▪ I. † fold, n.1 Obs.
Forms: 1 folde, 3–5 folde, (3 south. volde, 4 foulde), 4– fold.
[OE. folde wk. fem. = OLG. folda, ON. fold:—OTeut. *foldôn-, *foldâ, prob. related to *felþu field n.]
1. a. The surface of the earth; the ground. b. Dry land; the earth, as the dwelling-place of man. in, on, upon fold: on the earth; often as a mere expletive.
| Beowulf 1137 (Gr.) Þa wæs winter scacen, Fæᵹer foldan bearm. c 1000 Judith 281 (Gr.) He..ᵹefeoll..to foldan. c 1205 Lay. 1922 Al þe feond to-barst ær he to folde come. Ibid. 15730 Nat ic on folde What his fader weoren. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 643 Formest þo in fold He lete him in þring. c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 422 Þe kay fote on þe folde he be-fore sette. c 1350 Will. Palerne 5382 A kastel ful nobul, Þe fairest vpon fold. c 1400 Rowland & O. 418 Then sayde thies Damesels fre one folde. a 1400–50 Alexander 2087 Fey falne to þe fold many fers erlis. c 1440 Bone Flor. 342 Many other waturs come thorow the town, That fresche are upon folde. c 1450 Henryson Poems (1865) 24, I was..Ane freik on fold, as fair..as ye. c 1470 Henry Wallace iii. 385 Felle frekis on fold war fallyt wndyr feit. |
2. A country, district, land.
| a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 1969 (Gr.) Þa wæs guðhergum be Jordane wera eðelland wide ᵹeondsended, folde feondum. c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 25 Mo ferlyes on þis folde han fallen here oft þen in any oþer þat I wot. |
3. Comb., as foldsitter, of the hare: one who sits on the ground.
| a 1325 Names Hare in Rel. Ant. I. 133 The fitelfot, the foldsittere. |
▪ II. fold, n.2
(fəʊld)
Forms: 1 falæd, falod, falud, 1–2 fald, 3–5 fald(e, (3 south. vold), 4–6 fo(u)ld(e, (5 foolde), 5–6 Sc. fald, 5–9 Sc. fauld, 9 dial. faud, fowd, fowt.
[OE. falæd, falod, falud, fald, str. masc., app. corresp. to MLG. vālt, mod.LG. falt, Du. vaalt, EFris. folt enclosed space, dunghill.]
1. A pen or enclosure for domestic animals, esp. sheep.
| a 700 Epinal Gloss. 959 Stabulum, falaed. a 800 Corpus Gloss. 310 Bofellum, falud. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. John x. 1 Se þe ne gæð æt þam gete into sceapa falde..he is þeof. a 1100 Gerefa in Anglia (1886) IX. 260 Ge on felda, ᵹe on falde. c 1200 Ormin 3339 Till hirdess þær þær þeȝȝ þat nihht Biwokenn þeȝȝre faldess. a 1300 Cursor M. 3671 (Cott.) Jacob went vn to þe fald And broght þe bestes. 1382 Wyclif John x. 1 In to the fold of the scheep. c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 177 Twa scheipe thai tuk besid thaim of a fauld. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §6 To be set in a folde all nyghte without meate. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 530 Oft the Flocks,..Nor Folds, nor hospitable Harbour know. 1788 Burns My Hoggie ii, The lee-lang night we watch'd the fauld, Me and my faithfu' doggie. 1800 Wordsw. Pet Lamb 48 Our house shall be thy fold. |
b. fig., esp in a spiritual sense.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 4640 In haly kirkes falde. 1541 Barnes Wks. (1573) 247 You come into the fold of Christ without him. 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV (an. 14) 232 To kepe the wolfe from the folde, that is the Frenche kynge from your Castels and dominions. 1821 Shelley Death Napoleon 5 The last of the flock of the starry fold. 1868 G. Duff Pol. Surv. 182 Although South America is nominally Catholic, there are few parts of the fold which give more anxiety at Rome. |
c. The sheep contained in a fold. Also † the movable fold, and the sheep penned in it.
| 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 219 To run the Fold over it, and well settle it. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. vii. 73 The bleating Fold. 1742 Collins Eclog. iii. 14 Till late at silent eve she penn'd the fold. |
d. transf. An enclosure of any kind; a dwelling. † in fere and fold: in prison together.
| c 1435 Torr. Portugal 309 In a dongon..Fowyre good erylles sonnys..Ys fet in fere and fold. 1513 Douglas æneis ix. x. 18 Inclositt amyd ane fald of stakis. 1552 Huloet, Folde, or packe, or pownde to pinne distress, caula. 1847 Tennyson Princ. v. 380 Far off from men I built a fold for them. |
2. An enclosed piece of ground forming part of a farm, as a farm-yard.
| c 1450 Henryson Poems (1865) 6 Be firth, forrest, or fauld. 1500–20 Dunbar Thistle & Rose 68 That no schouris..Effray suld flouris or fowlis on the fold. 1802 R. Anderson Cumberld. Ball. 49 Auld Marget in the fauld she sits. |
b. transf. The ‘yard’ belonging to a mill, etc.; a cluster of houses standing in such a yard.
| 1863 Lancash. Fents, New Shirt 3 A pretty weaver lass..had taken her sewing up the ‘fowt’. 1882 Lanc. Gloss., Fold, Fowd, or Fowt, a cluster of houses. 1889 Baring-Gould Pennycomequicks (1890) 58 The houses in the ‘folds’ were deserted. |
3. attrib. and Comb., as fold-manure, fold-stake, fold-stead; also fold-garth, -yard, farm-yard; fold-mucked a., (ground) manured by folding sheep upon it; fold-pitcher, an iron crowbar used in pitching or setting up hurdles; fold-shore (see quot. 1813); fold-tread v. = fold v.2 2; foldwards adv., towards the fold.
| 1788 W. Marshall E. Yorksh. Gloss., *Foldgarth, farm⁓yard. 1876 Whitby Gloss., Faud-garth, the fold-yard. |
| 1829 Bone Manure, Rep. Doncast. Commission 5 Forty or fifty cart loads of *fold manure. |
| 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 17 Wee can neaver gette above one Demaine-flatte *fold⁓mucked in a whole summer. |
| 1832 Q. Jrnl. Agric. III. 648 Setting hurdles is most expeditiously done by the aid of a..*fold pitcher. |
| 1813 T. Davis Agric. Wilts. 63 Fossels, or *Fold-shores, the stakes to which the hurdles are fastened with a loose twig-wreath at the top. 1878 Jackson in Wilts. Archæol. Mag. XVII. 304 The fold-shores. |
| c 1475 Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 814 Hic palus, a *foldstake. |
| 1663 MS. Indenture (Barlby, Yorks.), 2 gardens and 2 *fold⁓steads. |
| 1854 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XV. ii. 420 [He] also *fold-treads his turnip-land before the seed is drilled. |
| 1870 Morris Earthly Par. I. ii. 462 Who stood awhile..Then slowly gat him *foldwards. |
| 1800 Gentl. Mag. II. 1291 He..had been feeding him in the *fold yard. 1839 Selby in Proc. Berw. Nat. Club I. No. 7. 192 The..Finch tribe..found..food..in the stack and fold-yards. |
▪ III. fold, n.3
(fəʊld)
Forms: 4–5 falde, 4–6 folde, 4 felde, (6 folte), 6–7 foulde, 3– fold.
[ME. fald, f. fald-en, fold v.1; cf. MDu. voude (Du. vouw), OHG. falt masc. (MHG. valte, mod.Ger. falte fem.), ON. fald-r masc., falda fem. (Sw. fåll, Da. fold).
OE. had fyld, *field:—WGer. *faldi-z of equivalent formation, but it did not survive into ME.]
1. a. A bend or ply, such as is produced when any more or less flexible object is folded; one of the parts, or both of them together, which are brought together in folding; spec. (see quot. 1882). † In early poetic use, in fold, of rich fold, is a formula often introduced with little meaning in descriptions of costly garments.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 23452 (Cott.) In clething cled o riche fald. c 1325 Metr. Hom. 113 Uestement of riche fold. a 1400 Sir Perc. 32 He gaffe his sister hym tille..With robes in folde. ? c 1475 Sqr. Lowe Degre 835 Your curtaines of camaca, all in folde. 1513 Douglas æneis viii. viii. 94 Thai byd display thair banaris out of faldis. 1689 Lond. Gaz. No. 2470/4 Several Pieces of Guilix and Gentish Hollands in the Long Fold. 1741 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Drapery, The folds..should be so managed that you may easily perceive what it is that they cover. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles iv. xxvi, The monarch's mantle too he bore, And drew the fold his visage o'er. 1852 Seidel Organ 36 When blown, these bellows form two, three, or more folds. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 105/1 s.v. Angle-joint, g has a fold to each plate; these lock upon each other. 1882 Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework, Folds, the draping produced by Pleating or Gathering at the waist of a skirt; or the flat plaits on any part of a skirt, bodice or sleeve, secured at each end to the dress to keep them in place. |
| fig. 1605 Shakes. Lear i. i 221 A thing so monstrous, to dismantle So many folds of fauour! 1683 Drysen Life Plutarch 113 The folds and doubles of Sylla's disposition. 1742 Young Nt. Th. iv. 733 My heart is thine; Deep in its inmost folds, Live thou. 1820 Shelley Sensit. Plant i. 31 Till, fold after fold, to the fainting air The soul of her beauty and love lay bare. 1873 Max Müller Sc. Relig. 1 The flowing folds of language. |
b. A similar configuration in animal and vegetable structures.
| a 1250 Owl & Night. 602 A mong þe folde of harde rinde. 1562 W. Bullein Bk. Sicke Men 50 a, Masticke..will..not suffre Scamonie, to cliue to the foltes [1579 foldes] of the stomacke. 1651 Life Father Sarpi 30 Those inward shuts or folds that are within the veines. 1731 Arbuthnot Aliments vi. viii. 217 The inward Coat of a Lion's Stomach has stronger Folds than a Human. 1841–71 T. R. Jones Anim. Kingd. 522 A fold of the alimentary canal. 1854 Owen Teeth in Orr's Circ. Sc., Organ. Nat. I. 283 The folds of enamel that penetrate the substance of the tooth. 1888 Rolleston & Jackson Forms Anim. Life 294 Two ‘mantle’ folds, one dorsal, the other ventral, line the corresponding valves... A ‘brachial’ groove bounded on its inner side by a prominent fold or lip. Ibid. 692 They [sc. the valves of Coelomate Metazoa] are lined by two mantle folds or extensions of the body walls. 1895 Cambr. Nat. Hist. III. 264 The folds or plaits on the columella, which are often characteristic of the genus or even family (e.g. Fasciolariidae, Mitridae, Turbinellidae) are not merely external, but continue down the whole spire. 1942 L. H. Hyman Compar. Vertebr. Anat. (ed. 2) xi. 289 The tonsillar fossa is bounded in front and behind by low folds. 1949 A. S. Romer Vertebr. Body x. 294 In jawed fishes, amphibians and reptiles, the lips are in general small and unimportant skin folds. 1964 W. W. Ballard Compar. Anat. & Embryol. xi. 193 The amnion is usually formed through the agency of two crescentic amniotic folds. |
c. A winding or sinuosity; spec. an undulation or gentle curve of the ground; a slight hill or hollow; the general grouping of heights and hollows.
| a 1250 Owl & Night. 696 Ȝif he ne con his wit atholde Ne fint he red in one folde. 1555 Eden Decades 178 The fouldes or indented places of the mountaynes. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 113 That towne..stood as it were in a fold, or plait, or nouke thereof [i.e. of the gulf]. 1832 W. Irving Alhambra II. 231 The folds of the mountains. 1869 G. M. Hopkins Jrnl. 27 June (1959) 191 Br. Sidgreaves has heard the high ridges of a field called folds and the hollow between the drip. 1887 Bowen Virg. æneid ii. 748 The winding folds of the glen. 1901 Daily News 19 Jan. 5/3 Four companies of the Rifle Brigade were concealed behind a fold of ground. 1904 A. E. Fletcher Gainsborough 88 The fold of the fields and the grouping of trees. 1930 Morning Post 17 June 20/5 Delightful house in a fold of the Downs. |
d. A layer or ‘thickness’ (of cloth, etc.); a coat (of an onion). † With numerals, sing. in pl. sense.
| 1527 Andrew Brunswyke's Distyll. Waters D j b, Two or iii folde of clowte wet in the same water. 1626 Bacon Sylva §771 The Ancient ægyptian Mummies were shrowded in a Number of Folds of Linnen. 1675 Hobbes Odyssey (1677) 232 The fold of a dry onion. 1697 Dryden æneid v. 538 With sev'n distinguish'd folds Of tough Bull Hides. 1804 Med. Jrnl. XII. 64 Wrapping up the part in several folds of flannel. 1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 116 It must be..dried between folds of blotting paper. |
e. In a serpent's body: A coil.
| 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 879 An adder Wreath'd vp in fatall folds. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 498–9 Circular base of rising foulds, that tour'd Fould above fould a surging Maze. 1697 Creech Manilius i. 14 Secure from meeting they're distinctly roll'd, Nor leave their Seats, and pass the dreadfull fold [of the constellation Draco]. 1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 93 Serpents..clasp you in their folds. |
f. A length (of string) between two bends.
| 1839 G. Bird Nat. Philos. 69 Each fold of string sustains a share of the weight. |
g. Building. (See quot.)
| 1842 Gwilt Encycl. Arch. §2172 Floors..which are folded, that is when the boards are laid in divisions, whose side vertical joints are not continuous, but in bays of three, four, five, or more boards in a bay or fold. |
h. Geol. A bend in rock strata, esp. one having a wave-like form.
| 1863 J. D. Dana Man. Geol. 104 One fold or flexure in the rocks may succeed to another, or they may form interrupted series. 1885 C. Lyell Elem. Geol. (ed. 4) 61 Stratified rocks have their strata usually bent into parallel folds forming anticlinal and synclinal curves. 1937 [see fan n.1 10 f]. 1965 A. Holmes Princ. Physical Geol. (ed. 2) ix. 212 Folds range in intensity from broad and gentle undulations to tightly compressed plications in which the dips of the beds are almost parallel, except near the hinge-lines. |
2. Something that is or may be folded; a leaf of a book, a sheet of paper, one of the leaves of a folding-door.
| c 1315 Shoreham 91 Ase hyt hys in holye boke I-wryten ine many a felde [? read fealde; the rimes are y-halde, tealde, ealde]. 1624 Massinger Parl. Love iii. ii, As I, in this fold—this—receive her favours. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 724 The dores Op'ning thir brazen foulds. 1808 J. Barlow Columb. iii. 683 The wide gates receive their rapid flight. The folds are barr'd. |
† 3. ? A wrapping, covering. Obs.
| 1497 Will of Sympson (Somerset Ho.), A folde and a standard of Mayle. 1633 Ford Broken Heart iii. v, That remedy Must be a winding-sheet, a fold of lead, And some untrod-on corner in the earth. |
4. The action of folding; † a clasp or embrace.
| 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. iii. 223 Weake wanton Cupid Shall from your necke vnloose his amorous fould. 1885 Crane Bookbinding iv. 33 Still another fold gives a ‘32mo’. |
5. The line or mark made by folding.
| 1840 Lardner Geom. 18 Both coincide with the fold of the paper. |
6. The words manifold, threefold, etc. (see -fold suffix) have occasionally been viewed (erroneously) as syntactical combinations of the adjs. with the present n. Hence the following uses: † a. many a fold = many times, with many repetitions. Obs.
| c 1400 Melayne 445 Thay caste one it full many a folde. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 306 And þonkede þefore God mony a ffolde. 1503 Hawes Examp. Virt. lxxxii. (Arb.) 22 Set with dyamondes many a fold. |
† b. by many a fold: in manifold proportion, many times over. So by foldes seven. Obs.
| c 1450 Mirour Saluacioun 4300 Clerere than is the sonne shalle be, be faldes seven. c 1460 Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 20 More bi foldes seven then I can welle expres. 1577 Harrison England ii. iii. (1877) i. 73 The towne of Cambridge..exceedeth that of Oxford..by manie a fold. |
c. One portion of a ‘manifold’ thing.
| 1826 E. Irving Babylon I. ii. 77 Which fourfold chain of evidence, upon any single fold of which I am willing [etc.]. 1839 R. Philip Life W. Milne I. 22 It stopped his basket-making before he got through two folds of the ‘Fourfould State’. |
7. attrib. fold boat = faltboat; also in contracted form folboat; fold(-)mountain, a mountain formed directly by folding, or one in which the strata are extensively folded; so fold ridge.
| 1938 Times Lit. Suppl. 24 Sept. 616/2 With his wife he made a journey in a *fold-boat..down the Danube. 1946 R. Capell Simiomata i. 19 The Marines entered the harbour in their little collapsible Folboats, attached explosive charges to two destroyers and two cargo boats, and retired. 1955 ‘N. Shute’ Requiem for Wren 128 An M.T.B...with a folboat on board, a sort of kayak built of waterproof canvas on a wooden frame. 1969 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. li. 6 Fold boat, kayak made of skeleton frame covered with a skin of rubberized cloth. It folds into a small package. |
| 1908 J. W. Gregory Geogr. 34 *Fold-mountains arise from the crumpling of bands of the earth's crust by lateral pressure. Such fold-mountains resemble the wrinkles formed when a table⁓cloth is pushed across a table. 1965 A. Holmes Princ. Physical Geol. (ed. 2) xxx. 1111 The axes of the major structures of a range of fold mountains..are generally roughly parallel to the trend of the range. |
| 1936 Discovery Jan. 20/1 The late Miocene-Pliocene *fold ridge which extended to New Caledonia, and in the other direction formed the Himalayas and the European Alps. |
Add: [4.] b. In paper-folding, napkin-folding, etc., the manner or pattern in which the paper, etc. is folded.
| 1893 L. R. Latter Paper Folding for Schools 5 The child, once having learnt the folds upon the paper..might occasionally be allowed to practise a known fold upon a table-napkin. 1956 ‘R. Harbin’ Paper Magic 17 When the author wished one day to produce a Bat, he searched through the Basic Folds and finally decided to work on Fold Four. 1971 Sci. Amer. May 111/1 The interested reader can obtain Bunny Bill, a manuscript describing the fold from Magic Inc... The fold is far from simple, by the way. 1983 J. Ive Table Napkin Folding 5 The Waterlily..is not such a practical fold to do for individual place settings. |
▸ Molecular Biol. A specific element (esp. a bend or twist) in the three-dimensional structure of a protein or nucleic acid molecule.
| 1933W. T. Astbury in Nature 14 Oct. 593/2 The folds in the main-chains of unstretched hair..lie apparently in planes transverse to the side-chains. 1934 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) (A.) 232 376 The gross fold in the main-chains which appears when β-keratin contracts to α-keratin we may term the ‘secondary fold’. 1976 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 73 1629/2 Some evidence reported in the literature appears to indicate that spermidine plays an essential function in DNA synthesis, e.g. stabilization of DNA folds, activation of DNA-dependent DNA polymerase [etc.]. 1990 Protein Engin. 4 39/1 The folds of all the proteins in the PDB are stored as labelled graphs, with the nodes of a graph corresponding to linear representations of helices and strands. 1995 New Scientist 12 Aug. 32/1 Researchers are only just beginning to explore how loops, twists and folds in the long DNA chain—its so-called ‘higher-order structure’—affect the expression of genes contained within them. |
▪ IV. † fold, n.4 Obs. rare.
Also foold(e.
? The mountain-ash (app. rendering L. ornus).
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 1021 Ook, fold, and birche. Ibid. iii. 770 Foolde, ashes, quynce. |
▪ V. fold, v.1
(fəʊld)
pa. tense and pa. pple. folded (ˈfəʊldɪd). Forms: inf. 1 fealdan, Northumb. (ᵹe)falda, 3–5 fald(e(n, 3–6 folden, (5 -yn), 4 felde, south. viealde, 4–6 south. volde, 5–7 fould, 6–9 Sc. fald, fauld, 9 dial. faud, 5– fold. pa. tense strong 1 féold, 4–5 feld(e, 6 fald. weak.4–5 foldid. (5 -et, -it), 6– folded. pa. pple., strong 1 fealden, 3–7 fold(e(n, (4–6 -in, -un, -yn, 7 foulden), 3 south. volden, 3–4 fald(e(n, (6 fauden), 5 y-falt, folte, (6 falt), fould. weak 4 foldid, 6–7 foldit, (6 folted), 7 foulded, 4– folded.
[Com. Teut. reduplicating strong vb.: OE. fealdan = MDu. vouden (Du. vouwen), OHG. faldan, faltan (MHG. valten, Ger. falten), ON. falda (pa. tense félt), Goth. falþan (pa. tense faifalþ):—OTeut. *falþan, f. *falþ:—pre-Teut. *plt-, found in Lith. pleta I plait, Gr. δί-παλτος, also δι-πλάσιος (:—*-pltiyos) double; according to Brugmann an extended form of the root pl- (in Gr. ἁ-πλό-ος, simple, lit. ‘one-fold’) of which another extension appears in Gr. πλέκ-ειν, L. plicāre to plait, fold. In OE. and early ME. the forms are those of a strong vb.; from 15th c. onwards weak forms were developed, and the vb. is now conjugated entirely as weak; cf. Da. folde.]
1. a. trans. To arrange (a piece of cloth, a surface, etc.), so that one portion lies reversed over or alongside another; to double or bend over upon itself. Also with in, over, together. Often contextually implying repeated action of this kind. to fold up: to close or bring into a more compact form by repeated folding.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xli. §3 God scipstyra ongit micelne wind hreose ær ær hit weorþe, and hæt fealdan þæt seᵹl. a 1000 Riddles xxvii. 7 (Gr.) Mec [a parchment] fingras feoldon. a 1250 Owl & Night. 1324 On ape mai a boc bi-halde, An leves wenden, and eft folde. 13.. Coer de L. 3497 Whenne they hadde eeten, the cloth was folde. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxi. 213 He opened the letter that he had folden afore to geder. 1535 Coverdale Ezek. xli. 23 Euery dore had two litle wickettes which were folden in one vpon another on euery syde two. 1621 Ainsworth Annot. Pentat. Exod. xiii. 9 These foure sections..written on parchment, folden up they..tyed to the forehead. 1707 Curios. in Husb. & Gard. 87 During..the Night, they join and fold in their Leaves. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 305 ¶9 To open a Letter, to fold it up again. 1840 Lardner Geom. 44 If the triangle be conceived to be folded over. 1878 Browning Poets Croisic 41 Our René folds his paper. |
| transf. and fig. 1633 Earl of Manchester Al Mondo (1636) 122 When death hath foulded up thy dayes, all opportunity is past. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. ii. x. 26 So handsomely folding up her discourse, that his virtues are shown outwards, and his vices wrapped up in silence. 1677 Crowne Destr. Jerusalem i. iv. i, Every night their Bodies were not worn, But gently lapt and folded up till morn. 1820 Shelley Let. Gisborne 245 Let his page..Fold itself up for the serener clime Of years to come. |
| Prov. 1622 Malynes Anc. Law-Merch. 90 Hee that buyeth Lawne before he can fold it, will repent before he hath sold it. |
b. Geol. To double up (strata). Also intr. for refl. To become doubled up.
| 1857 Livingstone Trav. xxviii. 570 Making the strata fold over them on each side. 1872 C. King Mountain. Sierra Nev. ix. 185 When the Sierra Nevada and Wahsatch mountains were folded. 1885 Becker in Amer. Jrnl. Sc. Ser. iii. xxx. 208 The result of a tendency to fold carried beyond the limit of elasticity of the rock. |
c. To bend or turn back or down (a portion of something). † to fold off: to bend back and break off.
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. iii. 774 Or me sette him [a graft] in the tree The tendron and the leves of thou folde. |
d. Building. (See quot. s.v. fold n.3 1 g.)
e. intr. To yield to pressure, so as to become folded; to be capable of being folded. Now esp. with up.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. xxvii. (1495) 620 That cassia is best that brekyth not soone but bendyth and foldeth. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. 194 Having a joint in the middle, it folds. 1914 Daily Mail 21 Feb. 10/1 One of the little seats that folded up when they were not required. 1939–40 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 759/1 This roll-up chair..folds up small enough to go in a large pocket. |
† f. trans. To roll up, as a scroll. Obs.
| 1382 Wyclif Luke iv. 20 Whanne he hadde closid [v.r. folded, or closed] the book. c 1400 St. Alexius (Laud 622) 932 A book in his honde he halt Swiþe fast, & narewe yfalt. 1561 J. Daus tr. Bullinger on Apoc. (1573) 283 Heauen fled backe, and was folden vp lyke a scrolle. |
2. a. trans. To place in a spiral or sinuous form; to coil, wind. Now only with const. about, round, or the like. Also intr. for refl.
| 1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 346/2 The deceiuers double and folde in themselues like serpents. c 1650 Merline 1465 in Furniv. Percy Folio I. 467 Beneathe the stones under the Mold tow dragons Lyen there fould. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague ii. iv, Thus I fold one arm Round thy blest neck. 1833 Tennyson Poems 6, I dare not fold My arms about thee. 1842 ― Talking Oak 148 When I feel about my feet The berried briony fold. 1842 ― Day-dream, Departure i, On her lover's arm she leant, And round her waist she felt it fold. |
† b. intr. Of a stream: To take a winding course.
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. iii. 557 So that the towne water doune folde Streght hem amonge. |
† 3. trans. To cause to bend; hence, to throw down, overthrow; also, to overcome. (Cf. mod. double up.) fig. To prevail upon by entreaty.
| c 1205 Lay. 20077 Feollen þa uæie uolden to grunde. c 1330 King of Tars 1118 The feendes strengthe to folde. c 1430 Syr Tryam. 326 Fourti Syr Roger downe can folde. |
† 4. a. To bend, bow (oneself, the body, or limbs).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 8965 (Cott.) To þe tre sco can hir fald. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 841 Is bodi a-side he felde. 1571 Hanmer Chron. Irel. (1633) 17 A red Lyon Rampant, with his taile folden towards his backe. a 1605 Montgomerie Misc. Poems li. 35 Befoir Europe..he his feit did fauld. |
| fig. 1578 Ps. lxxvii. in Scot. Poems 16th C. II. 109 They..hes vs left all foldit into cair. |
† b. intr. for refl. Of the body or limbs: To bend, crook, double up, yield. Also, of a person: To bow, bend down, crouch, drop down. Obs.
| 13.. Maximon iv. in Rel. Ant. I. 120 Care and kunde of elde Maketh mi body felde, That y ne mai stonde upright. 1382 Wyclif Matt. xvii. 14 A man cam to hym, foldid on knees byfore hym, seyinge. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xx. 120 The fyngres þat freo beo to folden and to clycchen. c 1460 Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 98 My legys thay fold, my fyngers ar chappyed. |
5. a. intr. To give way, collapse; to fail, falter. Esp. with up.
| a 1250 Owl & Night. 37 And falt mi tonge. a 1300 Cursor M. 24348 (Cott.) In suime al falden dun i fell. c 1325 Song of Mercy 136 in E.E.P. (1862) 122 Vr feiþ is frele to flecche and folde. c 1430 Hymns Virg. (1867) 73 My lymes foulden þat weren fast. 1596 Spenser Hymn Heavenly Beautie 7, I..feele my wits to faile, and tongue to fold. 1911 A. Bennett Honeymoon i. 15 Cedric: The mater folded up like that? Flora: ..Naturally she folded up. She only needs proper treatment. 1928 J. P. McEvoy Showgirl 199 The Main Stem hears under cover that ‘Get Your Girl’ may fold up soon for lack of suitable house. 1936 Variety 24 June 66/1 First tour of the Draegermen..proved a box office flop, and folded here. 1937 N. Coward Present Indicative v. vi. 191 In spite of excellent press notices..the play folded up at the end of eight weeks. 1939 E. B. White Quo Vadimus? i. 47 Nutshell folded up, because, an expert said, the name was too long; but half a dozen others sprang up to take its place. 1942 Penguin New Writing XV. 12 Yes, but when he gets outside he'll fold up. 1958 I. Murdoch Bell xxvi. 315 He was sorry..to hear that Imber was folding up. 1965 G. Melly Owning-Up vi. 71 The band folded in December 1961. 1971 Guardian 21 Jan. 1/1 (headline) Skyways folds up. 1971 Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 24 Oct. 31/1 This generous subsidy could not go on for ever and when it was withdrawn the magazine folded. |
† b. To succumb, yield ground. Obs.
| c 1400 Rowland & O. 1250 Charlles me thynke that thou scholdeste folde. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 84 Thir barbour bodeis..Docht nocht of force than for to gar ws fald. a 1625 A. Garden Theat. Scot. Kings (Abbotsf. Club.) 14 Thou forced for to fald Such as deboir'd from thy Obedience darre. |
† c. To swerve or turn aside (from truth, etc.).
| c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 126 He shulde teche þes worldly men..to drede to folde fro treuþe as Pilat dide. 1450 Henryson Mor. Fab. 42 For prayer or price trow yee that they wald fald. |
6. a. trans. To lay (the arms, etc.) together, so as to overlap; to clasp (one's hands) together. Also intr. for refl. In mod. use freq. with together.
| c 1000 ælfric Gen. xlix. 32 He feold his fet [Vulg. collegit pedes suos] uppan his bedd. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iv. 331 (359) With his armes folden. 1535 Coverdale Prov. vi. 10 Yee..folde thine handes together yet a litle, that thou mayest slepe. 1632 Lithgow Trav. v. 205 They..sit downe on the ground, folding their feete vnder them. 1697 Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. ii. (1703) 114 Envy..folds its arms in despair. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. i. §5 Alciphron stood..with his arms folded across. 1771 H. Mackenzie Man Feel. 223 He folded his hands together. 1821 Shelley Prometh. Unb. i. 222 My wings are folded o'er mine ears. 1849 C. Brontë Shirley x. 142 Her head drooped, her hands folded. 1853 Kingsley Hypatia x, Her hands folded together before her. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. ii, She folds her hands in the manner of a supplicating child. 1894 B. Harraden Varying Moods 60 She folded her hands together on the buckle of her waist-belt. |
b. ? absol. = To fold the hands (app. given as an uneducated use).
| 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. ii. xiv, ‘I'd far sooner be..tiring of myself out, than a-sitting folding and folding by the fire.’ |
† 7. a. To plait; to mat (hair). Obs.
| 1382 Wyclif Matt. xxvii. 29 Thei foldynge a crowne of thornis. 1535 Coverdale Song Sol. vii. 5 The hayre of thy heade is like the kynges purple folden vp in plates. 1555 Eden Decades 43 Images of gossampine cotton foulded or wrethed. 1563–87 Foxe A. & M. (1596) 936/2 He remained so long manicled that his haire was folded togither. |
† b. fig. To attach, plight (faith). Obs.
| c 1340 Gaw. & Fr. Knt. 1783 Bot if ȝe haf a lemman, a leuer, þat yow lyke better, & folden fayth to þat fre, festned so harde þat you lausen ne lyst. |
† c. intr. To be suitable or accordant. Obs.
| c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 359 Syþen þis note is so nys, þat noȝt hit yow falles, & I haue frayned hit at yow fyrst, foldez hit to me. Ibid. 499 Þe forme to þe fynisment foldez ful selden. |
8. a. To enclose in or as in a fold or folds; to cover or wrap up; to swathe, envelop. Const. in; formerly const. with, and simply; also const. certain advs. and prepositions.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 434 Knelande to grounde [ho] folde vp hyr face. c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 126 Seynt Fraunces him-self schall folden the in his cope. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 168 Þer ben manye maner causis whi þat guttis ben folde with nerves. 1530 Comedy Beauties Women C j, I thynk he be xxiiii. yeres of age, I saw hym born and holpe for to fold hym. 1594 Marlowe & Nashe Dido i. ii, The rest, we fear, are folded in the floods. 1697 Dryden æneid vii. 496 With his circling volumes folds her hairs. 1707 Curios. in Husb. & Gard. 333 The Seed is the Plant folded and wrapt up. 1854 B. Taylor Poems Orient, On the Sea (1866) 162 The mountain isles..Folded in shadows gray. 1906 K. Trask Night & Morn. 34 Take me, Leonidas, to thy strong arms—..fold me from the whole wide world. |
| fig. 1590 Greene Orl. Fur. Wks. (Rtldg.) 92/1 Folding their wraths in cinders of fair Troy. 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 1073, I will not..fold my fault in cleanly coin'd excuses. 1649 W. Bradford Plymouth Plant. ii. (1856) 276 These businesses were not..well understood of a longe time, but foulded up in obscuritie. 1878 R. W. Gilder Poet & Master 36 Then must I..In myself fold me. 1891 [see enemy n. and a. B. 2]. 1915 H. Mackay London, One Nov. 46 The mystery of things the twilights fold away. |
b. Of the surrounding medium: To serve as a wrapping for. poet.
| 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 822 So did the..night, Fold in the obiect that did feed her sight. 1793 Southey Tri. Woman 389 The purple robe of state thy form shall fold. 1815 W. H. Ireland Scribbleomania 15 Paper..purchas'd, brown sugar to fold. 1830 Tennyson Dirge i, Shadows of the silver birk Sweep the green that folds thy grave. |
† c. Of a hostile army: To surround, beleaguer.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 11263 Ȝour cité is set all aboute With ȝour fomen fuerse foldyn with in. |
† d. To wrap or entangle in a snare. Obs.
| a 1592 Greene Fr. Bacon (1630) 2 In her tresses she doth fold the lookes Of such as gaze vpon her golden haire. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World ii. §3. 418 Those perills: within which they were so speedily folded vp. |
e. Cookery. Const. in. To add an ingredient gently by lifting a mixture with a spoon, etc., so as to enclose it without stirring or beating.
| 1915 D. C. Peel Learning to Cook xiv. 172 Add the whipped whites last, and..fold them in lightly. 1933 W. G. R. Francillon Good Cookery xv. 316 Fold in the slightly warmed flour. 1958 Listener 20 Nov. 855/2 Add the yolks and cheese to the mixture, then stiffly beat the whites of the eggs and fold in gently. |
9. To clasp (in one's arms, to one's breast); to embrace.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 24491 (Cott.) Quen i him had in armes fald. c 1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 1425 He hir in armes hent, And ful fair he gan hir falde. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, i. iii. 54 We will descend and fold him in our armes. 1621 Lady M. Wroth Urania 353 [They] together fold in each others armes, sate downe. 1794 Burns Lassie wi' the lint-white locks iv, I'll fauld thee to my faithfu' breast. 1821 Shelley Death Napoleon 21 To my bosom I fold All my sons when their knell is knolled. 1859 Tennyson Idylls, Geraint 99 Not to be folded more in these dear arms. |
10. Comb.: the vb. stem in comb. with a n., in sense ‘that can or will fold’; as fold-net, fold-skirt. Also foldaway a., adapted to be folded away; fold-out n., an oversize page in a book, magazine, etc., which has to be unfolded by the reader; also as adj.; fold-up a., adapted to be folded-up.
| 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder Suppl. 26 Jan. 4/1 A wash boiler with all refinements except a pump but with a *fold-away hand wringer. 1967 Gloss. Caravan Terms (B.S.I.) 3 Foldaway bed, a bed designed to be lowered from and retract into a cupboard or wall or to fold on itself to make an upright furniture unit. 1969 Jane's Freight Containers 1968–69 577/3 Foldaway guides to aid truck location. 1971 Guardian 24 Aug. 7/3 An 84-year-old woman..was trapped in her foldaway bed for 13 hours. |
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), *Fold-net, a sort of Net with which small Birds are taken in the Night. |
| 1961 Webster, *Foldout. 1963 Amer. Speech XXXVIII. 125 It might be well to include a fold-out map at the end of each volume. 1967 Time 17 Mar. 7 The prurient appeal of an overripe foldout is no worse than the peekaboo enticement of gossip about ‘People’. 1968 Listener 30 May 705/1 A coffee-table book, with Topolski drawings, wide margins and a fold-out frontispiece. |
| 1855 Browning Men & Women, Saul 21 The tent was unlooped..I groped my way on Till I felt where the *foldskirts fly open. |
| 1894 Wilkins & Vivian Green Bay-tree I. 23 The famous Harrow *fold-up bed. |
▸ intr. Molecular Biol. Of a polypeptide or polynucleotide chain: to adopt a specific three-dimensional structure. Occas. also trans. (usu. in pass.).
| 1934 Nature 26 May 795/2 The immediate question..is whether the initial unit is the chain itself, which is afterwards folded in some neat manner which is merely an elaboration of the intra-molecular folding that has been observed in the keratin transformation. 1936 Nature 16 May 803/1 To accommodate these interactions the grid buckles, so to speak, in such a way that the main-chains fold in planes transverse to the side chains. 1951 Nature 25 Aug. 325/1 The ‘α-keratin’ configuration of the polypeptide chain is produced by folding the extended β-form into seven-membered rings. 1956 C. H. Bamford et al. Synthetic Polypeptides i. 5 The synthetic polypeptides would be able to provide information about the way in which the polypeptide chain can fold. 1983 R. O. C. Norman & D. J. Waddington Mod. Org. Chem. (ed. 4) xviii. 283 In its natural environment each protein folds up into a specific well-defined shape, known as its native structure. 1994 New Scientist 10 Dec. 27/2 GroEL belongs to the group of ring-like proteins known as chaperonins, which help newly synthesized polypeptides to fold properly. 1999 Newsweek 15 Dec. 83 The proteins..fold into their functional shapes. Once scientists better understand that molecular origami, they can simulate the effect of drugs on those proteins. |
▪ VI. fold, v.2
(fəʊld)
Also 5 fooldyn, 6 folde, 8 Sc. fauld, 9 dial. faud.
[f. fold n.2]
1. trans. To shut up (sheep, etc.) in a fold, to pen; occas. with up; also absol. Of hurdles: To serve for penning. (In OE. once intr. to make or set up sheepfolds.)
| a 1100 Gerefa in Anglia (1886) IX. 261 Faldian, fiscwer and mylne macian. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 168/2 Fooldyn, or put beestys in a folde, caulo. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Claudo, To folde with hurdels. 1590 Nashe Pasquil's Apol. i. D iv, God commaunded his people to be folded vp, and to stand within the barres. 1600 Surflet Countrie Farme i. xxvi. 165 By folding them [goats] vpon..fallowes in the summer time. 1634 Milton Comus 93 The star that bids the shepherd fold Now the top of Heav'n doth hold. 1661 Webster & Rowley Thracian Wonder i. B iij, Let's make haste to fold up our flocks. 1765 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. iii. (ed. 2) 380 It is a custom, in some places, to fold sheep and cattle, for the sake of their dung. 1822 Rogers Italy, Monte Cassino 32 Counts, as he folds, five hundred of his sheep. 1842 Johnson Farmer's Encycl., s.v. Hurdle, A dozen and a half hurdles will fold 30 sheep. 1842 J. Bischoff Woollen Manuf. II. 137 We never fold our merino or other sheep, the land is too wet. 1894 Times 6 Mar. 4/1 Flock masters are folding on it [rye] early. |
b. fig.; esp. in spiritual sense. Cf. feed v. 2.
| 1826 Macaulay Dies Iræ 51 Fold me with the sheep that stand..at thy right hand. 1871 Macduff Mem. Patmos xiv. 192 The Lamb..shall..guide them, fold them. 1887 Pall Mall G. 18 Oct. 1/2 These hitherto wandering sheep are in process of being folded into the comprehensive pastures of the national religion. |
2. To place sheep in a fold or folds upon (a piece of ground), for the purpose of manuring it. to fold off: to use (a crop) as pasture for folded sheep.
| 1671 St. Foine Improved 3 The Men of the Vale might..desire that those of the Hill-country might not Fold, or Dung their Ground, or Sow any Corn. 1759 tr. Duhamel's Husb. ii. i. (1762) 127 Two contiguous pieces of ground..had been folded. 1794 J. Boys Agric. Kent 37 The clover being again folded off. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. II. 61 When his grass fields have been partially folded with sheep. |
Hence ˈfolded ppl. a. Also ˈfolder, one who folds sheep; a shepherd.
| 1571 W. Elderton Epit. on Jewel in Farr S. P. Eliz. (1845) II. 512 Alas ! is Juell dead, the folder of the flocke? 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Epil., From the falsers fraud his folded flocke to keepe. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 74 Among folded beasts. 1725 Pope Odyss. ix. 257 The folded flocks. 1801 J. Bree Derwent Water iii, What time the folder hears the mandrake's moan. |
▪ VII. fold
var. form of foud.