forge

¹ American  

[fawrj, fohrj] / fɔrdʒ, foʊrdʒ /

verb (used with object)

forged, forging

1. 

   to form by heating and hammering; beat into shape.

2. to form or make, especially by concentrated effort.

   to forge a friendship through mutual trust.

   Synonyms:

   pirate, falsify, fake, counterfeit, build, create, mold, found, cast

3. to imitate (handwriting, a signature, etc.) fraudulently; fabricate a forgery.

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verb (used without object)

forged, forging

1. to commit forgery.

2. to work at a forge.

3. (of a horse at a trot) to strike the forefeet with the shoes of the hind feet.

noun

• forges
  plural

1. a special fireplace, hearth, or furnace in which metal is heated before shaping.

2. the workshop of a blacksmith; smithy.

forge ² American  

[fawrj, fohrj] / fɔrdʒ, foʊrdʒ /

verb (used without object)

forged, forging

1. to move ahead slowly; progress steadily.

   to forge through dense underbrush.

2. to move ahead with increased speed and effectiveness (usually followed byahead ).

   to forge ahead and finish the work in a burst of energy.

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forge ¹ British  

/ fɔːdʒ /

noun

1. a place in which metal is worked by heating and hammering; smithy

2. a hearth or furnace used for heating metal

3. a machine used to shape metals by hammering

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verb

1. (tr) to shape (metal) by heating and hammering

2. (tr) to form, shape, make, or fashion (objects, articles, etc)

3. (tr) to invent or devise (an agreement, understanding, etc)

4. to make or produce a fraudulent imitation of (a signature, banknote, etc) or to commit forgery

forge ² British  

/ fɔːdʒ /

verb

1. to move at a steady and persevering pace

2. to increase speed; spurt

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• forger
  noun
• forgeable
  adjective
• reforgeable
  adjective
• unforgeable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• forges
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of forge¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English forgen, fourgen, from Old French forgier, forger, from Latin fabricāre “to fabricate”; see fabric

Origin of forge²

First recorded in 1605–15; origin uncertain

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Explanation

Have you ever seen a blacksmith make a horseshoe? Well, no, probably not, but they use a special furnace which is called a forge, and "to forge something" is also the act of bashing that hot object into shape. Forge has also taken on the more general sense of creating something. A new philosophy or art form might have been forged, as might an alibi or an excuse. To forge something also has the meaning of faking something, such as a painting or a signature with the intent to deceive. It can also mean to move ahead in a steady manner, either physically or metaphorically, much like those solid, regular blows of the blacksmith's hammer.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

forge forges forged forging

She placed the babies with other families and was eventually able to forge “deep relationships with these children,” she wrote.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

Occasionally, I’ve come across friends, family and acquaintances who don’t have a strong relationship to the genre, but are curious about how to forge one.

From Salon ● Oct. 28, 2026

The Broad and L.A. artist Lauren Halsey forge partnership to offer South L.A. students free art field trips, community workshops and museum tours.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

Others expect him to forge ahead instead with diplomatic efforts, which have already "brought great stability", Allen said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

The door opened, and Eitri came in and carefully pulled the work from the forge.

From "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman

To do it, Hansen forges forward with all the ardent conviction of an American soldier, clinging to the belief that his definition of good is the greater good, too.

From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026

He’s a student of life as much as he is filmmaking, a humanist who forges connections with spectacular sights of the things that frighten and fascinate us the most.

From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026

Instead, the story of a lone knight and his young companion forges a new tonal path in the “Game of Thrones” universe.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026

What follows focuses on Martin and Lora’s daughter Josie, who forges a successful life—she goes to Harvard and starts a family—but can never vanquish her longing for her father’s return.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026

If anyone can get near the forges, it’s them.

From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir

During more than a decade of Britain’s tinkering and planning, China built the world’s highest bridge and Canada forged a river crossing to the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

"My outlook and my view of the world were not forged in Davos or Washington, but in places whose desolation I'm not sure you can even begin to fathom," he has said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026

The Spanish “REC”—purportedly forged out of the salvaged recordings of a news crew lost in a plague-zombie apartment building—was genuinely thrilling.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

But while turnstiles spun — on Thursday, the club announced a record of 4,034,219 fans showed up this season to witness Ohtani’s greatness — everyone forged foolishly forward.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

‘But the time is near when it shall be forged anew.’

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien

The new wave of AI filmmakers have accepted the rise of AI as inevitable, and are forging ahead, increasingly in Culver City.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

Jacob Tremblay embodies a young Kaczynski almost exactly as I have imagined him, minus the smiling and the forging of his mother’s signature.

From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026

The move would cap a career built on a knack for dealmaking and forging relationships that has benefited the firm.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

Such gifts are a small but meaningful element of the larger aim of Xi and Trump's three-day summit – forging personal relationships between heads of two global superpowers.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

“Marines have lost more than ears in their long history. But still they come, always attacking, always forging ahead, driving forward without regard to life or limb.”

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

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Related Words

• build
• construct
• create
• devise
• form
• hammer out
• shape

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