a steel instrument consisting of a stem with two prongs, producing a musical tone of definite, constant pitch when struck, and serving as a standard for tuning musical instruments, making acoustical experiments, and the like.
Origin
1765-75
Examples from the web for tuning fork
Forms of figurative sculpture became the epoch's artistic tuning fork.
People would concentrate for hours on the pitch of a tuning fork.
British Dictionary definitions for tuning fork
tuning fork
noun
1.
a two-pronged metal fork that when struck produces a pure note of constant specified pitch. It is used to tune musical instruments and in acoustics
Word Origin and History for tuning fork
n.
1799, from gerundive of tune (v.) + fork (n.). Invented 1711 by John Shore.
Encyclopedia Article for tuning fork
narrow, two-pronged steel bar that when tuned to a specific musical pitch retains its tuning almost indefinitely. It was apparently invented by George Frideric Handel's trumpeter John Shore shortly before Shore's death in 1752.
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