English Dictionary |
FORK
Pronunciation (US): | ![]() | (GB): | ![]() |
IPA (US): | ![]() |
Dictionary entry overview: What does fork mean?
• FORK (noun)
The noun FORK has 5 senses:
1. cutlery used for serving and eating food
2. the act of branching out or dividing into branches
3. the region of the angle formed by the junction of two branches
4. an agricultural tool used for lifting or digging; has a handle and metal prongs
5. the angle formed by the inner sides of the legs where they join the human trunk
Familiarity information: FORK used as a noun is common.
• FORK (verb)
The verb FORK has 4 senses:
2. place under attack with one's own pieces, of two enemy pieces
3. divide into two or more branches so as to form a fork
Familiarity information: FORK used as a verb is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
Cutlery used for serving and eating food
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("fork" is a kind of...):
cutlery; eating utensil (tableware implements for cutting and eating food)
Meronyms (parts of "fork"):
prong (a pointed projection)
tine (prong on a fork or pitchfork or antler)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fork"):
carving fork (a large fork used in carving cooked meat)
salad fork (a fork intended for eating salads)
tablefork (a fork for eating at a dining table)
toasting fork (long-handled fork for cooking or toasting frankfurters or bread etc. (especially over an open fire))
Derivation:
fork (shape like a fork)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The act of branching out or dividing into branches
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Synonyms:
branching; fork; forking; ramification
Hypernyms ("fork" is a kind of...):
division (the act or process of dividing)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fork"):
bifurcation (the act of splitting into two branches)
trifurcation (the act of splitting into three branches)
divarication (branching at a wide angle)
fibrillation (act or process of forming fibrils)
Derivation:
bifurcate (divide into two branches)
bifurcate (split or divide into two)
fork (divide into two or more branches so as to form a fork)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The region of the angle formed by the junction of two branches
Classified under:
Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes
Synonyms:
crotch; fork
Context example:
he climbed into the crotch of a tree
Hypernyms ("fork" is a kind of...):
branch; leg; ramification (a part of a forked or branching shape)
Derivation:
fork (shape like a fork)
Sense 4
Meaning:
An agricultural tool used for lifting or digging; has a handle and metal prongs
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("fork" is a kind of...):
tool (an implement used in the practice of a vocation)
Meronyms (parts of "fork"):
prong (a pointed projection)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fork"):
hayfork (a long-handled fork for turning or lifting hay)
Derivation:
fork (lift with a pitchfork)
Sense 5
Meaning:
The angle formed by the inner sides of the legs where they join the human trunk
Classified under:
Nouns denoting body parts
Synonyms:
crotch; fork
Hypernyms ("fork" is a kind of...):
angle (the space between two lines or planes that intersect; the inclination of one line to another; measured in degrees or radians)
Holonyms ("fork" is a part of...):
body; organic structure (the entire physical structure of an organism (an animal, plant, or human being))
Conjugation: |
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Past simple: forked
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Past participle: forked
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-ing form: forking
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Sense 1
Meaning:
Lift with a pitchfork
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Synonyms:
fork; pitchfork
Context example:
pitchfork hay
Hypernyms (to "fork" is one way to...):
lift (take hold of something and move it to a different location)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Derivation:
fork (an agricultural tool used for lifting or digging; has a handle and metal prongs)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Place under attack with one's own pieces, of two enemy pieces
Classified under:
Verbs of fighting, athletic activities
Hypernyms (to "fork" is one way to...):
aggress; attack (take the initiative and go on the offensive)
Domain category:
chess; chess game (a board game for two players who move their 16 pieces according to specific rules; the object is to checkmate the opponent's king)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 3
Meaning:
Divide into two or more branches so as to form a fork
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Synonyms:
branch; fork; furcate; ramify; separate
Context example:
The road forks
Hypernyms (to "fork" is one way to...):
diverge (move or draw apart)
Verb group:
branch; ramify (grow and send out branches or branch-like structures)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fork"):
arborise; arborize (branch out like trees)
twig (branch out in a twiglike manner)
bifurcate (divide into two branches)
trifurcate (divide into three)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s
Derivation:
fork; forking (the act of branching out or dividing into branches)
forking (the place where something divides into branches)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Shape like a fork
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Context example:
She forked her fingers
Hypernyms (to "fork" is one way to...):
form; shape (give shape or form to)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Derivation:
fork (cutlery used for serving and eating food)
fork (the region of the angle formed by the junction of two branches)
Context examples
This Y-shaped region is referred to as a replication fork.
(DNA Replication Fork, NCI Thesaurus)
I took back Captain Hopkins's knife and fork early in the afternoon, and went home to comfort Mrs. Micawber with an account of my visit.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
This process may be involved in lengthening telomeres and in resolving breaks induced by radiation, mutagenic chemicals and collapsed replication forks.
(Mitotic Recombination, NCI Thesaurus)
The activated Mcm complex functions as a replicating helicase and moves along with the replication fork to bring the origins to the unlicensed state.
(CDK Regulation Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)
But at last he had made it, and was seated alongside of Her. The array of knives and forks frightened him.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
The spoons, forks, and other instruments, were all in the same proportion.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
I put the forked metal to my ears and listened.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
A part of a forking structure; a division or offshoot from a main stem.
(Branch, NCI Thesaurus)
At the forks he took the turning to the left, where he found the lair of the lynx with whom his mother and he had fought long before.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
"No, it's the toasting fork, with Mother's shoe on it instead of the bread. Beth's stage-struck!" cried Meg, and the rehearsal ended in a general burst of laughter.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
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