-fold


-fold

suff.1. a. Multiplied by a specified number: a twofold increase in sales.b. Divided by a specified number: a fivefold reduction in air pollution.2. Having a specified number of parts: a threefold plan for fighting poverty.
[Middle English, from Old English -feald, -fald; see pel- in Indo-European roots.]

-fold

suffix forming adjectives, suffix forming adverbshaving so many parts, being so many times as much or as many, or multiplied by so much or so many: threefold; three-hundredfold. [Old English -fald, -feald]

fold1

(foʊld)

v.t. 1. to bend (cloth, paper, etc.) over upon itself. 2. to bring into a compact form by bending and laying parts together: to fold up a map. 3. to bring together and intertwine or cross: He folded his arms on his chest. 4. to bend or wind; entwine: The child folded his arms around my neck. 5. to bring (the wings) close to the body, as a bird on alighting. 6. to enclose; wrap; envelop: to fold something in paper. 7. to embrace or clasp; enfold: to fold someone in one's arms. 8. to place (one's cards) facedown so as to withdraw from the play. 9. Informal. to bring to an end; close up: to fold a business. v.i. 10. to be folded or be capable of folding. 11. to place one's cards facedown so as to withdraw from the play. 12. a. to fail, esp. to go out of business: The magazine folded after a few years. b. to end a run; close: The show will fold next week. 13. fold in, to blend (a cooking ingredient) into a mixture by gently turning one part over another: Fold in the egg whites. 14. fold out or down, to spread or open up; unfold. n. 15. a part that is folded; pleat; layer: folds of cloth. 16. a line, crease, or hollow made by folding. 17. a hollow place in undulating ground. 18. a portion of rock strata that is folded or bent, as an anticline or syncline, or that connects horizontal strata, as a monocline. 19. a coil of a serpent, string, etc. 20. the act of folding or doubling over. 21. a margin or ridge formed by the folding of a membrane or other flat body part; plica. [before 900; Middle English folden, falden, Old English fealdon] fold′a•ble, adj.

fold2

(foʊld)

n. 1. an enclosure for sheep. 2. the sheep kept within it. 3. a flock of sheep. 4. a church or its members. 5. a group sharing common beliefs, values, etc.: to rejoin the fold. v.t. 6. to confine (sheep or other domestic animals) in a fold. [before 900; Middle English fold, fald, Old English fald, falod]

-fold

a combining form meaning “having the number of kinds or parts” or “multiplied the number of times” specified by the initial element: fourfold; manyfold. [Middle English; Old English -fald, -feald, c. Old Frisian, Old Saxon -fald, Old High German -falt, Old Norse -faldr, Gothic -falths, all representing the Germanic base of fold1; akin to Greek -ploos, -plous (see diplo-), Latin -plus (see double), -plex -plex]