fork
Pluralforks
Pluralforks
- 1A utensil with prongs used to lift solid food to the mouth, or to hold food in place while cutting.
He speared a piece of chicken with his fork.
At a formal dinner, several forks flank the plate, each meant for a different course.
UsageUsually a knife and fork, in that order: eat with a knife and fork.
Note
The word reached the table from the field. Middle English forke meant a digging fork, and behind it stand Old English forca, a forked instrument of torture, and Latin furca, whose meanings run from pitchfork and forked stake to gallows, yoke and support post. The eating utensil inherited the shape, not the history: most later senses, from roads to software, borrow the image of one stem splitting into prongs.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- The utensil's name descends from Middle English forke, which meant a digging fork. en.wiktionary.org
- The word descends through Old English forca, denoting a forked torture instrument, ultimately from Latin furca. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin furca had the listed agricultural, structural and punitive meanings. en.wiktionary.org
- Many later senses use branching imagery, but the universal claim is false: fork also developed as a euphemistic substitution for fuck. en.wiktionary.org
- 2A place where a road, path, or river divides into two or more branches; also, one of those branches.
The trail reaches a fork about a mile in, where most hikers veer left.
A weathered signpost stood at the fork, pointing toward two distant towns.
UsageUsually a fork in a road or river; you turn left or right at the fork.
- 3One of the separate parts into which something divides, such as a prong, a branch of a stream or road, or the barbed point of an arrow.
Where the path divides, take the right fork toward the lake.
An eagle built its nest in the top fork of the old oak.
UsageOften take the left fork or the right fork.
Note
Here the word names the parts, not the place where they part. A thunderbolt can have three forks, and one fork of a river can dry up in a drought while the other keeps flowing. Branch and prong are its near synonyms, and the word moves easily between them: a prong of lightning, a branch of a stream or road, and the barb of an arrow are all forks once something has divided.
- 4To divide into two or more separate branches, paths, or copies.
The trail forks at the ridge, with one branch climbing steeply.
Most trails in the park fork at least once, so carry a map.
UsageUsually without an object: the road forks at the ridge. With an object, you fork something into branches or copies.
- 5On a bicycle or motorcycle, the part of the frame that holds the front wheel, letting the rider steer and balance.
A good suspension fork soaks up bumps on rough trails.
The mechanic realigned the fork after the front wheel was knocked loose.
UsageAlso called the front fork.
Note
The word combines readily with the technology fitted to it: a suspension fork, a common feature on mountain bikes, cushions the front wheel against rough ground. Because it carries both steering and balance, a bent or misaligned fork is a repair for a mechanic rather than a cosmetic problem.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- Suspension forks are common on mountain bikes. en.wikipedia.org
- A suspension fork absorbs impacts transmitted through the front wheel. ohlins.com
- The fork contributes to steering and stability. ohlins.com
- A bent fork warrants examination by a qualified mechanic. tech.dvosuspension.com
- Fork misalignment requires inspection and adjustment. tech.dvosuspension.com
- 6A pronged tool used on farms or in gardens, such as a small hand tool for weeding or a larger one for turning soil.
He drove the fork into the compost heap and turned it over.
Gardeners use a fork to loosen compacted soil around the roots.
- 7A point in life or in a course of action where one must choose between different paths; also, any one of those paths.
Losing the contract brought the team to a fork, forcing a hard decision about its future.
He stood at a fork in his career, weighing a steady salary against a riskier dream.
UsageUsually at a fork in something: at a fork in the road, at a fork in your career.
Similarcrossroads
- 8A two-pronged metal device that vibrates at a fixed pitch when struck, used as a reference for tuning instruments.
The conductor struck a fork against his knee to give the choir their starting pitch.
A fork tuned to A440 hums at a steady, unwavering frequency.
UsageUsually called a tuning fork.
- 9In software, to copy an existing project or code repository and develop the copy separately.
When the maintainers disagreed, a group chose to fork the project and steer it their own way.
Frustrated by stalled updates, volunteers forked the program and released a faster build.
UsageWith an object, you fork a project or its code. A project can also fork on its own, with no object.
Note
The verb takes two constructions. With an object, the original is what gets forked: Google forked WebKit to create Blink in April 2013, wanting larger changes than the WebKit project suited. Without one, the project itself is the subject. Fadi P. Deek and James A. M. McHugh recount how McCool's server project forked, leading to the Apache Web Server.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- Google forked WebKit to create Blink. developer.chrome.google.cn
- Blink was introduced in April 2013. blog.chromium.org
- The fork allowed changes that were difficult to pursue within WebKit's existing architecture. chromium.org
- Fadi P. Deek and James A. M. McHugh describe McCool's server project forking and leading to Apache. api.pageplace.de
- 10A powered truck with two horizontal prongs at the front, used to lift and move heavy loads; a forklift.
The warehouse crew loaded the trailer with a fork in under an hour.
He maneuvered the fork down the narrow aisle to reach the top shelf.
Similarforklift
- 11A split in a blockchain into two or more competing chains, as when blocks are mined at the same time or nodes follow incompatible protocol rules; also, a separate chain produced by such a split.
Developers warned that the upgrade could trigger a contentious fork.
The 2017 split created a fork that lives on as a separate cryptocurrency.
Similarsplit
Note
Cryptocurrency borrowed the software split and put money at stake. When nodes adopt incompatible protocol rules, one ledger becomes two competing chains, and the split may heal or become permanent depending on which version consensus settles on. Alex Hern, reporting on Bitcoin XT in 2015, still had to introduce fork as a term of art for a version built to handle more transactions per hour.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- The cryptocurrency term was borrowed from software engineering. bitpay.com
- Incompatible protocol rules can produce competing chains. developer.bitcoin.org
- A protocol split can persist or be resolved by returning to common rules. en.wikipedia.org
- Hern explained XT capacity in 2015. theguardian.com
- 12In software, a separate version of a project made by copying and developing it independently; also, the split itself.
The team maintained a private fork with patches for their own servers.
Volunteers started a fork of the app after the company abandoned it.
UsageUsually a fork of a project or app.
Note
The whole software-and-content family rests on one idea: a fork is a separate version developed from a common source. Sometimes the split is intended, but it can also happen as copies drift apart. In this use the word names each resulting version, whether that is a privately patched build or a dataset carrying its own corrections.
Less common meanings
- 13To lift or move material such as hay or food using a fork.
Farmhands fork loose straw into the loft before the rain comes.
She forked the roasted vegetables onto a serving dish.
UsageUsually followed by where it goes: fork hay into the loft, fork salad onto a plate.
Note
Hay and salad share a verb. John Wilson's Essay on the Genius, and Character of Burns has someone forking the sheaves on the high-laden cart. Maya Blake's What the Greek's Money Can't Buy (2014) has a character forking her salad into her mouth.
- 14Either of the flat blades at the front of a forklift, in plural the whole set, onto which goods are loaded to be raised.
One fork of the forklift bent under the heavy load.
The forks lifted the pallet smoothly to the top shelf.
UsageMost often plural, the forks: raise, lower or tilt the forks. You drive a fork (the truck).
- 15To attack two of the opponent's pieces simultaneously with a single piece.
Move the knight to e7 and you fork the queen and the king.
She forked his rook and bishop, winning material in a single move.
UsageTakes the two targets as its object: fork the king and the rook.
- 16A simultaneous attack on two of the opponent's pieces by a single piece, especially a knight.
A well-placed knight fork can win material outright.
She spotted the fork three moves ahead and steered the game toward it.
UsageOften used in knight fork, which names the piece making the attack.
Note
A chess tactic named for its shape: one piece reaches out to two targets like the prongs of a fork. The knight is the piece most associated with it, which gives chess players the compound knight fork.
- 17Euphemistic form of fuck: a sound-alike used in place of the swear word, in its sexual sense or in angry, dismissive outbursts.
Honestly, fork this job. I'm done with it and I'm going home.
When the printer jammed again, she muttered, "What the fork?"
Note
A sound-alike stand-in lets a speaker keep the shape of the obscenity without saying it. It replaces the taboo verb in its sexual meaning, as in they were forking each other in the back room, and in dismissive outbursts such as fork this job. The softening is in the sound only: listeners hear exactly what is meant, so it is mild in form but not in content.
- 18To create a new child process by duplicating an existing process, which then runs as a separate copy.
- 19A splitting of content or data on one topic into separate versions, or one of those diverging versions.
- 20To strike someone in the crotch with a kick.
- 21The crotch: the region of the body where the legs divide from the trunk.
- 22In certain file systems, one of the separately accessible sets of data that make up a file, such as the data fork holding its main contents or a resource fork holding additional data.
- 23The raised front section of a saddle's frame, whose side bars run back to the cantle behind the rider.
- 24A gallows used for hanging criminals.
They had run through all punishments, and just 'scaped the fork
a. 1680, Samuel Butler, Characters - 25Of a cereal plant, to put out its narrow leaf blades.
- 26The lowest point of the pit at the base of a mine where water collects.
- 27To pump or bail all the water out of a flooded mine shaft.
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Origin
Latin 'furca' (pitchfork, forked stake), whose origin is uncertain, is the ultimate source. It gave Old English 'force, forca' (a forked instrument) and Middle English 'forke' (a digging fork), and later Anglo-Norman and Old Northern French 'forque' strengthened the Middle English word. Dutch 'vork', German 'Forke', and Danish 'fork' are related, and the word replaced native Old English 'gafol'.