return to the fold
Come back to a group after an absence, as in Matthew taught for a number of years, but now he's returned to the fold as vice-president of the firm. This term employs fold in the sense of “an enclosure for sheep,” which has been used figuratively since the first half of the 1300s.
QUIZZES
Can You Ace This Quiz About “Compliment” vs. “Complement”?
Take this quiz to see if you really know the difference between “compliment” and “complement"!
Question 1 of 11
“Compliment” and “complement” had a shared meaning a long time ago, but today they are no longer interchangeable.
Words nearby return to the fold
return on net assets, return receipt, return stroke, return the compliment, return ticket, return to the fold, return-cocked, return-flue boiler, returnable, returned man, returned soldier
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.