fold up

See also: foldup

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

fold up (third-person singular simple present folds up, present participle folding up, simple past and past participle folded up)

1. (idiomatic, transitive) To make or become more compact by folding.

   Please fold up these towels so they will fit on the shelf.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost, by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.

   • 1980 February 25, Antony Jay, Jonathan Lynn, “Open Government”, in Yes Minister, season 1, episode 1, spoken by Bernard Woolley (Derek Fowlds):

     It used to be said there were two kinds of chairs to go with two kinds of Ministers: one sort that folds up [pun] instantly, the other sort goes round and round in circles (laugh track).

2. (intransitive, slang) To surrender, abandon or give up under pressure.
   • 1980 February 25, Antony Jay, Jonathan Lynn, “Open Government”, in Yes Minister, season 1, episode 1, spoken by Bernard Woolley (Derek Fowlds):

     It used to be said there were two kinds of chairs to go with two kinds of Ministers: one sort that folds up [pun] instantly, the other sort goes round and round in circles (laugh track).

3. (idiomatic, intransitive) To go out of business; to stop doing something.

   That place folded up years ago.

   • 1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 288:

     When Grimaldi left the group in 1976, Rod folded his band up.

4. (idiomatic, intransitive, transitive) To move on, as in a traveling circus taking down its tents and attractions and moving to a new location.

   They will fold up on Sunday and be gone from here.

   The circus folded up its tent and headed north.

Derived terms

• fold-up (adj)

 

Translations

to make more compact

• French: plier (fr), replier (fr)
• Hungarian: összehajtogat (hu)
• Maori: whakapeke, whakakopa
• Occitan: plegar (oc)

Anagrams

• Upfold, upfold

|fold-up (adj)