pleat

Plural: pleats

Noun

• any of various types of fold formed by doubling fabric back upon itself and then pressing or stitching into shape
• A fold in the fabric of a garment, usually a skirt, as a part of the design of the garment, with the purpose of adding controlled fullness and freedom of movement, or taking up excess fabric. There are many types of pleats, differing in their construction and appearance.
• A similar fold in a filter, lampshade, or various other products.
• A fold in an organ, usually a longitudinal fold in a long leaf such as that of palmetto, lending it stiffness.
• A plait.

Verb

Verb Forms: pleated, pleating, pleats

• To fold cloth or other material into a series of parallel folds.
• pleat or gather into a ruffle
• fold into pleats,
  • "Pleat the cloth"
• To form one or more pleats in a piece of fabric or a garment.
• To plait.

Examples

• He tried to pleat his tiles into a complex, high-scoring word, but couldn’t make it fit.
• pleat my hair

Synonyms

plait, plicate, ruffle

Anagrams of pleat