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

The studios would rent for about $1,500 a month and weren’t that small, he said, given modular furniture—beds that fold up, closets that pop out.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

"They've overstocked too, and they now see the UK as a place to dump their bikes," he said, adding that he may now consider focusing solely on fold up e-bikes.

From BBC • Feb. 7, 2025

“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

I arrived with my folding bike expecting I’d need to convince them my bike would fold up smaller than a suitcase.

From Seattle Times • May 7, 2024

I fold up the note and leave it with the picture.

From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera

Related Words

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