fold up

verb

1. (tr) to make smaller or more compact

2. (intr) to collapse, as with laughter or pain

Idioms and Phrases

Fail, especially go out of business. For example, Three stores on Main Street have folded up .

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]

Related Words

• collapse 
• crash 
• decline 
• decrease 
• depreciate 
• diminish 
• dip 
• dive 
• dwindle 
• ease 
• go down 
• land 
• plummet 
• plunge 
• settle 
• sink 
• slip 
• slump 
• stumble 
• tumble