Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US) to die.

1929

W. Winchell Your Broadway & Mine 6 Feb. [synd. col.] Krepps has several million, and will inherit a mess more when kin fold up.

2. to become exhausted, to tire, to fall asleep.

1932		J.A. Shidler ‘More Stanford Expressions’ in AS VII:6 436: A drunkard is a ‘funnel,’ ‘tank,’ ‘blotter,’ or ‘sponge’; he ‘passes out’, ‘folds,’ ‘melts,’ is ‘whipped,’ if he drinks to unconsciousness.
1948		J.M. Cain Moth (1950) 211: If I put down any more booze, I’ll fold.
1953		Kramer & Karr Teen-Age Gangs 151: After you guys folded last night, me and Action went to see a fellow.
1960		J.D. Macdonald Slam the Big Door (1961) 97: Her face was puffy with sleep. [...] She yawned widely and said, ‘Wow! I folded.’.
1979		G. Swarthout Skeletons 124: After that I folded.
1989		P. Munro Sl. U.

3. to shut down, esp. in show business use.

1940		J.H. O’Hara Pal Joey 35: Dont fold until they saw if business was going to stay stinking.
1952		(con. 1948) G. Mandel Flee the Angry Strangers 334: We’re finished in two weeks [...] What are you planning to do, Merwin? You won’t have crackerjack money when we fold.
1960		H.S. Thompson letter 14 Jan. in Proud Highway (1997) 203: It all depends on how this magazine goes. If it folds, I will be out on a limb.
1975		D. Nobbs Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976) 265: ‘How’s the play doing?’ ‘It’s folding on Saturday.’.
1987		R. Campbell Alice in La-La Land (1999) 70: He folded his corporation; changed his business address, phone number, and letterhead.
1992		D. Jarman diary 13 July Smiling in Slow Motion (2000) 171: Gay Times is on the fringes of intellligence, like Stonewall it would do us a service if it folded.
2000		Indep. on Sun. Rev. 12 Mar. 62: I was with the Jeff Beck Group at the time and they folded.
2003		J. Bush Jones Our Musicals, Ourselves 34: The public wasn’t buying Abyssinia, and the show folded after thirty-one performances.
2024		B. McQuade Attack from Within 183: Cyber Ninjas folded in 2022 after being sued to produce documents.

4. of a shop, club etc, to shut.

1947		E. Condon We Called It Music 167: It was a Sunday night in May, 1928. [...] I wanted to see Fifth Avenue. ‘It’s folded until tomorrow,’ McKenzie explained .
1957		W.R. Burnett Underdog 208: Clarence Drew [...] was just getting ready to close his late drinking-spot when Benny sauntered in [...] ‘Hi, Hop,’ said Benny. ‘Getting ready to fold?’.
1979		‘Iceberg Slim’ Airtight Willie and Me 25: Some ass-kicker was a cinch to be a ’ho short when the joints folded in the a.m.

5. (US Und.) to collapse under pressure, e.g. police interrogation.

1947		L.J. Valentine Night Stick 194: Charles ‘Lucky’ Luciano was the leader of the city’s $12,000,000 vice ring. Under Mr. Dewey’s relentless interrogation, he folded completely.
1976		Woodward & Bernstein Final Days 72: When the going had gotten rough, Richardson had folded. It amounted to desertion under fire.
1993		M.B. ‘Chopper’ Read How to Shoot Friends 39: In the end, when Denning faced real pressure, he folded. He rolled over and did whatever the police [...] wanted done.

6. to give up.

1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 73/1: Fold, v. [...] 2. (P) To sever relations with; to quit a work assignment, accepting penalty, or to secure transfer from it; to give up, as gambling, any risky activity, any bad habit, etc.
1969		H. Searls Hero Ship 282: I’m going to fold. No charges.
1992		D. Burke Street Talk 2 34: Yeah, she could really bust a move [...] every time I tried jaw jackin’ with Miss Thang, she got so frosted that I fin’lly jus’ folded.
2000		Lehr & O’Neill Black Mass 168: Stephen Rakes folded soon after the warning.
2009		D. Lehr Fence 265: He’d rather have Kenny fold than actually take him to trial.

7. to collapse, to fail, e.g. in the context of a town becoming useless for criminal activities.

1952		W.R. Burnett Little Men, Big World 166: Just so long as he holds together for a while. Then he can fold if he likes.
1963		M. Spillane Return of the Hood 9: Penny took the big slide and damn sure any alibi I had would fold.
1989		J. Morton Lowspeak.