pitchfork
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
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to use a pitchfork on (something)
-
to thrust (someone) unwillingly into a position
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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pitchforksimple
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pitchforkssimple
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have pitchforkedperfect
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has pitchforkedperfect
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am pitchforkingprogressive
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are pitchforkingprogressive
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is pitchforkingprogressive
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have been pitchforkingperfect progressive
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has been pitchforkingperfect progressive
Past
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pitchforkedsimple
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had pitchforkedperfect
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was pitchforkingprogressive
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were pitchforkingprogressive
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had been pitchforkingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pitchfork
late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; see origin at pitch 1, fork
Explanation
A pitchfork is a large three-pronged tool used for gardening or farming. If you want to see an image of a pitchfork, just google an image of the famous painting "American Gothic." With a pitchfork, a farmer can easily scoop beneath a pile of hay or straw, lift it, and toss it into a pile. Most pitchforks have wooden handles and metal prongs, and they've been around since the Middle Ages. Back then, they were sometimes used as a weapon too. The word pitchfork comes from the "toss or throw" meaning of pitch, plus fork, from the Old English forca, "forked instrument or weapon."
Vocabulary lists containing pitchfork
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Much less familiar is Guglielmo of Malavalle, a twelfth century hermit venerated by the Augustinians for defeating a dragon using a simple wooden staff shaped like a pitchfork.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 2, 2026
In a noticeable moment from “Cow,” a farmer baling hay strikes his pitchfork against a stone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
Our spa attendant for the day, Samundra Sutcliffe, lodged a large pitchfork into the vat shavings and turned it over on top of itself as steam emanated from the pile.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2025
The FDF, whose symbol is a crossed double pitchfork, was formed in 2019 and has since expanded to Belgium.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 18, 2024
A pitchfork was embedded in a jacaranda tree.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
“When things crystallize like this, it brings out the pitchforks and the torches,” said Marc Cenedella, CEO of the jobs platform Ladders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 1, 2026
A teenager draws his slingshot, while fighters holding prayer beads take control of a Soviet tank, and peasants clutching pitchforks face Soviet soldiers.
From Barron's ● Jan. 22, 2026
Police officers on Thursday were seen holding pitchforks as they combed land in the area on the outskirts of the municipality of Lagos and some used pick-axes and shovels to dig some of the undergrowth.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2025
The shelters were dismantled by city workers and scraped off the flood channel floor with pitchforks, shovels and bulldozers while those who lived in them watched.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2025
Growing up, they had wielded axes and fishing gaffs and pitchforks expertly, and they had built up strong arms and broad shoulders doing so.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
The moving tribute pitchforked the reclusive artist and his works onto the global stage.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2023
They pitchforked the pine straw around the snapdragons and verbena by the Saddlebrook sign.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 15, 2019
Tortorella said the questionable officiating “started with the noncall when Gaby’s walking in and gets pitchforked in the stomach, and then everything starts going against us.”
From New York Times ● Jan. 4, 2012
The devil finds work for idle actors, and this week he's pitchforked Nicolas Cage and Anthony Hopkins into satanic horror movies.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 27, 2011
The pitchforked guards passed near the cart, and advanced before us too.
From Debts of Honor by Yolland, Arthur B. (Arthur Battishill)
“It’s kind of like snow,” said Wiley McFarland, 83, a longtime rancher and community leader who wearily recalls pitchforking thousands of the plants out of his irrigation ditches and cattle corrals during particularly bad years.
From New York Times ● Oct. 27, 2011
I've come to apologize," said the Duchess, "for pitchforking a stranger into your room like this; but I'm sorry for the woman.
From Barnaby A Novel by Ramsay, R.
When he drew near they put more spirit into their pitchforking.
From Fort Amity by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
