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. fx86;lla, Goth. falan, cf. Gr. twofold, Skr. pua 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.
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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.
© Webster 1913.
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.
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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.
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Fold, v. t.
To confine in a fold, as sheep.
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Fold, v. i.
To confine sheep in a fold.
[R.]
The star that bids the shepherd fold.
Milton.
© Webster 1913.