fork

[ fawrk ]

/ fɔrk /

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See synonyms for: fork / forked / forking / forks on Thesaurus.com

noun

an instrument having two or more prongs or tines, for holding, lifting, etc., as an implement for handling food or any of various agricultural tools.

something resembling or suggesting this in form.

tuning fork.

Machinery. yoke¹ (def. 9).

a division into branches.

the point or part at which a thing, as a river or a road, divides into branches: Bear left at the fork in the road.

either of the branches into which a thing divides.

Horology. (in a lever escapement) the forked end of the lever engaging with the ruby pin.

a principal tributary of a river.

the support of the front wheel axles of a bicycle or motorcycle, having the shape of a two-pronged fork.

the barbed head of an arrow.

verb (used with object)

to pierce, raise, pitch, dig, etc., with a fork.

to make into the form of a fork.

Chess. to maneuver so as to place (two opponent's pieces) under simultaneous attack by the same piece.

Digital Technology to copy (the source code) from a piece of software and develop a new version independently, with the result of producing two unique pieces of software.

verb (used without object)

to divide into branches: Turn left where the road forks.

to turn as indicated at a fork in a road, path, etc.: Fork left and continue to the top of the hill.

Verb Phrases

fork over / out / up Informal. to hand over; deliver; pay: Fork over the money you owe me!

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Origin of fork

before 1000; Middle English forke,Old English forca<Latin furca fork, gallows, yoke

OTHER WORDS FROM fork

forkless, adjectiveforklike, adjectiveun·fork, verb (used with object)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use fork in a sentence

He recalled one fundraising dinner where he and a fellow AIDS activist were served on paper plates with paper forks.
Gay Activist David Mixner: I Mercy Killed 8 People|Tim Teeman|October 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There was a blond girl he liked in Three Forks, where his uncle lived.
The Ballad of Johnny France|Richard Ben Cramer|January 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
You will instead: Begin gathering nearby plates, dishes, forks and leftovers.
Crushing Christmas: How to Win Every Argument|Kelly Williams Brown|December 24, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Mohamed went on to the U.S., working in labs in Grand Forks, N.D., and Atlanta.
Somalia’s Fierce Daughter|Abigail Pesta|October 21, 2012|DAILY BEAST

This was a throwback, for by then forks were nearly universal.
The Strange Way We Eat: Bee Wilson’s ‘Consider the Fork’|Bee Wilson|October 13, 2012|DAILY BEAST
To the strangers, also, were given the spoons and forks, but the want of them did not appear to incommode the Brazilians.
Journal of a Voyage to Brazil|Maria Graham
The knives and forks had white and black horn handles, with notched blades, and broken prongs.
A Woman's Journey Round the World|Ida Pfeiffer
Although the table-cloth and the napkins were of fine damask, the knives were of a common sort, and the forks of steel.
Skipper Worse|Alexander Lange Kielland
The boots were hung in the forks of a clump of willows, where they could easily be found on their return.
Gold-Seeking on the Dalton Trail|Arthur R. Thompson
I asked him once why the Europeans eat with knives and forks, and spoons, instead of with their fingers, which God had given them.
Confessions of a Thug|Philip Meadows Taylor

British Dictionary definitions for fork

fork

/ (fɔːk) /

noun

a small usually metal implement consisting of two, three, or four long thin prongs on the end of a handle, used for lifting food to the mouth or turning it in cooking, etc

an agricultural tool consisting of a handle and three or four metal prongs, used for lifting, digging, etc

a pronged part of any machine, device, etc

(of a road, river, etc)

a division into two or more branches
the point where the division begins
such a branch

mainly US the main tributary of a river

chess a position in which two pieces are forked

verb

(tr) to pick up, dig, etc, with a fork

(tr) chess to place (two enemy pieces) under attack with one of one's own pieces, esp a knight

(tr) to make into the shape of a fork

(intr) to be divided into two or more branches

to take one or other branch at a fork in a road, river, etc

Derived forms of fork

forkful, noun

Word Origin for fork

Old English forca, from Latin furca

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

fork

Origin of fork

OTHER WORDS FROM fork

Words related to fork

How to use fork in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for fork

Derived forms of fork

Word Origin for fork