1
general::
Phrase(s): fold, spindle, or mutilate
to harm or disfigure. Referring to a once-standard line printed on machine-readable documents, such as computer punch cards. (Such a document, if folded, placed on a bill spike, or otherwise punctured, would no longer be machine-readable.) • At the bottom of the bill, it said "do not fold, spindle, or mutilate," and Jane, in her anger, did all three. • Look here, chum, if you don’t want to get folded, spindled, or mutilated, you had better do what you are told!
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs