fold up

British  

verb

1. (tr) to make smaller or more compact

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

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fold up Idioms  

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]

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Example Sentences

“Makes sense to me,” said Aunt Pretty, folding up my new duds.

From Literature

Daniel asked, clumsily folding up his tallit as he went and slinging it over his arm.

From Literature

Madame Ionesco had folded up her stool and was now scurrying down the street.

From Literature

That way his team only has to travel with the custom-made canvas they use for the projections, which “is very small” and can be folded up.

From Los Angeles Times

"I remember I used to fold up socks into a ball and put it on the floor and play," he says.

From BBC

Related Words

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