fork

1 of 2

noun

1
: an implement with two or more prongs used especially for taking up (as in eating), pitching, or digging
2
: a forked part, tool, or piece of equipment
3
a
: a division into branches or the place where something divides into branches
4
: one of the branches into which something forks
5
: an attack by one chess piece (such as a knight) on two pieces simultaneously
forkful noun

fork

2 of 2

verb

forked; forking; forks

intransitive verb

1
: to divide into two or more branches
where the road forks
2
a
: to use or work with a fork
b
: to turn into a fork

transitive verb

1
: to give the form of a fork to
forking her fingers
2
: to attack (two chessmen) simultaneously
3
: to raise, pitch, dig, or work with a fork
fork hay
4
: pay, contribute
used with over, out, or up
had to fork over $5000
forker noun

Examples of fork in a Sentence

Noun a fork in the road the north fork of the river the front fork of a bicycle Verb The road forks to the north and south. They forked the hay into the loft.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
Cut butter into flour mixture using two forks (or pinch it in using your fingertips) until mixture is crumbly but some pea-size butter pieces remain. Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 14 Mar. 2025 They're paired with 37-mm cartridge forks up front with 200 mm of travel, and a rear monoshock with 180 mm of travel. New Atlas, 5 Mar. 2025
Verb
And there seems to be no way out of this world, especially as egomaniacal entrepreneurs like Musk and others fork over small pieces of their vast fortunes to buy up everything from global media to, yes, a president of the United States. Kara Swisher, The Atlantic, 9 Mar. 2025 Although forking the foundational model stops further advances from being leveraged without retraining, our experience is that the performance gains after fine-tuning a model often outweigh the need for base model updates. Matt Lowe, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for fork

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English forke, from Old English & Anglo-French; Old English forca & Anglo-French furke, from Latin furca

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of fork was before the 12th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Fork.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fork. Accessed 19 Mar. 2025.

Kids Definition

fork

1 of 2 noun
1
: a tool with two or more prongs used especially for taking up (as in eating), pitching, or digging
2
: a forked part or tool
3
a
: a dividing into branches or the place where something divides into branches
a fork in the road
b
: a branch of a fork
take the left fork

fork

2 of 2 verb
1
: to divide into two or more branches
the road forks
2
: to raise or pitch with a fork
fork hay
3
: to give the form of a fork to
forked her fingers
4
: pay entry 1 sense 2, contribute
had to fork over $100
forker noun

Medical Definition

fork

noun
1
: a forked part, tool, or piece of equipment see tuning fork
2
: the lower part of the human body where the legs diverge from the trunk usually including the legs

More from Merriam-Webster on fork

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