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Webster 1913 Edition

Fork

Fork

(fôrk)
,
Noun.
[AS.
forc
, fr. L.
furca
. Cf.
Fourché
,
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 for 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.
Shakespeare
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
The forks of a road
,
the branches into which it divides, or which come together to form it; the place where separation or union takes place.

Fork

,
Verb.
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

,
Verb.
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
To fork out
,
to hand or pay over, as money; to
cough up
.
[Slang]
G. Eliot.

Webster 1828 Edition

Fork

FORK

,
Noun.
[L. furca.]
1.
an instrument consisting of a handle, and a blade of metal, divided into two or more points or prongs, used for lifting or pitching any thing; as a tablefork for feeding; a pitchfork; a dungfork, &c. forks are also made of ivory, wood or other material.
2.
A point; as a thunderbolt with three forks. Shakespeare uses it for the point of an arrow.
3.
Forks, in the plural, the point where a road parts into two; and the point where a river divides, or rather where two rivers meet and unite in one stream. Each branch is called a fork.

FORK

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To shoot into blades, as corn.
2.
to divide into two; as, a road forks.

FORK

, v.t.
1.
to raise or pitch with a fork, as hay.
2.
To dig and break ground with a fork.
3.
To make sharp; to point.

Definition 2024

fork

fork

See also: förk.

English

Pronged eating utensil — a fork
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The knight forks the black king and rook. The pawn forks the white rooks.

Noun

fork ‎(plural forks)

  1. A pronged tool having a long straight handle, used for digging, lifting, throwing etc.
  2. (obsolete) A gallows.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Bishop Joseph Butler to this entry?)
  3. A utensil with spikes used to put solid food into the mouth, or to hold food down while cutting.
  4. A tuning fork.
  5. An intersection in a road or path where one road is split into two.
    • When you come to a fork in the road, take it - Yogi Berra
  6. 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.
    • Addison
      a thunderbolt with three forks.
  7. A point where a waterway, such as a river, splits and goes two (or more) different directions.
  8. (geography) Used in the names of some river tributaries, e.g. West Fork White River and East Fork White River, joining together to form the White River of Indiana
  9. (figuratively) A point in time where one has to make a decision between two life paths.
  10. (chess) The simultaneous attack of two adversary pieces with one single attacking piece (especially a knight).
  11. (computer science) A splitting-up of an existing process into itself and a child process executing parts of the same program.
  12. (computer science) An event where development of some free software or open-source software is split into two or more separate projects.
  13. (Britain) Crotch.
  14. (colloquial) A forklift.
    • Are you qualified to drive a fork?
  15. The individual blades of a forklift.
  16. (cycling) In a bicycle, the portion of the frameset holding the front wheel, allowing the rider to steer and balance.
    The fork can be equipped with a suspension on mountain bikes.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

fork ‎(third-person singular simple present forks, present participle forking, simple past and past participle forked)

  1. To divide into two or more branches.
    A road, a tree, or a stream forks.
  2. (transitive) To move with a fork (as hay or food).
    • Prof. Wilson
      forking the sheaves on the high-laden cart
  3. (computer science) To spawn a new child process in some sense duplicating the existing process.
  4. (computer science) To split a (software) project into several projects.
  5. (computer science) To split a (software) distributed version control repository
  6. (Britain) To kick someone in the crotch.
  7. To shoot into blades, as corn does.
    • Mortimer
      The corn beginneth to fork.
  8. Euphemistic form of ****.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse forkr ‎(“boathook”), from Latin furca ‎(“fork, pitchfork”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /fɔrk/, [fɒːɡ̊]

Noun

fork c (singular definite forken, plural indefinite forke)

  1. (two-pronged) fork, pitchfork

Inflection

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /fɔrk/

Etymology

From English fork in the computer science sense. Cognate to Dutch vork ‎(“fork”).

Noun

fork f ‎(plural forks, diminutive forkje n)

  1. (computer science) A fork, splitting-up of an existing process into itself and a child process executing parts of the same program.

Anagrams

Etymology

From Middle English forke ‎(“digging fork”), from Old English force, forca ‎(“forked instrument used to torture”), from Proto-Germanic *furkǭ, *furkô ‎(“fork”), from Latin furca ‎(“pitchfork, forked stake", also "gallows, beam, stake, support post, yoke”), of uncertain origin. The Middle English word was later reinforced by Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French forque (= Old French forche whence French fourche), also from the Latin. Cognate also with North Frisian forck ‎(“fork”), Dutch vork ‎(“fork”), Danish fork ‎(“fork”), German Forke ‎(“pitchfork”). Displaced native gafol, ġeafel, ġeafle ‎(“fork”), from Old English.

In its primary sense of "fork", Latin furca appears to be derived from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰerk(ʷ)-, *ǵʰerg(ʷ)- ‎(“fork”), although the development of the -c- is difficult to explain. In other senses this derivation is unlikely. For these, perhaps it is connected to Proto-Germanic *furkaz, *firkalaz ‎(“stake, stick, pole, post”), from Proto-Indo-European *perg- ‎(“pole, post”). If so, this would relate the word to Old English forclas ‎(“bolt”) (plural), Old Saxon fercal ‎(“lock, bolt, bar”), Old Norse forkr ‎(“pole, staff, stick”), Norwegian fork ‎(“stick, bat”), Swedish fork ‎(“pole”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /fɔːɹk/
  • Rhymes: -ɔː(r)k

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