What does "fork" mean?
Any of several types of pronged (tined) tools (physical tools), as follows:; A utensil with spikes used to put solid food into the mouth, or to hold food down while cutting, or for serving food.
Fork
/fɔːk/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Any of several types of pronged (tined) tools (physical tools), as follows:; A utensil with spikes used to put solid food into the mouth, or to hold food down while cutting, or for serving food.
- Grammar: fork is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: affluent, angle, angle off, apex.
- Useful contrasts: chopstick, chopsticks, combine.
- Usage evidence: Although the fork entered society on the tables of rich people, many members of royalty, such as Elizabeth I of England and Louis XIV of France, ate with their fingers.
How to use "fork"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "fork" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "fork" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "fork" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "fork" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
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- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "fork" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "affluent" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "fork", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any of several types of pronged (tined) tools (physical tools), as follows:; A utensil with spikes used to put solid food into the mouth, or to hold food down while cutting, or for serving food.
- 2 The bottom of a sump into which the water of a mine drains.
- 3 the act of branching out or dividing into branches wordnet
- 4 Any of several types of pronged (tined) tools (physical tools), as follows:; Any of several types of pronged tools for use on farms, in fields, or in the garden or lawn, such as a smaller hand fork for weeding or a larger one for turning over the soil.
- 5 a utensil with two or more prongs, used for serving or eating food wordnet
Show 25 more definitions
- 6 Any of several types of pronged (tined) tools (physical tools), as follows:; Any of several types of pronged tools for use on farms, in fields, or in the garden or lawn, such as a smaller hand fork for weeding or a larger one for turning over the soil.; Such a pronged tool having a long straight handle, generally for two-handed use, as used for digging, lifting, mucking, pitching, etc.
- 7 an agricultural tool used for lifting or digging; has a handle and metal prongs wordnet
- 8 Any of several types of pronged (tined) tools (physical tools), as follows:; A tuning fork.
- 9 the angle formed by the inner sides of the legs where they join the human trunk wordnet
- 10 A fork in the road, as follows:; An intersection in a road or path where one road is split into two. physical
- 11 the region of the angle formed by the junction of two branches wordnet
- 12 A fork in the road, as follows:; A decision point. figuratively
- 13 A point where a waterway, such as a river or other stream, splits and flows into two (or more) different directions.
- 14 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. metonymically
"a thunderbolt with three forks"
- 15 A point in time where one has to make a decision between two life paths. figuratively
- 16 A point in time where one has to make a decision between two life paths.; Either of the (figurative) paths thus taken. figuratively, metonymically
- 17 (software development, content management, data management) A departure from having a single source of truth (SSOT), sometimes intentionally but usually unintentionally.; Any of the pieces/versions (of software, content, or data sets) thus created. figuratively, metonymically
- 18 (software development, content management, data management) A departure from having a single source of truth (SSOT), sometimes intentionally but usually unintentionally.; The launch of one or more separate software development efforts based upon a modified copy of an existing project, especially in free and open-source software. figuratively
- 19 (software development, content management, data management) A departure from having a single source of truth (SSOT), sometimes intentionally but usually unintentionally.; The launch of one or more separate software development efforts based upon a modified copy of an existing project, especially in free and open-source software.; Any of the software projects resulting from the launch of such separate software development efforts based upon a copy of the original project. figuratively
"LibreOffice is a fork of OpenOffice."
- 20 (software development, content management, data management) A departure from having a single source of truth (SSOT), sometimes intentionally but usually unintentionally.; The splitting of the coverage of a topic (within a corpus of content) into two or more pieces. figuratively
"A content fork may be intentional (as from a schism about goals) or unintentional (merely from a lack of reorganizing, so far)."
- 21 (software development, content management, data management) A departure from having a single source of truth (SSOT), sometimes intentionally but usually unintentionally.; The splitting of the coverage of a topic (within a corpus of content) into two or more pieces.; Any of the pieces/versions of content thus created. figuratively
- 22 (software development, content management, data management) A departure from having a single source of truth (SSOT), sometimes intentionally but usually unintentionally.; A split in a blockchain resulting from protocol disagreements, or a branch of the blockchain resulting from such a split. figuratively
"Known as a “fork”, the new version of bitcoin (dubbed Bitcoin XT) would support more transactions per hour, at the cost of increasing the amount of memory required to hold a full database of all the bitcoin transactions throughout history, known as the blockchain."
- 23 The simultaneous attack of two adversary pieces with one single attacking piece (especially a knight).
- 24 The crotch. British, vulgar
- 25 A forklift. colloquial
"Are you qualified to drive a fork?"
- 26 Either of the blades of a forklift (or, in plural, the set of blades), on which the goods to be raised are loaded.
"Get those forks tilted back more or you're gonna lose that pallet!"
- 27 In a bicycle or motorcycle, the portion of the frameset holding the front wheel, allowing the rider to steer and balance, also called front fork.
"The fork can be equipped with a suspension on mountain bikes."
- 28 The upper front brow of a saddle bow, connected in the tree by the two saddle bars to the cantle on the other end.
- 29 A set of data associated with an individual file in some file systems.
"resource fork"
- 30 A gallows. obsolete
"They had run through all punishments, and just 'scaped the fork"
Verb
- 1 To divide into two or more branches or copies. ambitransitive
"A road, a tree, or a stream forks."
- 2 To bale a shaft dry. transitive
"Forking the water, is drawing it all out; and when it is done, they say, “the mine or the water is forked;” and “the engine is in fork.”"
- 3 shape like a fork wordnet
- 4 To divide into two or more branches or copies.; To spawn a new child process by duplicating the existing process. ambitransitive
"A parent process forks a child process, which in turn can fork other processes."
- 5 divide into two or more branches so as to form a fork wordnet
Show 9 more definitions
- 6 To divide into two or more branches or copies.; To launch a separate software development effort based upon a modified copy of an existing software project, especially in free and open-source software. ambitransitive
"For various reasons, McCool's server project subsequently forked, leading to the development of the Apache Web Server."
- 7 place under attack with one's own pieces, of two enemy pieces wordnet
- 8 To divide into two or more branches or copies.; To create a copy of a distributed version control repository. ambitransitive, transitive
"In this model, anyone can fork an existing repository and push changes to their personal fork."
- 9 lift with a pitchfork wordnet
- 10 To move with a fork (as hay or food). transitive
"forking the sheaves on the high-laden cart"
- 11 To kick someone in the crotch. British, transitive
- 12 To shoot into blades, as corn does. intransitive
"I have known them couched up a Yard thick cover’d with an Hair-cloth and ſtirred only once a day, the Maltſer being always careful to throw the frozen outſides into the middle till the Corn begin to fork and warm in the Couch; after which time if it be not laid too thin, it will not eaſily freeze."
- 13 To simultaneously attack two opposing pieces with a single attacking piece.
- 14 Euphemistic form of fuck. euphemistic, form-of, transitive
"They were forking each other in the back room."
Antonyms
Example
"Although the fork entered society on the tables of rich people, many members of royalty, such as Elizabeth I of England and Louis XIV of France, ate with their fingers."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "fork"?
Common synonyms include: affluent, angle, angle off, apex, bail, bayou.
How do you use "fork" in a sentence?
Although the fork entered society on the tables of rich people, many members of royalty, such as Elizabeth I of England and Louis XIV of France, ate with their fingers.
How do you pronounce "fork"?
Pronounced /fɔːk/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English forke (“digging fork”), from Old English force, forca (“forked instrument used to torture”), from Proto-West Germanic *furkō (“fork”), from Latin furca (“pitchfork, forked stake; 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. Doublet of fourche and furcate. 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 pl (“bolt”), Old Saxon ferkal (“lock, bolt, bar”), Old Norse forkr (“pole, staff, stick”), Norwegian fork (“stick, bat”), Swedish fork (“pole”).
Etymology 2
Ultimately from Etymology 1, above, through use for various things with two or more branches. Attested in this sense from the 18th century.