fold

fold
    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}]
    

Fold \Fold\, n. [OE. fald, fold, AS. fald, falod.]
   1. An inclosure for sheep; a sheep pen.
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            Leaps o'er the fence with ease into the fold.
                                                  --Milton.
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   2. A flock of sheep; figuratively, the Church or a church;
      as, Christ's fold.
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            There shall be one fold and one shepherd. --John x.
                                                  16.
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            The very whitest lamb in all my fold. --Tennyson.
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   3. A boundary; a limit. [Obs.] --Creech.
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   {Fold yard}, an inclosure for sheep or cattle.
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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.
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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.
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            Mummies . . . shrouded in a number of folds of
            linen.                                --Bacon.
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            Folds are most common in the rocks of mountainous
            regions.                              --J. D. Dana.
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   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.
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   3. That which is folded together, or which infolds or
      envelops; embrace.
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            Shall from your neck unloose his amorous fold.
                                                  --Shak.
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   {Fold net}, a kind of net used in catching birds.
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Fold \Fold\ (f[=o]ld), 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[thorn]an, cf. Gr. di-pla`sios twofold,
   Skr. pu[.t]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.
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            As a vesture shalt thou fold them up. --Heb. i. 12.
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   2. To double or lay together, as the arms or the hands; as,
      he folds his arms in despair.
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   3. To inclose within folds or plaitings; to envelop; to
      infold; to clasp; to embrace.
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            A face folded in sorrow.              --J. Webster.
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            We will descend and fold him in our arms. --Shak.
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   4. To cover or wrap up; to conceal.
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            Nor fold my fault in cleanly coined excuses. --Shak.
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Fold \Fold\, v. t.
   To confine in a fold, as sheep.
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Fold \Fold\, v. i.
   To confine sheep in a fold. [R.]
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         The star that bids the shepherd fold.    --Milton.
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Fold
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."
    

269 Moby Thesaurus words for "fold":
      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