fork

[fawrk] /fɔrk/
noun
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.
verb (used with object)
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.
verb (used without object)
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.
Verb phrases
17.
fork over/out/up, Informal. to hand over; deliver; pay:
Fork over the money you owe me!
Origin
before 1000; Middle English forke, Old English forca < Latin furca fork, gallows, yoke
Related forms
forkless, adjective
forklike, adjective
unfork, verb (used with object)
Examples from the web for fork
  • When the mixture starts to freeze around the edge, stir and mash it with a fork to break up the ice.
  • The salad fork, which will usually be the third used, is thus laid nearest to the plate.
  • When turning meat, avoid piercing with fork or skewer, which allows the inner juices to escape.
  • Wealth may not be the only thing people spread when they fork over funds.
  • Add the sour cream and blend it in with a pastry cutter or fork.
  • He did, though, remember his father holding his arm against the kitchen counter as he dragged the fork across his skin.
  • He remembers himself at the edge of a clam boat, working the fork.
  • He is holding a fork upright in one fist and a knife upright in the other.
  • Science would be a lot less compelling, but still feasible, if physics laws would be different between my fork and my pen.
  • With a fork, gently beat eggs and water until combined.
British Dictionary definitions for fork

fork

/fɔːk/
noun
1.
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
2.
an agricultural tool consisting of a handle and three or four metal prongs, used for lifting, digging, etc
3.
a pronged part of any machine, device, etc
4.
(of a road, river, etc)
  1. a division into two or more branches
  2. the point where the division begins
  3. such a branch
5.
(mainly US) the main tributary of a river
6.
(chess) a position in which two pieces are forked
verb
7.
(transitive) to pick up, dig, etc, with a fork
8.
(transitive) (chess) to place (two enemy pieces) under attack with one of one's own pieces, esp a knight
9.
(transitive) to make into the shape of a fork
10.
(intransitive) to be divided into two or more branches
11.
to take one or other branch at a fork in a road, river, etc
Derived Forms
forkful, noun
Word Origin
Old English forca, from Latin furca
Word Origin and History for fork
n.

Old English forca "forked instrument used by torturers," a Germanic borrowing (cf. Old Norse forkr) from Latin furca "pitchfork; fork used in cooking," of uncertain origin.

Table forks were not generally used in England until 15c. The word is first attested in this sense in English in a will of 1463, probably from Old North French forque (Old French furche, Modern French fourche), from the Latin word. Of rivers, from 1753; of roads, from 1839.

v.

"to divide in branches, go separate ways" (early 14c.), from fork (n.). Related: Forked; forking. The slang verb phrase fork up (or out) "give over" is from 1831.

Slang definitions & phrases for fork

fork

verb

To cheat; maltreat; take advantage of; fuck, shaft: I hoped he'd take care of us, but we got forked

[1940s+; a euphemism for fuck]


fork in Technology
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)