fold

To fold is to crease or bend something over so it covers part of itself. Before you put your clean sheets and towels away in the closet, you should probably fold them.

Some people drop their clothes on the floor at the end of the day, while others neatly fold theirs. You can call the crease in a folded piece of paper or pillow case a fold too. There are several ways to fold, including to gently mix ingredients, incorporating them without stirring; and to drop out of a poker hand, laying your cards down on the table.

Definitions of fold
  1. verb
    bend or lay so that one part covers the other
    “fold up the newspaper”
    synonyms: fold up, turn up
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    Antonyms:
    open, spread, spread out, unfold
    spread out or open from a closed or folded state
    types:
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    pleat, plicate
    fold into pleats, "Pleat the cloth"
    crease, furrow, wrinkle
    make wrinkled or creased
    crease, crinkle, crisp, ruckle, scrunch, scrunch up, wrinkle
    make wrinkles or creases on a smooth surface; make a pressed, folded or wrinkled line in
    corrugate
    fold into ridges
    pleat, ruffle
    pleat or gather into a ruffle
    tuck
    make a tuck or several folds in
    crimp, pinch
    make ridges into by pinching together
    cross
    fold so as to resemble a cross
    collapse
    fold or close up
    cockle, crumple, knit, pucker, rumple
    to gather something into small wrinkles or folds
    pucker, ruck, ruck up
    become wrinkled or drawn together
    deflate
    collapse by releasing contained air or gas
    flute
    form flutes in
    concertina
    collapse like a concertina
    type of:
    change surface
    undergo or cause to undergo a change in the surface
  2. verb
    become folded or folded up
    “The bed folds in a jiffy”
    synonyms: fold up
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    types:
    crease, crinkle, crumple, rumple, wrinkle
    become wrinkled or crumpled or creased
    type of:
    change
    undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature
  3. noun
    the act of folding
    “he gave the napkins a double fold”
    synonyms: folding
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    types:
    pleating, plication
    the act of folding in parallel folds
    type of:
    change of shape
    an action that changes the shape of something
  4. noun
    an angular or rounded shape made by folding
    “a fold in the napkin”
    synonyms: bend, crease, crimp, flexure, plication
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    types:
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    plait, pleat
    any of various types of fold formed by doubling fabric back upon itself and then pressing or stitching into shape
    kink, twirl, twist
    a sharp bend in a line produced when a line having a loop is pulled tight
    pucker, ruck
    an irregular fold in an otherwise even surface (as in cloth)
    box pleat
    a flat double pleat made by folding under the fabric on either side of it
    inverted pleat
    a box pleat reversed so that the fullness is turned inward
    kick pleat
    pleat in back of a straight skirt to allow ease in walking
    knife pleat
    a single pleat turned in one direction
    tuck
    a narrow flattened pleat or fold that is stitched in place
    type of:
    angular shape, angularity
    a shape having one or more sharp angles
  5. noun
    a folded part (as in skin or muscle)
    synonyms: plica
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    types:
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    epicanthic fold, epicanthus
    a vertical fold of skin over the nasal canthus; normal for Mongolian peoples; sometimes occurs in Down's syndrome
    plica vocalis, vocal band, vocal cord, vocal fold
    either of two pairs of folds of mucous membrane projecting into the larynx
    ruga
    (anatomy) a fold or wrinkle or crease
    tentorium
    (anatomy) a fold of dura mater that covers the cerebellum and supports the occipital lobes of the cerebrum
    false vocal cord, false vocal fold, superior vocal cord, ventricular fold, vestibular fold
    either of the upper two vocal cords that are not involved in vocalization
    inferior vocal cord, inferior vocal fold, true vocal cord, true vocal fold
    either of the two lower vocal folds that come together to form the glottis; produce a vocal tone when they are approximated and air from the lungs passes between them
    type of:
    anatomical structure, bodily structure, body structure, complex body part, structure
    a particular complex anatomical part of a living thing
  6. noun
    a geological process that causes a bend in a stratum of rock
    synonyms: folding
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    type of:
    geologic process, geological process
    (geology) a natural process whereby geological features are modified
  7. noun
    a pen for sheep
    synonyms: sheep pen, sheepcote, sheepfold
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    type of:
    pen
    an enclosure for confining livestock
  8. noun
    a group of sheep or goats
    synonyms: flock
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    type of:
    animal group
    a group of animals
  9. noun
    a group of people who adhere to a common faith and habitually attend a given church
    synonyms: congregation, faithful
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    types:
    flock
    a church congregation guided by a pastor
    type of:
    social group
    people sharing some social relation
  10. verb
    confine in a fold, like sheep
    synonyms: pen up
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    type of:
    confine, hold, restrain
    to close within bounds, limit or hold back from movement
  11. verb
    cease to operate or cause to cease operating
    synonyms: close, close down, close up, shut down
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    Antonyms:
    open, open up
    start to operate or function or cause to start operating or functioning
    types:
    adjourn, retire, withdraw
    break from a meeting or gathering
    prorogue
    adjourn by royal prerogative; without dissolving the legislative body
  12. verb
    incorporate a food ingredient into a mixture by repeatedly turning it over without stirring or beating
    “Fold the egg whites into the batter”
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    type of:
    incorporate, integrate
    make into a whole or make part of a whole
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