fold up
Britishverb
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(tr) to make smaller or more compact
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(intr) to collapse, as with laughter or pain
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Fail, especially go out of business. For example, Three stores on Main Street have folded up .
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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]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At one point, in between training, Lee was assigned to fold up and stack boxes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
This is unacceptable for disabled passengers, since these devices are smaller than a pram, and can easily fold up to fit into a cupboard or an overhead locker.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2024
“When I’m at a restaurant, I will fold up the chopstick wrapper and build a little fort with the plates and chopsticks and, like, make stuff in my hands,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2024
But if that happens just in time for the genre to fold up for good, what was the point of all this frustration?
From Salon ● Feb. 4, 2024
I fold up the three dresses I made, one of which, the blue chambray, I haven’t finished, plus my other dress from the Children’s Aid.
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
