fold
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fold (up) (one's) tent
To quit, withdraw, or disengage (from something), especially quietly or discreetly. After allegations of embezzlement, the CEO decided to fold his tent and take an early retirement. You're going to have a lot of setbacks in life, so don't just fold up your tent and go home at the first sign of failure.
green folding stuff/money
Paper money, especially in large amounts. Primarily heard in US. Boy, I bet you had to lay down some serious green folding for that new sports car, huh? How much green folding stuff is this repair job gonna cost me? Now, don't go shelling out all your green folding money at once just because you've gotten your first paycheck.
fold (someone) in (one's) arms
To hug or embrace someone. I started to feel better as soon as my mom folded me in her arms.
fold back
[for a sheet of something] to bend back. The cloth folded back, revealing the faded upholstery below. The top page folded back, revealing a neatly typed manuscript.
fold one's hands
to bring one's hands together, palm to palm, with the fingers interlocking; to grasp one's hands together, palm to palm, perpendicular to one another. Please fold your hands and put them on the table while the teacher reads you a story. Please fold your hands and be quiet.
fold something away
to fold something up and put it away. Please fold the maps away. Please fold away the maps neatly.
fold something back
to bend a sheet or flap of something back. She very carefully folded the page back to mark her place in the book. She folded back the page to mark her place in the book. The surgeon folded the flap of skin back, revealing the torn ligament.
fold something into something
1. and fold something in to blend something, such as eggs, into batter. (See also cut something into something.) Carefully, the chef folded the eggs into the other ingredients. The chef folded in the eggs.
2. to make an object by folding something, such as paper or cloth. He folded the paper into a little bird. Wally can fold a sheet of paper into an airplane that flies.
See also: fold
fold something over
to double something over on itself; to make a fold in something. I folded the paper over twice to make something I could fan myself with. Fold over each sheet, and then place it on the stack.
fold something up
1. Lit. to double something over into its original folded position. Please fold the paper up when you are finished. Please fold up the paper.
2. Fig. to put an end to something; to close a money-losing enterprise. Mr. Jones was going broke, so he folded his business up. The producer decided to fold up the play early. It was losing money.
fold, spindle, or mutilate
to harm or disfigure. Referring to a once-standard line printed on machine-readable documents, such as computer punch cards. (Such a document, if folded, placed on a bill spike, or otherwise punctured, would no longer be machine-readable.) At the bottom of the bill, it said "do not fold, spindle, or mutilate," and Jane, in her anger, did all three. Look here, chum, if you don't want to get folded, spindled, or mutilated, you had better do what you are told!
fold up
1. Lit. [for something] to close by folding. The table just folded up with no warning, trapping my leg.
2. Fig. [for someone] to faint. She folded up when she heard the news. I was so weak that I was afraid I was going to fold up.
3. Fig. [for a business] to cease operating. Our shop finally folded up because of the recession. Tom's little candy shop folded up.
folding money
bills of various dollar denominations. I don't want a check. Give me folding money! You got any folding money with you?
fold one's tent
Quietly depart, as in It's late, so let's fold our tents. This term is a partial quotation of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "The Day is Done" (1844): "And the night shall be filled with music, And the cares that infest the day, Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs, And quietly steal away."
fold up
1. Fail, especially go out of business. For example, Three stores on Main Street have folded up.
2. Collapse, break down. For example, When she told him about the dog's death, she folded up. This idiom alludes to closing or bringing an object into more compact form. [Early 1900s]
return to the fold
Come back to a group after an absence, as in Matthew taught for a number of years, but now he's returned to the fold as vice-president of the firm . This term employs fold in the sense of "an enclosure for sheep," which has been used figuratively since the first half of the 1300s.
return to the fold
If someone returns to the fold, they start to belong to or support a group of people that they belonged to or supported in the past. He had left the party just before the peace deal was signed, but has since returned to the fold. Note: You can also say that someone comes back to the fold. A price cut is another way to get customers to come back to the fold. Note: You can say that someone brings someone back to the fold, to mean that they cause them to return to a group. The Government should ensure that the small and medium exporters are brought back to the fold.
return to the fold
come back to the community of beliefs or principles you originally belonged to, having previously repudiated it.The image is of a lost sheep returning to its fold. It can be expressed in various other wordings (e.g. ‘They welcomed him back to the fold ’).
2004 The Cherwell Magazine Online Blair's sudden rush to get it onto the statute books in time for the 2005 election is a shrewd political manoeuvre designed to encourage the party faithful, many of whom were alienated over Iraq, to return to the fold.
fold somebody in your ˈarms
(literary) put your arms around somebody and hold them against your body: When he saw how upset she was, he folded her in his arms.reˌturn to the ˈfold
(literary) come back to a group or community (especially a religious or political society): She left the party 10 years ago but has recently returned to the fold.A fold is a place where sheep are kept and so can mean a group of people who share the same ideas and beliefs.
fold up
v.
1. To bend or fold something so that it is closed or made compact: My roommate folded the letter up. Fold up that box and put it away.
2. To be able to be bent or folded to become closed or made compact: This table folds up so you can put it in the trunk of a small car.
3. To go out of business: Three of my favorite stores on this street folded up last summer.
fold
1. in. to fail; to close. I was afraid my business would fold because of the recession.
2. in. to collapse from drinking. Dave had just one more drink, and then he folded.
folded
mod. alcohol intoxicated. Pete is folded. That’s the third time this week.
See also: fold
folding money
and folding stuff n. U.S. paper bank notes, as opposed to coins. All I got is change—no folding stuff. Sorry, I don’t have any folding money with me. Can you pick up the bill?
folding stuff
verbSee folding money
green
and green folding and green paper and green stuff n. money; paper money. (see also long bread.) I have so much green stuff, I don’t know what to do with it. What is need is more green! Not promises!
green folding
verbSee green
Hold some, fold some
sent. to hold some of your stocks and sell some. (Securities markets.) My best advice right now is to hold some, fold some. There is no real trend to the market.
green
around/about the gills Pale or sickly in appearance.
fold like a cheap suitcase
Collapse easily. Expensive luggage was made, as now, from well-constructed leather or fabric. Cheap ones used to be made of cardboard with little or no structural reinforcement, not very sturdy especially when manhandled by baggage handlers or hotel porters. A sports team with no defense or a poker player with a losing hand would both fold like a cheap suitcase. You'd also hear “fold like a cheap suit,” but since fabric folds easily, whether it's cashmere or polyester, “suitcase” presents a better connotation of a losing proposition.