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�x86;lla, Goth. falan, cf. Gr. twofold, Skr. pua 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 1913.


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 1913.


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 1913.


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.

 

© Webster 1913.


Fold, v. t.

To confine in a fold, as sheep.

 

© Webster 1913.


Fold, v. i.

To confine sheep in a fold.

[R.]

The star that bids the shepherd fold. Milton.

 

© Webster 1913.