foldable

1 of 2

adjective

fold·​able ˈfōl-də-bəl How to pronounce foldable (audio)
: capable of being folded (as for storage) : folding
a foldable chair
… as he wanders the country and the globe with just the clothes on his back, his expired passport, a debit card and a foldable toothbrush.David Hendricks

foldable

2 of 2

noun

plural foldables
: something that can be folded
Vertical rows of shelves hold all the foldables like sweaters and polo shirts.House Beautiful
especially : a device (such as a tablet computer or smartphone) that can be folded for storage
Foldables are increasingly becoming a normal part of the tech community. Just look at the handful of foldable smartphones around, so don't expect this trend to fizzle out anytime soon. Spy

Examples of foldable in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
New:Domino's introduces 'foldable' New York-style pizza Wawa locations Wawa has over 1,000 stores in six states, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Florida, in addition to Washington, D.C. Gabe Hauari, USA TODAY, 16 Apr. 2024 For those who travel often, these foldable flats can easily fit into your carry-on bag. Taylor Jean Stephan, Peoplemag, 6 Apr. 2024 The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex i5 is a great example of that foldable design for $499. Kyle Barr / Gizmodo, Quartz, 18 Mar. 2024 Vivo’s Snapdragon Power Speaking of chips in foldable smartphones, Chinese manufacturer Vivo has upped the performance game with the first Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 equipped foldable. Ewan Spence, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024 Another highlight of Cat 133 is the stern: Two hulls, two internal wings, and two foldable side doors come together to create a swimming platform that is about 52 feet wide when fully opened. Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 27 Mar. 2024 Motorola's new foldable concept phone can turn into a (very bad) smart bracelet. Julian Chokkattu Simon Hill, WIRED, 26 Feb. 2024 Additionally, the charger features a foldable charging slot on the side, specifically designed for your Apple Watch. Jessica Copeland, Rolling Stone, 7 Feb. 2024 The latter leads to a beach area with foldable platforms and an openable aft hatch. Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 22 Mar. 2024
Noun
At the same time, the company has been working on a foldable iPad that eliminates the worst aspects of foldables, namely the fragility and the annoying crease. Kyle Barr / Gizmodo, Quartz, 8 Feb. 2024 Finally, like many foldables in 2024, the Fold 2 is tweaking the aspect ratio of previous models to create a more user-friendly cover display and larger internal screen. Ewan Spence, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2024 In late March, Samsung will extend Galaxy AI features to the S23 series — including the S23 FE — as well as recent foldables and tablets as part of the One UI 6.1 update. Allison Johnson, The Verge, 22 Feb. 2024 Cook had reportedly approached Apple engineers as early as 2018 about the possibility of foldables. Kyle Barr / Gizmodo, Quartz, 8 Feb. 2024 And to Honor’s credit, even with a six month waiting period (during which major brands like Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo and Huawei all launched new foldables), the Magic V2 is still the thinnest and lightest foldable phone of them all. Ben Sin, Forbes, 13 Feb. 2024 Considering that that's markedly better than some LCD laptops have performed on this test, HP's innovations show the potential battery life gains to be had beyond foldables. Scharon Harding, Ars Technica, 22 Dec. 2023 With all eyes on Samsung’s new foldables yesterday, Oppo subbrand OnePlus couldn’t help itself. Jon Porter, The Verge, 3 Oct. 2023 Abt Electronics/YouTube Like other foldables, the crease can seemingly catch reflections and glare when the device is bent. Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica, 10 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'foldable.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

fold entry 1 + -able

Noun

derivative of foldable entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

1648, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1904, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of foldable was in 1648

Dictionary Entries Near foldable

Cite this Entry

“Foldable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foldable. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.

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