin material) by bending.

   If you fold the sheets, they'll fit more easily in the drawer.

6. 6
   verb

   To stir (semisolid ingredients) gently, with an action as if folding over a solid.

   Fold the egg whites into the batter.

7. 7
   verb

   To become folded; to form folds.

   Cardboard doesn't fold very easily.

8. 8
   verb

   To fall over; to collapse or give way; to be crushed.

   The chair folded under his enormous weight.

Etymology

The noun is from Middle English fold, fald, from Old English fald, falæd, falod (“fold, stall, stable, cattle-pen”), from Proto-West Germanic *falud, from Proto-Germanic *faludaz (“enclosure”). Akin to Scots fald, fauld (“an enclosure for livestock”), Dutch vaalt (“dung heap”), Middle Low German valt, vālt (“an inclosed space, a yard”), Danish fold (“pen for herbivorous livestock”), Swedish fålla (“corral, pen, pound”). The verb is from Late Middle English fooldyn, itself derived from the noun.