pleat
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
pleatsimple
-
pleatssimple
-
have pleatedperfect
-
has pleatedperfect
-
am pleatingprogressive
-
are pleatingprogressive
-
is pleatingprogressive
-
have been pleatingperfect progressive
-
has been pleatingperfect progressive
Past
-
pleatedsimple
-
had pleatedperfect
-
was pleatingprogressive
-
were pleatingprogressive
-
had been pleatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pleat
1325–75; Middle English; variant of plait
Explanation
A pleat is a creased fold in fabric. Your long wool coat might have a single pleat in back, down toward the hem. Some pleats are creased sharply, or even stitched firmly in place, while others are looser. The pleats in a little girl's frilly dress or in a skirt that has pleats all the way around might be called "accordion pleats," while a kilt usually has one "box pleat" in the back, with simple "knife pleats" on either side. Pleat is also a verb, meaning "to make or sew a pleat."
Vocabulary lists containing pleat
The House on Mango Street
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Save Me a Seat
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The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
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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.
In addition to changing the lighting and painting the walls, Miranda-Martin prioritized the window treatments, with pinch pleat curtains from Ikea.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 26, 2026
The R groups are attached to the carbons and extend above and below the folds of the pleat.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
And if I’m ever desperate for a sharp pleat, well, there’s always the dry cleaner for that.
From Slate • Mar. 11, 2021
It muddies any facile ideas about nature and the human, and prods at how we pleat our prejudices, politics and desires into our notions of the animal world.
From New York Times • Aug. 18, 2020
We ease the paper covers off the straws so that they pleat up into short caterpillars of paper.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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.
