forkn.
/fɔːk/, U.S. /fɔrk/ I. A pronged instrument.
1. figurative in proverb.1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Fork is often Rakes Heir, or after a scraping Father comes a scattering Son.1725 New Canting Dict. Fork is also used for a Spendthrift, etc.† b. A similar implement used as a weapon.† c. The forked tongue (popularly supposed to be the sting) of a snake. Obsolete.
a. An implement, chiefly agricultural, consisting of a long straight handle, furnished at the end with two or more prongs or tines, and used for carrying, digging, lifting, or throwing; also with word prefixed indicating its use, as digging-fork, dung-fork, hay- etc. fork: see those words; also fire-fork n., pitch-fork n.2, etc.
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the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > [noun] > fork
forkc1000
graip1459
prong1492
crotch1539
evil1642
yelve1688
prong fork1765
society > occupation and work > equipment > digging or lifting tools > [noun] > fork
forkc1000
prong1492
lifter1570
c1000 Ælfric Homilies I. 430 Ða cwelleras..wið-ufan mid heora forcum hine ðydon.
c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 154 Furcilla, litel forca.
a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 69 Mon in þe mone..on is bot-forke is burþen he bereþ.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) 1 Sam. xiii. 21 Eggys..of diggynge yrens, and of forkis..weren blunt.
1413 Pilgr. Sowle (1483) iii. viii. 55 Suche folke..to bynde in fagottes and cast them with forkes into the fyre.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xiiiiv A good husbande hath his forkes and rakes made redy in the wynter before.
1557 T. Tusser Hundreth Good Pointes Husbandrie sig. C.iiiv At midsommer, downe with thy brimbles and brakes: and after abrode, with thy forkes and thy rakes.
1574 J. Baret Aluearie F 892 A Forke, or trout speare with three points, fuscina.
1700 J. Dryden Chaucer's Cock & Fox in Fables 250 The Crew, With Forks and Staves the Fellon to pursue.
1719 G. London & H. Wise J. de la Quintinie's Compl. Gard'ner (ed. 7) viii. 196 We must use an Iron Fork to draw them out of the Nursery-Beds.
1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 479 Lightly, shaking it with agile hand From the full fork.
1855 ‘E. S. Delamer’ Kitchen Garden 16 A fork for taking up potatoes, &c., and spreading dung.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > sharp weapon > spear or lance > [noun] > fork used as spear
fork13..
prong1492
13.. K. Alis. 1191 Fiftene thousand of fot laddes, That..hadde, Axes, speres, forkis, and slynges.
1598 R. Grenewey tr. Tacitus Annales iii. ix. 78 Some with poles or forks ouerthrew this sluggish lump: leauing them for halfe dead lying on the ground.
1678 tr. L. de Gaya Treat. Arms of War 29 The Forks are the same with the common Forks, but they have little Hooks.
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a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iv. i. 16.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iii. i. 16 Thou dost feare the soft and tender forke Of a poore worme. View more context for this quotation
2.
a. An instrument with two, three, or four prongs, used for holding the food while it is being cut, for conveying it to the mouth, and for other purposes at table or in cooking. For carving-fork, dessert-fork, fish-fork, pickle-fork, table fork n., etc. see those words.
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the world > food and drink > food > setting table > table utensils > [noun] > cutlery > fork
fork1463
flesh-crook1465
prong1492
forket1583
forkera1603
runcible spoon1870
1463 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 40 I beqwethe to Davn John Kertelynge my silvir forke for grene gyngour.
1554 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 147 I geve and bequeath my neighbor..my spone with a forke in the end.
1589 ‘Pasquill of England’ Returne of Pasquill sig. Diij At the signe of the siluer forke and the tosted cheese.
1607 B. Jonson Volpone iv. i. sig. Iv Then, must you learne the vse, And handling of your siluer forke, at meales. View more context for this quotation
1720 W. R. Chetwood Voy. Capt. R. Falconer ii. 11 I had in my Pocket a Knife and Fork.
1766 T. Smollett Trav. France & Italy 35 The poorest tradesman in Boulogne has..silver forks with four prongs.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby vii. 62 He laid down his knife and fork.
b. forks and knives n. the name of the club-moss Lycopodium clavatum.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > moss > [noun] > club-moss or moss-like ferns
dwarf cypress1548
heath-cypress1551
pine1551
wolf's-claw1578
club-moss1597
wolf-claw1597
wolf's-foot1597
tree-moss1611
Selagoa1627
cypress-moss1640
mountain moss1688
lycopodium1706
stag's horn (also staghorn) moss1741
walking fern1814
tod-tails1820
Robin Hood's hatband1828
resurrection plant1841
ground-pine1847
forks and knives1853
fir club-moss1855
lycopod1861
Selaginella1865
foxtail1866
stag-head or stag's head moss1869
fir-moss1879
hog-bed1900
1853 G. Johnston Terra Lindisfarnensis I. 257.
3.
a. Used in plural for the prongs of a fork. Also transferred. Cf. 12.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > digging or lifting tools > [noun] > fork > prong of fork
grain1486
forket1583
graininga1642
fork1677
prong1697
spear1742
spean1777
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > order Proboscidea (elephants) > [noun] > elephant > parts of > tusk(s)
toothc1050
horn1607
fence1727
scrivello1735
fork1767
1677 N. Cox Gentleman's Recreation (ed. 2) iv. 40 An Eel-Spear:..is made for the most part with three Forks or Teeth.
a1719 J. Addison Dialogues Medals in Wks. (1721) I. i. 447 A thunderbolt with three forks.
1767 H. Kelly Babler I. 280 A couple of tushes that project a surprising way from the mouth, like the forks of an elephant.
b. plural (slang). The fingers. Hence, a pick-pocket (B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew ?a1700).
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the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > digit > finger > [noun]
fingerOE
talons1594
nimblesa1637
the ten stealers1655
Welsh comb1788
forks1819
hooks1829
fingerlet1836
bread hook1845
dactyl1889
grab-hook1946
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. 175 Forks, the two fore-fingers; to put your forks down, is to pick a pocket.
1834 W. H. Ainsworth Rookwood II. iii. v. 345 No dummy hunter had forks so fly.
4. A steel instrument with two prongs which, when set in vibration, gives a musical note; called more fully a tuning-fork n.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > tuning or intonation > [noun] > device for tuning instruments > tuning-fork or -pipe
pitch-pipe1685
pitch-fork1776
fork1800
tuning-fork1800
1800 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 90 134 The fork was a comma and a half above the pitch..of an imaginary C.
c1865 J. Wylde Circle of Sci. I. 275/1 If the fork be struck against any hard body..its prong..vibrates.
II. Applied to various objects having two (or more) branches.† 5. † 8. Anatomy. fork of the throat or breast: apparently the sternal bone together with the clavicles. Obsolete. [= medieval Latin furcula, Old French fourcelle; the words seem to have been used very vaguely, and it is often impossible to determine the exact sense.] † 9. The barbed head of an arrow. Obsolete.† 13. figurative.
a. A gallows. Also plural. Cf. forche n. 1. [So Old French fourche(s, Latin furca; the Roman gallows was originally of the shape ʌ.]
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society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > hanging > [noun] > gallows
gallowsOE
gallows-treea1000
warytre?a1200
gibbet?c1225
gallow-forka1250
forkc1275
juisec1320
forchesc1380
crossa1382
treec1425
patible1428
justice1484
potencec1500
haltera1533
turning-tree1548
potentc1550
three treesa1566
chates1567
mare1568
furel1587
bough1590
gibe1590
derrickc1600
hangrella1605
cross-tree1638
Gregorian tree1641
wooden horse1642
timber-marec1650
triple tree1651
furca1653
nubbing1673
a horse that was foaled of an acorn1678
nub1699
Tyburn tree1728
raven-stone1738
picture frame1785
crap1789
lamp-iron1790
Moll Blood1818
stifler1818
scragging-post1819
government signposta1828
leafless tree1830
shuggie-shue1836
doom-tree1837
stob1860–62
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 2853 Þe furken [c1300 Otho forkes]. weoren aræred heo teuwen up þa ȝisles. and heom þer hengen.
1399 in T. Wright Polit. Poems & Songs (1859) I. 379 He shulde have hadde hongynge on hie on the fforckis.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 121 Lat him end his lyf vpon ane fork.
a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) II. 195 They had run through all punishments, and just 'scaped the fork.
b. Roman History. Used to render Latin furca, (a) the ‘yoke’ under which defeated enemies were made to pass as a token of their submission; (b) the forked stake used as a whipping-post.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > victory > [noun] > subjugation > yoke under which defeated enemy passed
yokec1540
gallows1565
fork1619
society > authority > punishment > corporal punishment > instrument or place of corporal punishment > [noun] > whipping-post or tripod
pillara1475
rogue stob1550
post1555
whipping-post1600
whipping-stock1615
fork1619
whipstock1619
flogging-stake1785
flogging-block1827
triangle1847
whipping-pole1862
1619 E. M. Bolton tr. Florus Rom. Hist. i. xvi. 73 Passing them naked vnder forkes, or gallowses.
a1625 J. Fletcher Bonduca ii. iv, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Gggg4v/1 The Forks. where ye shall have two Lictors with two whips hammer your hide.
1683 J. Dryden & N. Lee Duke of Guise iv. v. 53 We past like beaten Romans underneath the Fork.
6. A stake, staff, or stick with a forked end.
a. as a prop for a vine or tree.
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the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > equipment and buildings > [noun] > stake for plants
fork1389
incrementc1420
stakingc1440
stay1577
stick1577
bean-wood1584
pea stick1745
beanpole1798
stickings1800
bean-stick1823
pea-stake1840
flower-stick1881
pea-bough1885
trainer2004
1389 Helmingham MS. 21. 17 b Forkis..to bere up þe vyne.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §423 Some have put two little Forks about the bottom of their Trees, to keep them up~right.
1816 M. Keating Trav. (1817) I. 43 The boughs..propped up by forks.
b. a rest for a musket; cf. forcat n.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > equipment for use with firearms > [noun] > rest or support
gun-stock1495
trestle1497
trest1513
rest1546
musket rest1590
fork1591
shoulder-rest1868
benchrest1892
1591 W. Garrard & R. Hitchcock Arte of Warre 7 To traine hys Forke or Staffe after hym whilest he..doth charge hys Musket.
c. (See quot.).
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > rod > [noun] > support for rod
fork1726
rest1726
rod rest?1881
bankstick1964
1726 Gentleman Angler 149 A Fork. Vide Rest [for a fishing rod].
d. Mining (Derbyshire): see quot. 1881.
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society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > prop or support
crown tree1449
punch1462
prop1613
slider1653
sole1653
yoking1653
stow-blade1681
pit-bar1708
fork1747
head tree1747
studdle1758
lock piece1778
pit-prop1794
puncheon1815
stow-fork1824
plank tubbing1839
sprag1841
gib1847
chock1853
Tom1858
bratticing1866
pack1867
breastboard1877
brattice1881
wall-plate1881
strap1883
stretcher1883
1747 W. Hooson Miners Dict. sig. Giijb If..we think it will let the Forks settle when they come to be weighted, we put a Sill under them.
1881 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1880–1 9 135 Fork..a piece of wood supporting the side of an excavation in soft ground.
e. A divining-rod.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > the paranormal > [noun] > detection of radiation > detecting subterraneous springs, etc. > rhabdomancy > divining-rod
rod1617
Moses' rod1646
divining-wand1656
virgula divina or divinatoria1656
Mosaical roda1681
dowsing-rod1692
divining-stick1712
waggers1747
divining-rod1751
mineral rod1797
fork1886
1886 A. Winchell Walks & Talks in Geol. Field 137 Some..even resorted to the witch-hazel fork [in ‘prospecting’ for petroleum].
7. Building. See quots. 1868, 1883.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > framework of building > [noun] > roof-beam > other roof supports
soulace1374
forkc1420
sispar1532
bougars1568
straining-beama1805
straining-piecea1805
straining-silla1805
hip truss1850
roost1880
shoulder-wedge1887
main tie1915
c1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 522 Let make an hous for bestis..Of forkis, & of boord.
1792 J. Mastin Hist. Naseby 9 The most antique architecture, called forked building, which forks are all of oak.
1841 Anc. Laws Wales 351 Thirty pence is the value of every fork that shall support the roof tree.
1868 J. C. Atkinson Gloss. Cleveland Dial. Forks, the centres, in the timber-work of the roof of a shed, house or other building; commonly, ‘a pair of forks’.
1883 F. Seebohm Eng. Village Community 239 Their [the trees'] extremities bending over make a Gothic arch, and crossing one another at the top, each pair makes a fork, upon which the roof-tree is fixed. These trees supporting the roof-tree are called gavaels, forks, or columns.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > breast and collarbones > [noun]
fork of the throatc1400
c1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 316 For brekyng of þe forke of þe þrote and of þe brest.
?1533 G. Du Wes Introductorie for to lerne Frenche sig. Biv The forke of the brest.., fourcelle.
1639 T. de Gray Compl. Horseman ii. i. 39 The Forke or Throat hath five [bones].
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > arrow > [noun] > head of arrow > barbed head
angle-head1488
hook1488
swallowtail1545
flukea1600
fork1608
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear i. 136 Make from the shaft. Kent. Let it fall rather, Though the forke inuade the region of my heart. View more context for this quotation
10. In various technical uses.
a. A piece of steel fitting into the socket or chuck of a lathe, used for carrying round the piece to be turned.
ΚΠ
1858 in P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products
b. Also forks. (See quots.)
ΚΠ
1888 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. Belt Fork, or Strap Fork, a pair of prongs standing out from a strap bar and enclosing a space within which the belt or strap of a machine fitted with fast and loose pulleys runs.
1893 Labour Commission Gloss. Forks. In mill sawing machinery the forks are two upright pieces of iron one on each side of the band moved by a lever to throw the band on or off the driving wheels.
c. The front or back projection of a saddle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [noun] > saddle > parts of saddle
saddle-boweOE
arsonc1300
saddle skirt1361
saddle-tree1364
skirtc1400
saddle panel1465
stock-tree1470
stock1497
pommela1500
tree1535
pillion cloth1540
port1548
saddle stock1548
pilch1552
bolster1591
cantle1591
shank-pilliona1599
pillowc1600
pad1604
crutch1607
sivet1607
saddle crutcha1614
saddle eaves1663
saddle tore1681
burr1688
head1688
narve1688
saddle seat1688
sidebar1688
torea1694
quarter1735
bands of a saddle1753
witherband1764
withers1764
peak1775
pillion-stick1784
boot-housing1792
saddle flap1798
saddle lap1803
fork1833
flap1849
horn1849
skirting1852
hunting-horn1854
head-plate1855
saddle horn1856
cantle bar1859
leaping-horn1859
straining1871
stirrup-bar1875
straining-leather1875
spring tree1877
leaping-head1881
officer-tree1894
monkey1911
monkey-strap1915
thigh roll1963
straining-web-
1833 Regulations Instr. Cavalry i. 46 The pummel or fore fork.
1833 Regulations Instr. Cavalry i. 42 The Blanket..to be raised well into the fork.
d. The part of a bicycle frame in which the (front or back) wheel revolves; also attributive, as fork-blade, fork-crown, fork-end, fork-head. Also plural.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicle propelled by feet > [noun] > cycle > parts and equipment of cycles > frame and parts of
frame1869
fork1871
headpiece1877
head1881
frameset1899
dropout1923
crossbar1966
1871 English Mechanic 13 144 Can any reader give me a description of socket and fork of ‘Ariel’ bicycle?
1880 Scott. Football Ann. (advt.) The Howe Bicycle, all the latest improvements, hollow oval fork, &c.
1892 Work 27 Aug. 379/2 Front mud-guard should be fixed to fork crown with a bolt and nut.
1897 Earl of Suffolk et al. Encycl. Sport I. 277/1 Pressing with the thumbs upon the hub, spring the fork ends one by one over the end of the axle.
1902 Captain 7 83/1 The fork head of the Raleigh.
1908 Daily Chron. 7 Nov. 7/1 In a fog it is better to carry one's lamp on the fork-blade than high up.
1952 Cycling (‘Know the Game’ Series) (1964) 17 The wheel revolves on a spindle contained in the hub and this is usually secured in the forks of the cycle by means of two ordinary nuts.
1957 Encycl. Brit. III. 544/2 The fork crown (at the top of the forks) is fixed to the steering column.
1968 Which? Aug. 233 We measured the strength of front forks (the parts of the frame which are likely to bend or crack first), pedal cranks and carriers.
e. The forked prop which supports the mantle in an incandescent gas burner.
ΚΠ
1913 Work 14 June 219/3 Clay forks for incandescent mantles.
11. Mining. (See quots.)
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > reservoir or sump > bottom of
fork1778
1778 W. Pryce Mineralogia Cornubiensis Gloss. 321 Forcque, Fork, the bottom of the Sumph. Forking the water, is drawing it all out; and when it is done, they say..‘the Engine is in Fork’.
1869 R. B. Smyth Gold Fields Victoria 611 When a mine is in fork the bottom of the engine-shaft is clear of water.
12. [ < the verb.] A forking, bifurcation, or division into branches; the point at which anything forks. Hence, each of the branches into which anything forks.
a. gen.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > two > division into two > [noun] > bifurcation > a bifurcation
fork1398
bifurcation1766
prong1846
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > two > division into two > [noun] > bifurcation > point at which bifurcation takes place
twisel931
twist1398
fork1677
crotch1758
bifurcation1766
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) v. xviii. 123 The endes of thyse bones ben departed and haue two forkes.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 375 The forked values making certain gaping fissures betweene their forkes.
1677 N. Cox Gentleman's Recreation (ed. 2) iv. 10 Those sixty Carps were from Eye to Fork from fifteen Inches to eighteen Inches.
1830 J. F. W. Herschel Prelim. Disc. Study Nat. Philos. 84 We cross the two first fingers of one hand, and place a pea in the fork between them.
b. In the human body, the part at which the lower limbs proceed from the trunk. Also (singular and plural), the lower limbs themselves; the lower half of the body. Cf. forchure n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > groin or crotch > [noun]
shareeOE
liskc1175
forchure13..
cleftc1325
fouchc1330
grainsa1400
swange?a1400
groin14..
thigh-holec1425
twist1572
crotcha1592
fork1608
cleaving1632
inguen1679
crutch-
the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > [noun] > parts of > forked tongue
tanga1350
sting1530
tongue1581
fork1608
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > leg > [noun]
shanka900
legc1300
grainsa1400
limbc1400
foot?a1425
stumpa1500
pin?1515
pestlea1529
boughc1550
stamp1567
understander1583
pile1584
supporters1601
walker?1611
trestle1612
fetlock1645
pedestal1695
drumstick1770
gam1785
timber1807
tram1808–18
fork1812
prop1817
nethers1822
forkals1828
understanding1828
stick1830
nether person1835
locomotive1836
nether man1846
underpinning1848
bender1849
Scotch peg1857
Scotch1859
under-pinner1859
stem1860
Coryate's compasses1864
peg1891
wheel1927
shaft1935
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xx. 115 Yon simpring dame whose face between her forkes presageth snow. View more context for this quotation
1812 Examiner 12 Oct. 652/a You are not long enough in the fork for the—dragoons.
1872 S. W. Baker Nile Tributaries Abyssinia (new ed.) xiv. 234 The thigh, and entire leg from the fork to the ankle.
c. The point at which a river divides into two, or the point of junction of two rivers; a branch or tributary. Chiefly U.S.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > tributary > [noun] > fork
graina1400
creek1622
fork1692
tine1875
1692 in Maryland Hist. Mag. (1906) 1 11 [It is therin described as] Being in the forks of Gunpowder River by the side of the said River.
c1700 in Early Rec. Town of Providence (Rhode Island) (1896) XI. 183 Two trees in the forke of the brooke.
1753 C. Gist Jrnls. (1893) 80 We..got to the big fork of said river.
1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville (1849) 41 The fork of the Nebraska, where it divides itself into two equal and beautiful streams.
1839 R. I. Murchison Silurian Syst. i. xxix. 372 N. and S. forks of the great estuary of Milford Haven.
18.. Scenes Rocky Mts. 50 Their village, at the Forks of the Platte.
1877 J. A. Allen Amer. Bisons 515 Great herds on the east fork of the Salmon River.
d. of a road.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > junction of roads, paths, or tracks > [noun] > fork
gateshodelc1440
parting of the ways1611
fork-way1819
fork1855
1855 W. Irving Chron. Wolfert's Roost 371 A fork in the road.
1860 E. B. Pusey Minor Prophets 241 Taking the fork where the ways parted, in order to intercept the fugitives.
1883 C. Howard Roads Eng. & Wales (ed. 3) 47 Here take the right hand fork.
e. of a plant or tree.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > stem or stalk > [noun] > fork
fork1776
1776 W. Withering Brit. Plants (1796) II. 200 Fruit-stalk..rising from the fork of the stem.
1843 Zoologist 1 228 The raven's nest was placed in a fork..of one of these trees.
1871 G. Meredith Harry Richmond I. xv. 230 Torches were struck in clefts of the trees, or in the fork of the branches.
f. A flash (of forked lightning); a tongue of flame.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > naturally occurring light > [noun] > lightning > bead or forked lightning > fork of
fork1859
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > thunder and lightning > [noun] > lightning > specific types > fork of
fork1859
1859 Ld. Tennyson Vivien in Idylls of King 143 Dazzled by the livid-flickering fork.
1871 F. T. Palgrave Lyrical Poems 58 A fork of flame from Vesuvius Through his black cone went on high.
g. Chess. A simultaneous attack on two pieces, esp. by a knight.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > chess > [noun] > strategy > specific strategies or tactics
unpinning1607
defence1614
fork1656
attack1733
backgame1750
castling1813
exchange1823
pin1868
fringe-variation1898
fidation1910
sacrifice1915
unpin1922
pawn storm1926
Siesta variation1935
liquidation1965
sac1965
1656 F. Beale tr. G. Greco Royall Game Chesse-play vii Forke is, that when you see two of the enemies Noble-men standing in the same ranke, and but one house betwixt them, advance a pawne, guarded with an other, unto the middle house before them both, and you may commonly take one of them.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory (1905) 66/2 A Fork or dilemma, is a way of takeing a chesse man, by runing vp a pawn to the rank next two great men of the aduerse part standing in one rank with a house betweene them, where if one be saued, the other wilbe taken.
1761 E. Hoyle Ess. Game of Chess A4 Take care of a Fork or a Check by Discovery, or a Stale mat.
1764 R. Lambe Hist. Chess 98 A Fork is, when an adverse Pawn must take one of your Pieces, by standing upon a Square of the next Line, between two of them.
1890 R. F. Green Chess v. 17 A frequent and fatal fork. The White Knight..attacks both the Black King and Queen.
1969 ‘A. Glyn’ Dragon Variation ix. 293 Carl was threatening a Knight fork against Boghossian's Queen and other Rook.
a. The union of two lines of descent. Obsolete.Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > lineage or descent > [noun] > a line of descent > union of two lines of descent
fork1559
1559 W. Baldwin et al. Myrroure for Magistrates Clarence vi Of which two houses ioyned in a forke, My father..was lawful heire beget.
b. A dilemma, choice of alternatives; also, a dichotomy, distinction. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > difference > [noun] > a difference or distinction
shedc950
diversityc1340
differencea1382
differencea1393
severance1422
distinction1435
discretivec1487
differing1528
unlikeness1561
distinguishment1592
fork1639
discrimen1644
misresemblancea1693
bright line1842
the mind > will > free will > choice or choosing > types of choice > [noun] > choosing between alternatives > a choice of alternatives
fork1639
either-or1841
issue1850
1639 J. Fletcher et al. Bloody Brother iii. ii. sig. G2 There is a fork sir, In death..Man may be two wayes killed.
1679 T. Hobbes Behemoth (unauthorized ed.) 39 Declining the force of true Reason by verbal Forks..distinctions that signify nothing.
14. Caudine Forks n. [= Latin Furcae or Furculae Caudinae] proper name of a defile near Caudium, in Samnium, where the Romans were intercepted in the second Samnite war. Hence proverbially used for: A crushing defeat.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defeat > [noun]
confusionc1290
scomfit13..
cumber1303
discomfitc1330
scomfitingc1333
discomfiturea1400
scomfiturea1400
discomfitingc1405
overthrowc1440
male journey1455
overset1456
foilc1478
discomforture1485
supprise1488
reversea1529
distrage?1548
loss1548
defeat1553
underdeal1553
discomfort1589
defeatment1598
defeature1598
rufflec1600
defeatance1608
routa1616
Caudine Forks1619
disrout1623
conviction1631
bang1644
derout1644
conquest1677
drubbing1769
check1793
thrashing1797
sauve-qui-peut1815
debacle1847
smash1888
pasting1942
1619 E. M. Bolton tr. Florus Rom. Hist. i. xvi. 73 The most notable and famous foyle..was receiued at the Forkes of Caudium.
1781 J. Adams in J. Adams & A. Adams Familiar Lett. (1876) 403 The Romans never saw but one Caudine Forks in their whole history. Americans have shown the Britons two in one war.
Compounds
General attributive (see also sense 10d). C1.
a. Objective.
fork-grinder n.
ΚΠ
1844–5 G. Dodd Dict. Manuf. at Fork-making The fork~grinders are too often a reckless body of men.
1889 Daily News 11 Nov. 2/6 With the exception of the fork grinders there is no actual agitation.
b. Parasynthetic and similative.
(a)
fork-like adj.
ΚΠ
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Fourcheure A forkinesse..a fork-like diuision.
1889 Daily News 9 Oct. 5/5 They frequently fix the faces of the prisoners with fork~like irons towards the burning sun.
fork-shaped adj.
ΚΠ
1835–6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. I. 334/2 The vessel then passes between the clavicle and the fork-shaped bone.
fork-tongued adj.
ΚΠ
1636 P. Massinger Great Duke of Florence iii. i. sig. G They..Had trod on fork-tongu'd Adders.
(b)
fork-wise adv.
ΚΠ
?1541 R. Copland Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens ii. sig. Dij The veynes..renne forkewyse in two partyes.
1668 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) i. xvi. 40 Divided forkwise into two twigs.
C2.
a. Special combinations. Also fork-head n., fork-tail adj. and n.
fork-beam n. Nautical (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > [noun] > timbers of hull > other timbers supporting beams
pointer1750
shelf-piece1830
shelf1845
beam-arm1850
fork-beam1850
hold-stanchion1867
1850 J. Greenwood Sailor's Sea-bk. 95 Fork-Beam, a forked piece of timber nearly of the depth of the beam, scarphed, tabled, and bolted, for additional security to the sides of beams athwart large openings in the decks.
fork-beard n. a name given to various fishes of the genus Phycis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > superorder Paracanthopterygii > order Gadiformes (cod) > [noun] > family Gadidae > member of genus Phycis (fork-beard)
goatfish1613
forked-bearda1705
hake's dame1823
fork-beard1864
1864 J. Couch Hist. Fishes Brit. Islands III. 122 Lesser Forkbeard.
fork-breakfast n. (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > meal > [noun] > breakfast or morning meal
forme-metea1175
breakfast1463
disjune1491
jentation1599
jenticulation1658
meat breakfast1728
English breakfast1773
déjeuner1787
dejeune1788
fork-breakfast1812
tea-breakfast1825
cooked breakfast1848
chota hazri1863
hunt-breakfast1877
petit déjeuner1879
brekker1889
brekkie1904
Continental breakfast1911
prayer breakfast1930
Oslo breakfast1937
fry1959
1812 Sporting Mag. 39 163 Le dejeuner à la fourchette, or fork-breakfast, is so called, because in eating meat you have occasion for a fork.
1882 H. C. Merivale Faucit of Balliol ii. xv In this country..the French midday fork-breakfast, is unknown.
fork-carving adj. that uses a fork in carving.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation for table or cooking > preparation of meat > [adjective] > carved > that uses a fork in carving
fork-carvinga1640
a1640 J. Fletcher et al. Queene of Corinth iv. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Bbbbbb4/1 Your T. beard..doth expresse the enamour'd Courtier, As full as your fork-carving Travellour.
fork-chuck n. Wood-turning a chuck with two or more teeth: see quot. 1874.
ΚΠ
1842 G. W. Francis Dict. Arts Fork Chuck.
1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Fork-chuck (Turning), a piece of steel projecting from the live spindle and carrying the front center and a pair of joints which enter the wood and rotate it.
fork-fish n. ? a kind of thornback.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > unspecified types > [noun]
whalec950
tumbrelc1300
sprout1340
squame1393
codmop1466
whitefish1482
lineshark?a1500
salen1508
glaucus1509
bretcock1522
warcodling1525
razor1530
bassinatc1540
goldeney1542
smy1552
maiden1555
grail1587
whiting1587
needle1589
pintle-fish1591
goldfish1598
puffin fish1598
quap1598
stork1600
black-tail1601
ellops1601
fork-fish1601
sea-grape1601
sea-lizard1601
sea-raven1601
barne1602
plosher1602
whale-mouse1607
bowman1610
catfish1620
hog1620
kettle-fish1630
sharpa1636
carda1641
housewifea1641
roucotea1641
ox-fisha1642
sea-serpent1646
croaker1651
alderling1655
butkin1655
shamefish1655
yard1655
sea-dart1664
sea-pelican1664
Negro1666
sea-parrot1666
sea-blewling1668
sea-stickling1668
skull-fish1668
whale's guide1668
sennet1671
barracuda1678
skate-bread1681
tuck-fish1681
swallowtail1683
piaba1686
pit-fish1686
sand-creeper1686
horned hog1702
soldier1704
sea-crowa1717
bran1720
grunter1726
calcops1727
bennet1731
bonefish1734
Negro fish1735
isinglass-fish1740
orb1740
gollin1747
smelt1776
night-walker1777
water monarch1785
hardhead1792
macaw-fish1792
yellowback1796
sea-raven1797
blueback1812
stumpnose1831
flat1847
butterfish1849
croppie1856
gubbahawn1857
silt1863
silt-snapper1863
mullet-head1866
sailor1883
hogback1893
skipper1898
stocker1904
the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Hypotremata > [noun] > family Rajidae > raia clavata (thornback)
thornbackc1300
maid1569
fork-fish1601
rock ray1611
maid-fish1665
thorn-but1668
thorny-back1811
roker1860
thornback ray1862
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 261 The Puffen or Fork-fish..lieth in await..ready to strike the fishes that passe by with a sharpe rod or pricke that he hath.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Fork-fish, a kind of Thorn-back, so call'd from its forked Tail.
fork-lift truck n. a vehicle fitted with a pronged device in front for lifting and carrying heavy goods; also elliptically fork-lift.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > motor lorry, truck, or van > [noun] > fork-lift truck
fork-lift truck1946
lift truck1963
1946 Engin. Index 1945 557/2 Use of carrier fork lift trucks capable of handling filled cable reels.
1950 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 54 521/1 Fork lifts, and in exceptional cases loading ramps, were used for the bulky awkward items.
1955 Radio Times 30 Sept. Modern package~handling machines—fork-lifts they are called.
1958 Times 1 July (Agric. Suppl.) p. iv/7 The tractor is fitted with a fork lift loader to lift 35 cwt. capacity pallets.
1968 Times 11 Mar. p. ii. (caption) A heavy load..handled by a forklift truck.
fork-moss n. a kind of moss ( Dicranum bryoïdes).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > moss > [noun] > other mosses
golden maidenhair1578
polytrichon1578
bryon1597
maidenhair moss1597
mountain coralline1598
chalice-moss1610
purple bottle1650
water moss1663
fern-moss1698
hypnum1753
Mnium1754
rock tripe1763
feather-moss1776
scaly water-moss1796
screw moss1804
hog-bed1816
fringe-moss1818
caribou moss1831
apple moss1841
bristle-moss1844
scale-moss1846
anophyte1850
robin's rye1854
wall moss1855
fork-moss1860
thread-moss1864
lattice moss1868
robin-wheat1886
1860 P. H. Gosse Romance Nat. Hist. 192 The sight of the fork-moss would ever afterwards call up a vivid recollection of that desolate scene.
fork-ribbed adj. having ribs branching off like the prongs of a fork.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > part defined by form or function > ridge channel > [adjective]
rivelledOE
wrinkled1563
channelled1597
ribbed1597
trisulcated1703
ribby1706
rugose1707
ruminate1800
ruminated1828
striolate?1841
multicostate1849
crested1856
fork-ribbed1858
tricostate1861
bicarinate1872
carinal1872
vallecular1875
carinate1876
bicarinated1880
trisulcate1891
1858 E. Lankester & W. B. Carpenter Veg. Physiol. (new ed.) §196 As regards their leaves, the Cryptogamia may be characterized as fork-ribbed.
fork-shaft n. the handle of a fork.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > tool > parts of tools generally > [noun] > handle > of specific tool
crankc1000
steal1377
pipe1397
pot-hook1397
shaft1530
fork-shafta1642
bell-handle1768
hasp1770
fettle1812
panhandle1890
a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 36 Shorte forke shaftes made of seasoned Ash.
1848 A. B. Evans Leicestershire Words Fork-shaft, handle of a fork, whether pitchfork or any other.
fork-staff-plane n. a kind of joiner's plane used for working convex cylindrical surfaces.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > shaping tools or equipment > plane > [noun] > for curved surfaces
spokeshave1510
hollow-plane1678
round1793
fork-staff-plane1815
howel1846
compass-plane1849
spout plane1855
concave-plane1874
hoop-shave1885
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 111 A plane..with a concave sole, is also distinguished by the name of a forkstaff-plane.
fork-way n. a point where two roads meet or diverge, a fork.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > junction of roads, paths, or tracks > [noun] > fork
gateshodelc1440
parting of the ways1611
fork-way1819
fork1855
1819 W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. 47 308 Hecate, Luna, Diana, who meet in a fork~way.
fork-wrench n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Fork-wrench, a spanner with two jaws which embrace a nut or square on a coupling.
b.
fork supper n. (also fork-buffet, fork-dinner, fork-lunch, fork-luncheon, etc.), a meal served at a buffet, etc., consisting of food suitable for eating with fork alone, making the provision of set places at table unnecessary.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > meal > [noun] > buffet or standing meal
perpendicular1863
stand-up1882
buffet meal1888
fork supper1940
1940 N. Mitford Pigeon Pie i. 12 He came to all the week-end parties, tea parties, fork luncheons.
1949 Antiquity 23 121 After a sumptuous fork-luncheon they all set off for Amiens.
1952 A. Colby Beauty Bk. 230 The buffet supper..is a ‘fork supper’.
1957 H. Croome Forgotten Place vii. 89 We'll have a party. Just a fork supper, and a bit of dancing.
1958 TV Times 18 July 18/3 The party is always on a Sunday or Monday—fork buffets, of course.
1965 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 9 Oct. 17/11 A fork dinner for 40 young friends.
1971 Times 22 Jan. 14/3 Aspirants..would be well-advised to practise the art of conversing while wielding wine glass and loaded plate, because the plan is to hold a two-hour fork luncheon before the selection meeting.
Draft additions 1993
forkball n. Baseball a pitch in which the ball is held tightly with the thumb, index, and middle fingers spread wide apart, in order to make it fall down sharply or behave in an otherwise unpredictable manner; cf. split-finger(ed) fastball adj. at split adj. Additions.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > [noun] > pitching > types of pitch
change of pace1650
slow ball1838
passed ball1860
ball1863
rib roaster1864
called ball1865
low ball1866
wild pitch1867
curveball1875
short pitch1877
grass cutter1879
fastball1883
downshoot1886
lob ball1888
pitchout1903
bean ballc1905
spitball1905
screwball1908
spitter1908
sinker ball1910
fallaway1912
meatball1912
fireball1913
roundhouse1913
forkball1923
sinker1926
knuckle ball1927
knuckler1928
gofer1932
slider1936
sailer1937
junk1941
change up1942
eephus1943
junkball1944
split-finger(ed) fastball1980
change1982
1923 Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide 191 Opponents scored 3.32 earned runs per game off ‘Bullet Joe's’ ‘fork ball’ delivery.
1962 J. Brosnan Pennant Race 86 You oughta hurry that fork ball up, though. Any pitch that looks as much like a spitball as that has got to have a future.
1974 Spartanburg (S. Carolina) Herald-Jrnl. 21 Apr. b1 He was out to prove that what appears to be an illegal spitball pitch actually is a forkball.
1985 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 10 Oct. c3/4 Henke has added the forkball this year, but still does not have complete command of it.
Draft additions December 2002
Molecular Biology. More fully replication fork. A Y-shaped region where the strands of a duplex DNA molecule are separated during replication.
ΚΠ
1963 J. Cairns in Jrnl. Molecular Biol. 6 211 It seems clear that this DNA replicates by forking and that new material is formed along both limbs of the fork.
1968 Cold Spring Harbor Symp. Quant. Biol. 33 804/2 These observations indicate that the general aspects of chromosome replication in bacteria may include multiple replication forks.
1989 B. Alberts et al. Molecular Biol. Cell (ed. 2) v. 228 At a replication fork the DNA of both new daughter helices is synthesized by a multienzyme complex that contains the DNA polymerase.
2000 B. Lewin Genes VII xiii. 392 On the lagging strand a stretch of single-stranded parental DNA must be exposed, and then a segment is synthesized in the reverse direction (relative to fork movement).
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
forkv.
/fɔːk/, U.S. /fɔrk/ 1.
a. intransitive. To form a fork; to divide into branches, divaricate. Of lightning: To play forkedly. Also with away, off, or out.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > inclination > divergence > diverge [verb (intransitive)]
to-liec893
ramify?1541
sever1545
fork1605
divaricate1623
diverge1665
bifurcate1828
split1856
trifurcate1887
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > two > division into two > divide in two [verb (intransitive)] > bifurcate
twisel931
fork1605
grain1664
bifurcate1828
bisect1870
the world > matter > light > naturally occurring light > emit beams (of a luminary) [verb (intransitive)] > flash lightning
laita1225
lightena1398
levina1400
flush-flash1582
fulgurate1677
flash1791
fork1807
streak1849
lightning1861
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > thunder and lightning > [verb (intransitive)] > lighten > flash > specific
fork1807
streak1849
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. ii. 395 Adams Trunck (of both our Worlds the Tree) In two faire Branches forking fruitfully.
1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre Stud. Nature (1799) I. 239 Others [trees] ascend vertically, and..fork off in various tiers.
1807 J. Barlow Columbiad v. 179 The flames fork round the semivault of heaven.
1840 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 1 iv. 419 The parsnip..forks away into fingers.
1847 D. T. Ansted Anc. World viii. 170 Rays..forking off towards the end.
1851 M. Reid Scalp Hunters II. xviii. 289 The lightning forked and flashed.
1853 J. Phillips Rivers, Mountains, & Sea-coast Yorks. ix. 240 Here the road forked.
b. Of corn: To sprout.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by growth or development > grow or vegetate [verb (intransitive)] > sprout or put forth new growth
spriteOE
wrideOE
brodc1175
comea1225
spirec1325
chicka1400
sprouta1400
germin?1440
germ1483
chip?a1500
spurgea1500
to put forth1530
shootc1560
spear1570
stock1574
chit1601
breward1609
pullulate1618
ysproutc1620
egerminate1623
put1623
germinate1626
sprent1647
fruticate1657
stalk1666
tiller1677
breerc1700
fork1707
to put out1731
stool1770
sucker1802
stir1843
push1855
braird1865
fibre1869
flush1877
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry 265 Throw the frozen outsides into the middle till the Corn begin to fork and warm in the Couch.
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Malt
c. Chess. transitive. To attack (two pieces) simultaneously with the same piece.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > chess > [verb (transitive)] > tactics
to shut up1474
to take upc1475
neck1597
catch1674
to discover check1688
attack1735
retreat1744
fork1745
pin1745
retake1750
guard1761
interpose1761
castle1764
retract1777
to take (a pawn) en passant1818
capture1820
decline1847
cook1851
undouble1868
unpin1878
counter1890
fidate1910
sacrifice1915
fianchetto1927
1745 E. Hoyle Piquet & Chess 61 Take care that no guarded Pawn of your Adversary's fork two of your Pieces.
1891 E. Freeborough Chess Endings 116 The Queen may be forked by a diverging check, with the Kt, preceded by B-Kt 7 ch.
1891 R. B. Swinton Chess for Beginners 73 Sometimes a Pawn can play a shrewd trick by ‘forking’ two pieces.
1899 E. E. Cunnington Mod. Chess Primer 20 There is nothing, in chess, more dangerous than to allow one of your opponent's men to..‘fork’ two of your men by one move.
1922 A. Emery Elem. Chess 68 When a knight checks, and at the same time attacks a man which can be captured with advantage on the next move the latter is said to be ‘forked’.
a. Of witnesses: To disagree in their testimony. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > disharmony or incongruity > be unharmonious or incongruous [verb (intransitive)] > in respect of a statement or account
varya1387
forka1400
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 17754 Þai did þaa thre men þan to sunder, And askid seluen ilkan sere, Oo þair forking fain wald þai here.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 16074 In þair aun sagh þai said, oft-sith for-kid þai.
b. Of the tongue [after French fourcher]: To stumble, trip. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > defective or inarticulate speech > speak inarticulately or with a defect [verb (intransitive)] > stammer or speak hesitantly
stammerc1000
wlaffe1025
stotec1325
humc1374
mafflea1387
stut1388
rattlea1398
famble14..
mammera1425
drotec1440
falterc1440
stackerc1440
hem1470
wallowa1475
tattle1481
mant1506
happer1519
trip1526
hobblea1529
hack1553
stagger1565
faffle1570
stutter1570
hem and hawk1588
ha1604
hammer1619
titubate1623
haw1632
fork1652
hacker1652
lispc1680
hesitate1706
balbutiate1731
haffle1790
hotter1828
stutter1831
ah1853
catch1889
1652 T. Urquhart Εκσκυβαλαυρον 203 Philoplutaries (my tongue forks it, I have mistaken..one word for another, I should have said Philosophers).
3. transitive. To make or put into the form of a fork; to make fork-shaped. †to fork the fingers: to extend them towards a person as a mark of contempt.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > think or behave contemptuously [verb (intransitive)] > express contempt by gesture
scrape1561
to fork the fingers1640
to cock one's nose (up)1692
to look down one's nose (at)1721
to do a Harvey Smith1973
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > two > division into two > divide in two [verb (transitive)] > bifurcate
bifurcate1615
fork1640
1640 Wits Recreations sig. C2 His wife..Behind him forks her fingers.
1668 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) i. viii. 315 The Ramus Iliacus is forked out on each side.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VII. 348 The tail..is forked into two horns.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 376 A lever..which is forked at the lower part to receive the pendulum.
1816 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Canto III xcv. 52 The mightiest of the storms..through these parted hills hath fork'd His lightnings.
1817 S. T. Coleridge Biogr. Lit. 289 Bertram..stands..with his lower limbs forked.
4. To raise or move with or as with a fork; to dig, take, or throw in, out, up, etc., with a fork.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > break up land [verb (intransitive)] > dig
delvec1000
digc1320
spit1393
fork1647
yelve1817
graft1823
spade1869
spud1889
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > break up land [verb (transitive)] > dig > dig with fork
fork1647
prong1785
yelve1817
1802 A. Kirkwood Jrnl. in Mem. (1856) 24 I..forked some hay for Mr. Black.
1829 Bone Manure: Rep. Doncaster Comm. Agric. Assoc. 30 Fold manure..should be forked up to a considerable height.
1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle's Log II. iv. 156 Bang..was gobbling his last plantain, and forking up along with it..slices of cheese.
1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) II. 191 The ancient practice of forking out each parsnip from the ground.
1850 C. Kingsley Alton Locke I. xi. 179 He..set to work forking up some weeds on a fallow.
1850 G. Glenny Hand-bk. Flower Garden 24 The border should be prepared..by forking in some peat.
1858 G. Glenny Gardener's Every-day Bk. (new ed.) 75/1 The beds should now be forked over.
1882 Ld. Tennyson Promise of May ii And you an' your Sally was forkin' the haäy.
5. transferred (colloquial or slang.)absolute.1836 Franklin Repository (Chambersburg, Pa.) 29 Mar. 1/2 ‘Fork up, and that instantly, or take the contents of this,’ he added fiercely, as he thrust the cold barrel of the pistol against the supplicant's cheek.1839 Observer & Reporter Nov. 23 Well then, fork up, and be quick.1856 C. Reade It is never too Late III. iii. 19 See it for twenty-four hours or I won't fork out.1857 O. W. Wight Quinland II. iii. iii. 167 The plethoric dog of a New Jersey Jew has got the ‘tin’, and will fork up as soon as the matter is fixed.1875 ‘A. R. Hope’ My Schoolboy Friends 154 I'll tell Vialls if you do not fork out.
a. to fork out, over, or up: to give up, hand over, pay.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > payment > pay money or things [verb (transitive)] > pay up or out
to pay out1438
to pay over1668
to shell down1801
pony1819
tip1829
to fork out, over, or up1831
to stump up1833
to put up1838
stump1841
pungle1851
to ante up1880
cough1894
to peg out1895
brass1898
1831 E. J. Trelawny Adventures Younger Son xxxvi Fork out something better than this.
1839 Observer & Reporter May 18 The gambler should fork over his illgotten gains.
1843 Punch 5 86/2 ‘Oblige me with that hod’, and ‘Have the kindness to hand me that gimlet’, are phrases which might be well substituted for a request to ‘chuck’ or ‘fork up’ ‘this here’ and ‘that 'ere’.
1849 D. Nason Jrnl. 113 As he was the biggest man I had to fork over $1·25.
1865 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend II. iii. i. 3 Fork out your balance in hand.
1866 J. C. Gregg Life in Army xv. 132 Every person..forks over his picayune.
1871 Scribner's Monthly 1 601 So the governor forked this up, though it's my selection entirely.
1883 Harper's Mag. Aug. 486/1 He forked over the money.
1918 E. Pound in Lett. J. Joyce (1966) II. 424 I will fork up the remaining £20 of the fifty promised.
1932 H. Crane Let. Jan. (1965) 395 The family will just have to fork up a loan or something for me.
b. (U.S.) See quots.
ΚΠ
1839 F. Marryat Diary in Amer. II. 231 I heard a young man..in Vermont, say,..‘Well, how he contrived to fork into her young affections, I can't tell’.
1851 B. H. Hall Coll. College Words Fork on. At Hamilton College, to fork on, to appropriate to one's self.
6. intransitive (colloquial) To protrude awkwardly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > projection or prominence > project or be prominent [verb (intransitive)] > awkwardly
to lop out1854
fork1882
1882 Fraser's Mag. 25 532 I noted a number of heads forking over the side of the ship.
1890 W. C. Russell Ocean Trag. II. xiv. 20 He came slowly forking up through the hatch.
1890 W. C. Russell Ocean Trag. II. xix. 133 Leathery noses forking up out of a hedge of whisker.
7. slang. (transitive) to fork a person: to pick his pocket. Cf. fork n. 3.
ΚΠ
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Let's fork him, let us Pick that Man's Pocket.
1785 in F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue
8. intransitive (Scottish) To look out, strive for (something).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > make an attempt or endeavour [verb (intransitive)] > strive or struggle
hiec888
to stand inc1175
wrag?c1225
wrestle?c1225
stretcha1375
strivec1384
pressc1390
hitc1400
wring1470
fend15..
battle1502
contend?1518
reluct1526
flichter1528
touse1542
struggle1597
to lay in1599
strain?1606
stickle1613
fork1681
sprattle1786
buffet1824
fight1859
1681 S. Colvil Mock Poem (1710) 73 That Pauls Iniquities, mystery working, Was men, then for precedency forking.
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. at Forkin' ‘Forkin' for siller,’..‘Forkin' for a job’.
9. Mining. (transitive) To pump (a mine) dry; to remove (water) by pumping. Cf. fork n. 11.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > mining > mine [verb (transitive)] > remove water
fork1702
unwater1769
1702 T. Savery Miner's Friend 56 What signifies your Engine..if it be not capable of Sinking or Forking an Old Mine.
1859 Times 27 Apr. He had forked the heaviest waters in the whole country.
1869 West. Daily Mercury 20 Mar. They have resolved on forking the water.
1893 Pall Mall Gaz. 14 Jan. 2/1 The mine has been ‘forked’.
10. To bestride or mount (a horse). U.S.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > ride (a horse or other animal) [verb (transitive)] > mount (a horse or other animal) > and sit astride
bestridec1000
umstridea1352
cross1760
straddle1823
fork1903
1903 A. Adams Log of Cowboy xix. 295 So fork that swimming horse of yours and wet your big toe again in the North Platte.
1920 J. M. Hunter Trail Drivers of Texas I. 245 Throw your rope and whatever it falls on, fork him.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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