fourchette

American  

[foor-shet] / fʊərˈʃɛt /

noun

1. Anatomy. the fold of skin that forms the posterior margin of the vulva.

2. Ornithology. furcula; wishbone.

3. Zoology. the frog of an animal's foot.

4. a strip of leather or fabric joining the front and back sections of a glove finger.

5. Chiefly Bridge. a tenace.

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fourchette British  

/ fʊəˈʃɛt /

noun

1. anatomy the bandlike fold of skin, about one inch from the anus, forming the posterior margin of the vulva

2. a less common name for furcula frog 3

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Etymology

Origin of fourchette

1745–55; < French, diminutive of fourche; fork, -ette

Example Sentences

The general has always been a bonne fourchette, but now, in retirement, he eats with gusto, if not abandon, and his weight is a source of anxiety to old friends.

From Time Magazine Archive

A d�je�ner � la fourchette was laid out under tents, where, at twenty long tables covered in the European manner, the most distinguished personages took their seats.

From Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara, Volume III (Commodore B. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair,) Undertaken by Order of the Imperial Government in the Years 1857, 1858, & 1859, Under the Immediate Auspices of His I. and R. Highness the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, Commander-In-Chief of the Austrian Navy. by Scherzer, Karl Ritter von

Everything is placed ready for déjeûner à la fourchette.

From Happy-Thought Hall by Burnand, F. C. (Francis Cowley), Sir

It served me for a second meal, a breakfast; but at this déjeuner sans fourchette I picked the bones.

From The Hunters' Feast Conversations Around the Camp Fire by Reid, Mayne

In birds whose power of flight is strong, the two limbs of this bone are widely separated and thick, and the fourchette is U-shaped.

From Artistic Anatomy of Animals by Cuyer, ?douard