ENGLISH
REFERENCE

fold

n. countable
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford US //ˈfoʊɫd// UK //fˈəʊld// fold Archaic Dialect General-service Informal Literary

n. a line or mark made by bending something like paper or cloth. You can also use it to describe a part of something that is tucked over another part.

n. a line or crease produced by doubling a flexible material over upon itself. Often refers to the resulting layer or the mark left behind after unfolding.


SIMPLE

Make a sharp fold in the middle of the paper.

CONTEXTUAL

The chef showed the students how to create a perfect fold in the pastry to keep the butter inside.

COMPLEX

Geologists study the dramatic fold in the rock layers to understand the immense tectonic pressure that shaped the mountain range millions of years ago.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology 1

The verb is from Middle English folden, from Old English fealdan, from Proto-West Germanic falþan, from Proto-Germanic falþaną (“to fold”), from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to fold”). The noun is from Middle English folde, falde, itself derived from the verb.

Etymology 2

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.

Etymology 3

From Middle English folde, from Old English folde (“earth, land, country, district, region, territory, ground, soil, clay”), from Proto-Germanic fuldǭ, fuldō (“earth, ground; field; the world”). Cognate with Old Norse fold (“earth, land, field”), Norwegian and Icelandic fold (“land, earth, meadow”).

Usage

Commonly used with the preposition 'in' to describe where the crease is located.

Idioms4 entries

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