fork
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.
something resembling or suggesting this in form.
Machinery. yoke1 (def. 9).
a division into branches.
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.
either of the branches into which a thing divides.
Horology. (in a lever escapement) the forked end of the lever engaging with the ruby pin.
a principal tributary of a river.
the support of the front wheel axles of a bicycle or motorcycle, having the shape of a two-pronged fork.
the barbed head of an arrow.
to pierce, raise, pitch, dig, etc., with a fork.
to make into the form of a fork.
Chess. to maneuver so as to place (two opponent's pieces) under simultaneous attack by the same piece.
Digital Technology to copy (the source code) from a piece of software and develop a new version independently, with the result of producing two unique pieces of software.
to divide into branches:Turn left where the road forks.
to turn as indicated at a fork in a road, path, etc.: Fork left and continue to the top of the hill.
fork over / out / up Informal. to hand over; deliver; pay: Fork over the money you owe me!
Origin of fork
1Other words from fork
- forkless, adjective
- forklike, adjective
- un·fork, verb (used with object)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use fork in a sentence
They made spoons, knives, and forks out of sheets of some kind of metal.
Slave Narratives: Arkansas Narratives | Work Projects AdministrationOld Hickory looks sort of puzzled; but he forks out the singleton, and the messenger climbs in after it.
Torchy, Private Sec. | Sewell FordBut it aint no good; they forks out the tin, and then goes and haves a spree at a public.
The Gamekeeper at Home | Richard JefferiesA lady buys two oranges, and forks out a sixpence; well in coorse, I hands over fippence farden astead of fippence.
A Budget of Paradoxes, Volume II (of II) | Augustus de MorganI got a firm hold on the forks out at their ends, swung clear, and drew myself up between them.
The Fall of the Year | Dallas Lore Sharp
British Dictionary definitions for fork
/ (fɔːk) /
a small usually metal implement consisting of two, three, or four long thin prongs on the end of a handle, used for lifting food to the mouth or turning it in cooking, etc
an agricultural tool consisting of a handle and three or four metal prongs, used for lifting, digging, etc
a pronged part of any machine, device, etc
(of a road, river, etc)
a division into two or more branches
the point where the division begins
such a branch
mainly US the main tributary of a river
chess a position in which two pieces are forked
(tr) to pick up, dig, etc, with a fork
(tr) chess to place (two enemy pieces) under attack with one of one's own pieces, esp a knight
(tr) to make into the shape of a fork
(intr) to be divided into two or more branches
to take one or other branch at a fork in a road, river, etc
Origin of fork
1Derived forms of fork
- forkful, noun
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
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