Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Fold?

\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[*a]lla, Goth. fal?an, cf. Gr.? twofold, Skr. pu?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. 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.
\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.
\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.
\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.
\Fold\, v. t. To confine in a fold, as sheep.
\Fold\, v. i. To confine sheep in a fold. [R.] The star that bids the shepherd fold. --Milton.