tuning fork

American  

noun

1. a steel instrument consisting of a stem with two prongs, producing a musical tone of definite, constant pitch when struck, and serving as a standard for tuning musical instruments, making acoustical experiments, and the like.

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tuning fork British  

noun

1. a two-pronged metal fork that when struck produces a pure note of constant specified pitch. It is used to tune musical instruments and in acoustics

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Etymology

Origin of tuning fork

First recorded in 1765–75

Example Sentences

While I dubbed it the tuning fork facial in my brain, Vargas bills it as the “Restructuring & Rebalancing Facial.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 9, 2025

She begins two weeks before the airport car shows up at her door and fills multiple suitcases with many more clothes than she’ll wear, snacks, even a tuning fork.

From Salon • Aug. 3, 2025

On average, the spiders shot their web at the live prey when it came within 1.5 centimeters of their web, and at the tuning fork when it was 2.9 centimeters from their web.

From Science Magazine • Dec. 4, 2024

Davis and a team of undergraduates from the Odum School used a tuning fork to simulate the vibrations caused by prey when caught in a spider's web and then watched if the spiders attacked.

From Science Daily • Feb. 13, 2024

But unlike those ancient structures, the symbol at the apex of the central steeple was not a cross, but a two-pronged tuning fork.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman