[fawrk] Pronunciation Key | 1. | 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. |
| 2. | something resembling or suggesting this in form. |
| 3. | tuning fork. |
| 4. | Machinery. yoke1 (def. 9). |
| 5. | a division into branches. |
| 6. | 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. |
| 7. | either of the branches into which a thing divides. |
| 8. | Horology. (in a lever escapement) the forked end of the lever engaging with the ruby pin. |
| 9. | a principal tributary of a river. |
| 10. | the support of the front wheel axles of a bicycle or motorcycle, having the shape of a two-pronged fork. |
| 11. | the barbed head of an arrow. |
| 12. | to pierce, raise, pitch, dig, etc., with a fork. |
| 13. | to make into the form of a fork. |
| 14. | Chess. to maneuver so as to place (two opponent's pieces) under simultaneous attack by the same piece. |
| 15. | to divide into branches: Turn left where the road forks. |
| 16. | to turn as indicated at a fork in a road, path, etc.: Fork left and continue to the top of the hill. |
| 17. | fork over or out or up, Informal. to hand over; deliver; pay: Fork over the money you owe me! |
] —Related forms
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
| fork
(fôrk) Pronunciation Key
n.
v. forked, fork·ing, forks v. tr.
v. intr.
[Middle English forke, digging fork, from Old English forca and from Old North French forque, both from Latin furca.] fork'er n., fork'ful' n. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
fork
| fork | |
noun | |
| 1. | cutlery used for serving and eating food |
| 2. | the act of branching out or dividing into branches [syn: branching] |
| 3. | the region of the angle formed by the junction of two branches; "they took the south fork"; "he climbed into the crotch of a tree" |
| 4. | an agricultural tool used for lifting or digging; has a handle and metal prongs |
| 5. | the angle formed by the inner sides of the legs where they join the human trunk [syn: crotch] |
verb | |
| 1. | lift with a pitchfork; "pitchfork hay" [syn: pitchfork] |
| 2. | place under attack with one's own pieces, of two enemy pieces |
| 3. | divide into two or more branches so as to form a fork; "The road forks" [syn: branch] |
| 4. | shape like a fork; "She forked her fingers" |
fork operating system
A Unix system call used by a process (the "parent") to make a copy (the "child") of itself. The child process is identical to the parent except it has a different process identifier and a zero return value from the fork call. It is assumed to have used no resources.
A fork followed by an exec can be used to start a different process but this can be inefficient and some later Unix variants provide vfork as an alternative mechanism for this.
See also fork bomb.
(1996-12-08)
Fork Union, VA Zip code(s): 23055
Fork, SC Zip code(s): 29543
Fork, MD Zip code(s): 21051
American Fork, UT (city, FIPS 1310) Location: 40.38425 N, 111.79387 W
Population (1990): 15696 (4222 housing units)
Area: 15.9 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 84003
North Fork, CA Zip code(s): 93643
North Fork, ID Zip code(s): 83466
Oven Fork, KY Zip code(s): 40861
Rolling Fork, MS (city, FIPS 63560) Location: 32.90692 N, 90.87697 W
Population (1990): 2444 (770 housing units)
Area: 3.6 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 39159
Slab Fork, WV Zip code(s): 25920
South Fork, CO Zip code(s): 81154
South Fork, MO Zip code(s): 65776
South Fork, PA (borough, FIPS 72168) Location: 40.36380 N, 78.79159 W
Population (1990): 1197 (500 housing units)
Area: 1.4 sq km (land), 0.1 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 15956
Spanish Fork, UT (city, FIPS 71290) Location: 40.11426 N, 111.63917 W
Population (1990): 11272 (3363 housing units)
Area: 19.7 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 84660
Stoney Fork, KY Zip code(s): 40988
Valley Fork, WV Zip code(s): 25283
Morris Fork, KY Zip code(s): 41314
West Fork, AR (city, FIPS 74360) Location: 35.93248 N, 94.18232 W
Population (1990): 1607 (612 housing units)
Area: 6.8 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 72774
Ash Fork, AZ Zip code(s): 86320
Clark Fork, ID (city, FIPS 14950) Location: 48.14793 N, 116.17668 W
Population (1990): 448 (236 housing units)
Area: 2.5 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 83811
Clear Fork, WV Zip code(s): 24822
Cross Fork, PA Zip code(s): 17729
Dry Fork, VA Zip code(s): 24549
Glen Fork, WV Zip code(s): 25845
Glens Fork, KY Zip code(s): 42741
Greens Fork, IN (town, FIPS 29754) Location: 39.89140 N, 85.04228 W
Population (1990): 416 (152 housing units)
Area: 0.4 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 47345
Laurel Fork, VA Zip code(s): 24352
Sand Fork, WV (town, FIPS 71620) Location: 38.91524 N, 80.74876 W
Population (1990): 196 (89 housing units)
Area: 0.9 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
East Fork, AZ (CDP, FIPS 21310) Location: 33.80645 N, 109.93144 W
Population (1990): 752 (227 housing units)
Area: 7.7 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Coal Fork, WV (CDP, FIPS 16612) Location: 38.31652 N, 81.52093 W
Population (1990): 2100 (861 housing units)
Area: 18.0 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Cherry Fork, OH (village, FIPS 13834) Location: 38.88836 N, 83.61351 W
Population (1990): 178 (80 housing units)
Area: 0.3 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Locust Fork, AL (town, FIPS 43888) Location: 33.90265 N, 86.62168 W
Population (1990): 342 (138 housing units)
Area: 3.4 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Fork
Fork\ (f[^o]rj), n. [AS. forc, fr. L. furca. Cf. Fourch['e], Furcate.]1. An instrument consisting of a handle with a shank terminating in two or more prongs or tines, which are usually of metal, parallel and slightly curved; -- used from piercing, holding, taking up, or pitching anything. 2. Anything furcate or like a fork in shape, or furcate at the extremity; as, a tuning fork. 3. One of the parts into which anything is furcated or divided; a prong; a branch of a stream, a road, etc.; a barbed point, as of an arrow. Let it fall . . . though the fork invade The region of my heart. --Shak. A thunderbolt with three forks. --Addison. 4. The place where a division or a union occurs; the angle or opening between two branches or limbs; as, the fork of a river, a tree, or a road. 5. The gibbet. [Obs.] --Bp. Butler. Fork beam (Shipbuilding), a half beam to support a deck, where hatchways occur. Fork chuck (Wood Turning), a lathe center having two prongs for driving the work. Fork head. (a) The barbed head of an arrow. (b) The forked end of a rod which forms part of a knuckle joint. In fork. (Mining) A mine is said to be in fork, or an engine to "have the water in fork," when all the water is drawn out of the mine. --Ure. The forks of a river or a road, the branches into which it divides, or which come together to form it; the place where separation or union takes place.
Fork
Fork\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Forked; p. pr. & vb. n. Forking.]1. To shoot into blades, as corn. The corn beginneth to fork. --Mortimer. 2. To divide into two or more branches; as, a road, a tree, or a stream forks.
Fork
Fork\, v. t. To raise, or pitch with a fork, as hay; to dig or turn over with a fork, as the soil. Forking the sheaves on the high-laden cart. --Prof. Wilson. To fork over or out, to hand or pay over, as money. [Slang] --G. Eliot.
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