7 N‑SING When someone joins an organization or group, you can say that they have come into the fold . When they leave the organization or group, you can say that they leave the fold . □ The E.U. wanted to bring the U.S. back into the fold. □ He might find it difficult to return to the family fold when he realizes his mistake.
▸ fold in or fold into PHRASAL VERB In cooking, if you fold in an ingredient or fold it into the other ingredients, you mix it very gently into the other ingredients. □ [V P n] Fold in the flour. □ [V n P n] Fold the cream into the egg yolk mixture.
▸ fold up
1 PHRASAL VERB If you fold something up , you make it into a smaller, neater shape by folding it, usually several times. □ [V n P ] She folded it up, and tucked it into her purse. □ [V P n] He folded up his paper and put it away.
2 → see also fold 4 , fold-up
SUFFIX -fold
combines with numbers to form adverbs which say how much an amount has increased by. For example, if an amount increases fourfold , it is four times greater than it was originally.
fold|er /foʊ ldə r / (folders )
1 N‑COUNT A folder is a thin piece of cardboard in which you can keep loose papers.
2 N‑COUNT A folder is a group of files that are stored together on a computer.
fo ld-up ADJ [ADJ n] A fold-up piece of furniture or equipment is one that is specially designed so that it can be folded into a smaller shape in order to be stored.
fo|li|age /foʊ li I dʒ/ N‑UNCOUNT The leaves of a plant are referred to as its foliage . □ …shrubs with grey or silver foliage.
fo|lic acid /foʊl I kæ s I d/ N‑UNCOUNT Folic acid is one of the B group of vitamins. It is found in green vegetables and fruit.
fo|lio /foʊ lioʊ/ (folios ) N‑COUNT A folio is a book made with paper of a large size, used especially in the early centuries of European printing. □ Richard told me of three 16th-century folio volumes on alchemy.
folk ◆◇◇ /foʊ k/ (folks ) folk can also be used as the plural form for meaning 1 . 1 N‑PLURAL You can refer to people as folk or folks . □ Country folk can tell you that there are certain places which animals avoid. □ …old folks.
2 N‑PLURAL [usu poss N ] You can refer to your close family, especially your mother and father, as your folks . [INFORMAL ] □ I've been avoiding my folks lately.
3 N‑PLURAL You can use folks as a term of address when you are talking to several people. [INFORMAL ] □ This is it, folks: the best record guide in the business.
4 ADJ [ADJ n] Folk art and customs are traditional or typical of a particular community or nation. □ …traditional Chinese folk medicine.
5 ADJ [ADJ n] Folk music is music which is traditional or typical of a particular community or nation. □ …Irish folk music. ● N‑UNCOUNT Folk is also a noun. □ …a variety of music including classical, jazz, and folk.
6 ADJ [ADJ n] Folk can be used to describe something that relates to the beliefs and opinions of ordinary people. □ Jack was a folk hero in the Greenwich Village bars.
folk|lore /foʊ klɔː r / N‑UNCOUNT Folklore is the traditional stories, customs, and habits of a particular community or nation. □ In Chinese folklore the bat is an emblem of good fortune.
fo lk song (folk songs ) also folksong N‑COUNT A folk song is a traditional song that is typical of a particular community or nation.
folk|sy /foʊ ksi/
1 ADJ [usu ADJ n] If you describe something as folksy , you mean that it is simple and has a style characteristic of folk craft and tradition. You sometimes use folksy to show disapproval of something because it seems unsophisticated. □ …folksy country furniture.
2 ADJ [usu ADJ n] If you describe someone as folksy , you mean that they are friendly and informal in their behaviour. [AM , APPROVAL ] □ …an elderly, folksy postman.
fol|li|cle /fɒ l I k ə l/ (follicles ) N‑COUNT A follicle is one of the small hollows in the skin which hairs grow from.
fol|low ◆◆◆ /fɒ loʊ/ (follows , following , followed )
1 VERB If you follow someone who is going somewhere, you move along behind them because you want to go to the same place. □ [V n prep/adv] We followed him up the steps into a large hall. □ [V n] Please follow me, madam. □ [V ] They took him into a small room and I followed. [Also V + after ]
2 VERB If you follow someone who is going somewhere, you move along behind them without their knowledge, in order to catch them or find out where they are going. □ [V n] She realized that the Mercedes was following her. □ [be V -ed] I think we're being followed.
3 VERB If you follow someone to a place where they have recently gone and where they are now, you go to join them there. □ [V n + to ] He followed Janice to New York, where she was preparing an exhibition.
4 VERB An event, activity, or period of time that follows a particular thing happens or comes after that thing, at a later time. □ [V n] …the rioting and looting that followed the verdict. □ [V ] Other problems may follow. □ [V -ed] Eye witnesses spoke of a noise followed by a huge red light.
5 VERB If you follow one thing with another, you do or say the second thing after you have done or said the first thing. □ [V n + with ] She broadcast on radio, and followed this with a series of credits in films and on TV. ● PHRASAL VERB Follow up means the same as follow . □ [V n P + with ] Most comics who score a hit at Edinburgh follow it up with a big tour.