FORK Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com

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fork

[ fawrk ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

1. an instrument having two or more prongs or tines, for holding, lifting, etc., such as a utensil for handling food or any of various agricultural tools.
2. something resembling or suggesting this in form.
a division into branches or the point where this division occurs:
Bear left at the fork in the road.
There’s a fork in the decision-making process for these two types of problem.
either of the branches into which a thing divides:
The right fork will also get you to our farm, but by a longer route.
a principal tributary of a river.
tuning fork ( def ).
Machinery. yoke ¹( def 9 ).
Horology. (in a lever escapement) the divided end of the lever engaging with the ruby pin.
the support of the front wheel axles of a bicycle or motorcycle, having two parallel prongs.
the barbed head of an arrow.

to pierce, raise, pitch, dig, etc., with a fork:
I forked 50 bales into the hay wagon today.
If you fork your lawn, the soil will absorb water more readily.
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:
She managed to fork my rook and queen, and I lost the rook.
Computers. to copy the source code from (a piece of software) and develop a new version independently, resulting in two unique pieces of software:
They forked the app and added another module.

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

/ ��ɔː�� /

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
1. a division into two or more branches
2. the point where the division begins
3. such a branch
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

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Origin of fork¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English forke, Old English forca, from Latin furca fork, gallows, yoke

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Origin of fork¹

Old English forca , from Latin furca

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Examples have not been reviewed.

Ariel Courage’s debut is a fork jabbed into the electric socket of America.

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He looked at his dad, who was busy forking through a small house salad with extra garbanzos, and smiled.

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Even Maron is about ready for the world to put a fork in him, addressing his cynicism over boycotts in his March 3 post.

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Nine American seasons of this show haven’t yielded an answer that makes any more sense than a toddler’s urge to stick a fork in an electrical socket.

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Rubio countered that over a thousand State Department employees had taken the so-called "fork in the road" buyouts.

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