What does "overfold" mean?

A fold whereby the strata are forced through an angle of more than 90 degrees, so that younger strata lie below older ones.

How do you pronounce "overfold"?

Pronounced //ˈəʊvəfəʊld//.

//ˈəʊvəfəʊld// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A fold whereby the strata are forced through an angle of more than 90 degrees, so that younger strata lie below older ones.
"Thrusts were directed there; major overfolds bulged outwards towards the north."

Verb

1
To fold excessively. transitive
"The trick is to not overfold the ingredients; doing so causes the egg whites to deflate, resulting in a flat or soggy soufflé."

"Thrusts were directed there; major overfolds bulged outwards towards the north."

From over- + fold; in the geological sense, after German Überfaltung (“overfolding”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.