tuning fork

American

noun

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.

tuning fork British

noun

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

"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

Etymology

Origin of tuning fork

First recorded in 1765–75

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.

Even if it meant a tuning fork was somehow involved.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 9, 2025

Be “meticulously thoughtful” about one’s needs and comforts, hence the tuning fork.

From Salon • Aug. 3, 2025

They also approached the spiders with a tuning fork that vibrated at the same frequency as the insects’ beating wings.

From Science Magazine • Dec. 4, 2024

The U-M researchers point to what's called the Hubble tuning fork, a diagram that depicts the way astronomer Edwin Hubble classified galaxies.

From Science Daily • Nov. 21, 2023

Goddard sneered and tapped his blade against the huge tuning fork.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023