forkyadj.
/ˈfɔːki/ a. Shaped like a fork, forked.Quot. ?a1513 at forcy adj. may belong here (the sense is not clear).
ΚΠ
1693 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Metamorphoses i, in Examen Poeticum 28 Parnassus..whose forky rise Mounts through the Clouds.
1694 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in Ann. Misc. 46 A Snake..brandishing his forky Tongue.
1732 A. Pope Strange Relation E. Curll in J. Swift et al. Misc.: 3rd Vol. ii. 49 A meagre Man, with a..black forky Beard.
1762 W. Falconer Shipwreck i. 11 A skilful marksman o'er his head suspends The forky prongs.
1808 W. Scott Marmion i. viii. 29 The last..On high his forky pennon bore.
a1851 D. M. Moir Sir Eliduc in Poet. Wks. (1852) II. 192 The tree by the forky lightnings scathed.
b. figurative and allusively.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > two > division into two > [adjective] > bifurcated
twiselc1000
forked1398
twisted1398
grained1513
bi-furked?1545
biforked1578
two-forked1579
crotched1587
forken1631
twi-forked1635
bifurcous1656
forky1702
swallow-tailed1726
bidential1730
bifurcate1835
bifurcated1853
bifurcal1861
1702 Watts Epit. Will. III x Slander gnaw her forky tongue.
1821 Ld. Byron Cain i. i, in Sardanapalus 353 Those he spake to with his forky tongue.
Compounds
forky-tongued adj.
ΚΠ
1727 I. Watts Poems (1743) 235 Cares never come With..Malice forky-tongued.
Derivatives
ˈforkiness n. the condition of being forky.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > two > division into two > [noun] > bifurcation > condition of
forkedness1611
forkiness1611
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Fourcheure, a forkinesse.
1766 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. ii. 96 The house swallow is distinguished from all others by the superior forkiness of its tail.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online September 2019).
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adj.1611- to pass over to the majority
- to pass over with silence
- to pass quit
- to pass round the hat
- to pass someone in
- to pass something in silence
- to pass something with silence
- to pass sub silentio
- to pass terms
- to pass the bottle of smoke
- to pass the buck
- to pass the buck to
- to pass the compliments of the day
- to pass the gantlope
- to pass the ghost
- to pass the lips
- to pass the mark
- to pass the mint
- to pass the mouth
- to pass the muster
- to pass the musters
- to pass the picks
- to pass the pikes
- to pass the press
- to pass the rubicon