1. [n]  the act of folding; "he gave the napkins a double fold"
2. [n]  a pen for sheep
3. [n]  a folded part (as a fold of skin or muscle)
4. [n]  a group of people who adhere to a common faith and habitually attend a given church
5. [n]  an angular or rounded shape made by folding; "a fold in the napkin"; "a crease in his trousers"; "a plication on her blouse"; "a flexure of the colon"; "a bend of his elbow"
6. [adj]  (used in combination) multiplied by a specified number; "`fold' is a combing form in expressions like `a fiftyfold increase'"
7. [v]  incorporate a food ingredient into a mixture by repeatedly turning it over without stirring or beating; "Fold the egg whites into the batter"
8. [v]  become folded or folded up; "The bed folds in a jiffy"
9. [v]  bend or lay so that one part covers the other; "fold up the newspaper"; "turn up your collar"
10. [v]  confine in a fold, like sheep
11. [v]  intertwine; "fold one's hands, arms, or legs"
12. [v]  cease to operate or cause to cease operating; "The owners decided to move and to close the factory"; "My business closes every night at 8 P.M."

1. \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.
   f[*a]lla, Goth. fal?an, cf. Gr.? twofold, Skr. pu?a 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.
   
   

2. \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.
   
   

3. \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.
   
   

4. \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.
   
   

5. \Fold\, v. t.
   To confine in a fold, as sheep.
   
   

6. \Fold\, v. i.
   To confine sheep in a fold. [R.]
   
         The star that bids the shepherd fold.    --Milton.
   
   

an enclosure for flocks to rest together (Isa. 13:20). Sheep-folds are mentioned Num. 32:16, 24, 36; 2 Sam. 7:8; Zeph. 2:6; John 10:1, etc. It was prophesied of the cities of Ammon (Ezek. 25:5), Aroer (Isa. 17:2), and Judaea, that they would be folds or couching-places for flocks. "Among the pots," of the Authorized Version (Ps. 68:13), is rightly in the Revised Version, "among the sheepfolds."