= pleat, n. 1. Now rare (chiefly U.S. in later use).

A fold, pleat, or gather in a garment; pleating, pleated fabric. Cf. pinch pleat, n. Obsolete.

A fold in cloth or other fabric; a pleat; = plait, n. 2a.

A fold of cloth or drapery; (now) esp. any of a series of folds held in place along one edge by pressing or stitching, by means of which part of a…

A fold or pleat in drapery; †in quot. 1613, a plait of the hair (obsolete); (now) spec. a flattened fold (or one of several parallel folds) in a…

A pleat or fold.

a pleat made by bringing together the edges of two folds in a piece of material and securing them at the top, so that the excess material is gathered…

Extended uses. Things resembling the pipes of an organ. Dressmaking. A rounded pleat or prominent piece of piping on a garment. Obsolete. rare.

a narrow sharply creased pleat (in a garment, esp. a skirt).

Designating a pattern or style of radiating pleats on a garment or in a piece of fabric; esp. designating a series of widening pleats radiating out…

A narrow tuck or fold sewn into a garment, usually for decoration.

= knife-pleat n.