What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Flex vs Fold - What's the difference?

flex | fold |

As a noun flex

is (uncountable) flexibility, pliancy.

As a verb flex

is to bend something.

As a proper noun fold is

earth.

flex

English

Noun

  • (uncountable) Flexibility, pliancy.
  • (countable) The act of flexing.
  • (uncountable, chiefly, British) Any flexible insulated electrical wiring.
  • (countable, geometry) A point of inflection.

    • Verb

    (es)
  • To bend something.
  • To repeatedly bend one of one's joints.
  • To move part of the body using one's muscles.
  • (bodybuilding) To tighten the muscles for display of size or strength.
  • * 1994 , Elise Title, Body Heat? , page 189
    • He rubbed his hands together. "Believe it or not, there was a time when I considered giving acting a go. What do you think, Miss Fox?" He flexed impressive biceps. "Would I have had a chance against the Schwarzeneggers and the Chuck Norris types?"

    Related terms

    * flexibility * flexible * flexing * flexion

    fold

    English

    (wikipedia fold)

    Etymology 1

    (etyl) (m), from (etyl) (m), from (etyl) , (etyl) falda (Danish folde).

    Verb

  • To bend (any thin material, such as paper) over so that it comes in contact with itself.
  • To make the proper arrangement (in a thin material) by bending.
    • If you fold the sheets, they'll fit more easily in the drawer.
  • To become folded; to form folds.
    • Cardboard doesn't fold very easily.
  • (informal) To fall over; to be crushed.
    • The chair folded under his enormous weight.
  • To enclose within folded arms (see also enfold).
  • * 1897 , (Bram Stoker), Chapter 21
    • He put out his arms and folded her to his breast. And for a while she lay there sobbing. He looked at us over her bowed head, with eyes that blinked damply above his quivering nostrils. His mouth was set as steel.
  • To give way on a point or in an argument.
  • (poker) To withdraw from betting.
    • With no hearts in the river and no chance to hit his straight, he folded .
  • (cooking) To stir gently, with a folding action.
    • Fold the egg whites into the batter.
  • (business) Of a company, to cease to trade.
    • The company folded after six quarters of negative growth.
  • To double or lay together, as the arms or the hands.
    • He folded his arms in defiance.
  • To cover or wrap up; to conceal.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Nor fold my fault in cleanly coined excuses.
    Synonyms
    * bend, crease * (fall over) fall over * (give way on a point or in an argument) concede, give in, give way, yield
    Antonyms
    * unfold
    Derived terms
    * foldable * foldaway * foldboat * folder * folding money * foldover * fold-down

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An act of folding.
  • A bend or crease.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • mummies shrouded in a number of folds of linen
  • * J. D. Dana
    • Folds are most common in the rocks of mountainous regions.
  • Any correct move in origami.
  • A group of sheep or goats.
  • A group of people who adhere to a common faith and habitually attend a given church.
  • (newspapers) The division between the top and bottom halves of a broadsheet: headlines above the fold will be readable in a newsstand display; usually the fold .
  • (by extension, web design) The division between the part of a web page visible in a web browser window without scrolling; usually the fold .
  • (geology) The bending or curving of one or a stack of originally flat and planar surfaces, such as sedimentary strata, as a result of plastic (i.e. permanent) deformation.
  • (computing, programming) In functional programming, any of a family of higher-order functions that process a data structure recursively to build up a value.
  • That which is folded together, or which enfolds or envelops; embrace.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Shall from your neck unloose his amorous fold .
  • * 2013 , Phil McNulty, "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23830980]", BBC Sport , 1 September 2013:
    • Having suffered the loss of Rooney just as he had returned to the fold , Moyes' mood will not have improved as Liverpool took the lead in the third minute.
    Synonyms
    * (act of folding) bending, creasing. * (bend or crease) bend, crease. * * (correct move in origami)
    Derived terms
    * above the fold * below the fold

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) fold, fald, from (etyl) fald, .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A pen or enclosure for sheep or other domestic animals.
  • * Milton
    • Leaps o'er the fence with ease into the fold .
  • * {{quote-book, year=1913, author=
    • , title=Lord Stranleigh Abroad , chapter=4 citation , passage=“I came down like a wolf on the fold , didn’t I??? Why didn’t I telephone??? Strategy, my dear boy, strategy. This is a surprise attack, and I’d no wish that the garrison, forewarned, should escape. …”}}
  • (figuratively) Home, family.
  • (religion, Christian) A church congregation, a church, the Christian church as a whole, the flock of Christ.
    • John , X, 16 : "Other sheep I have which are not of this fold."
  • (obsolete) A boundary or limit.
    • (Creech)
    Synonyms
    * enclosure * pen * penfold, pinfold

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To confine sheep in a fold.
    • The star that bids the shepherd fold — Milton.

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl), from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (-)
  • (dialectal, poetic, or, obsolete) The Earth; earth; land, country.
    • English ergative verbs 1000 English basic words ----