fold

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To bend something so that one part lies over another.

   She folded the letter and put it in an envelope.

2. 2
   verb

   To bend so as to take up less space, often of furniture or objects designed for this.

   This chair folds flat for easy storage.

3. 3
   noun

   A line or mark made where something is folded or bent.

   There was a sharp fold down the middle of the page.

4. 4
   verb

   To gently mix a soft ingredient into a mixture by turning it over.

   Carefully fold the egg whites into the batter.

Common collocations

• fold clothes Verb + noun
• fold pants Verb + noun

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.

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