▪ I. fork, n.
(fɔːk)
Also 1 forca, (myx-)force, 3 pl. furken, 4–6 forcke, 4–7 forke.
[OE. forca wk. masc., force wk. fem., ad. L. furca fem., fork (for hay, etc.), forked stake, gallows, yoke.
The use of the word in Eng. was doubtless extended by the influence of the ONF. form forque, fourque (Central OF. forche, fourche), from which some of the Eng. senses are derived. The L. word is found in nearly all the Rom. and Teut. langs.: cf. Pr. forca, Sp. horca, Pg. forca, It. furca, OHG. furcha (mod. Ger. furke), Du. vork, all chiefly in sense ‘pitchfork’; also ON. forkr, forked stake.]
I. A pronged instrument.
1. 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, pitch-fork, etc.
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. (Th.) I. 430 Ða cwelleras..wið-ufan mid heora forcum hine ðydon. c 1000 ― Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 154 Furcilla, litel forca. a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. 110 Mon in the mone..on is bot forke is burthen he bereth. 1382 Wyclif 1 Sam. xiii. 21 Eggys..of diggynge yrens, and of forkis..weren blunt. 1413 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iii. viii. 55 Suche folke..to bynde in fagottes and cast them with forkes into the fyre. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §24 A good husbande hath his forkes and rakes made redye in the wynter before. 1573 Baret Alv. F 892 A Forke, or trout speare with three points, fuscina. 1573 Tusser Husb. liii. (1878) 120 At Midsommer, downe with the brembles and brakes, and after, abrode with thy forks and thy rakes. 1700 Dryden Cock & Fox 727 The crew, With forks and staves the felon to pursue. 1719 London & Wise Compl. Gard. viii. 196 We must use an Iron Fork to draw them out of the Nursery-Beds. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 479 Lightly, shaking it with agile hand From the full fork. 1860 Delamer Kitch. Gard. (1861) 16 A fork for taking up potatoes, &c., and spreading dung. |
| fig. in Proverb. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Fork is often Rakes Heir, or after a scraping Father comes a scattering Son. 1725 New Cant. Dict., Fork is also used for a Spendthrift, etc. |
† b. A similar implement used as a weapon.
| 13.. K. Alis. 1191 Fiftene thousand of fot laddes, That..hadde, Axes, speres, forkis, and slynges. 1598 R. Grenewey Tacitus' Ann. 78 Some with poles or forks ouerthrew this sluggish lump: leauing them for halfe dead lying on the ground. 1678 tr. Gaya's Arms of War 29 The Forks are the same with the common Forks, but they have little Hooks. |
† c. The forked tongue (popularly supposed to be the sting) of a snake.
Obs.| 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. iii. i. 16 Thou dost feare the soft and tender forke Of a poore worme. 1605 ― Macb. iv. i. 16. |
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-,
dessert-,
fish-,
pickle-,
table-fork, etc. see those words.
| 1463 Bury Wills (Camden) 40, I beqwethe to Davn John Kertelynge my silvir forke for grene gyngour. 1554 Ibid. 147, I geve and bequeath my neighbo{supr}..my spone with a forke in the end. 1589 Pasquil's Ret. D iij, At the signe of the siluer forke and the tosted cheese. 1605 B. Jonson Volpone iv. i, Then must you learn the use And handling of your silver fork at meals. 1724 R. Falconer Voy. (1769) 65, I had in my Pocket a Knife and Fork. 1766 Smollett Trav. 35 The poorest tradesman in Boulogne has..silver forks with four prongs. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. vii, He laid down his knife and fork. |
b. forks and knives: the name of the club-moss
Lycopodium clavatum.
| 1853 G. Johnston Nat. Hist. E. Bord. I. 257. |
3. a. Used in
pl. for the prongs of a fork. Also
transf. Cf. 12.
| 1674 N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. iv. (1677) 40 An Eel-spear..is made for the most part with three Forks or Teeth. 1702 Addison Dial. Medals Wks. 1721 I. 447 A thunderbolt with three forks. 1767 H. Kelly, etc. Babler I. 280 A couple of tushes that project a surprising way from the mouth, like the forks of an elephant. |
b. pl. (
slang). The fingers. Hence, a pick-pocket (B. E.
Dict. Cant. Crew ?
a 1700).
| 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Forks, the two fore-fingers; to put your forks down, is to pick a pocket. 1834 Ainsworth Rookwood iii. v, 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.
| 1799 Young in Phil. Trans. XC. 134 The fork was a comma and a half above the pitch..of an imaginary C. c 1865 J. Wylde in Circ. Sc. 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. a. A gallows. Also
pl. Cf. forche 1.
[So
OF. fourche(s, L.
furca; the Roman gallows was originally of the shape ʌ.]
| c 1205 Lay. 5720 Þe furken [1275 forkes] weoren aræred, heo teuwen up þa ȝisles, and heom þer hengen. 1399 Pol. Poems (Rolls) I. 379 He shulde have hadde hongynge on hie on the fforckis. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 121 Lat him end his lyf vpon ane fork. a 1680 Butler Rem. II. 195 They had run through all punishments, and just 'scaped the fork. |
b. Rom. Ant. Used to render L.
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.
| a 1616 Beaum. & Fl. Bonduca ii. iv, The forks Where you shall have two lictors with two whips Hammer your hide. 1618 Bolton Florus i. xvi. 48 Passing them naked under Forkes, or Gallowses. 1683 Dryden & Lee Duke of Guise iv. v, We passed 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;
b. a rest for a musket;
cf. forcat.
c. (See
quot.).
d. Mining (
Derbysh.): see
quot. 1881.
e. A divining-rod.
| a. 1389 Helmingham MS. 21. 17 b, Forkis..to bere up þe vyne. 1626 Bacon Sylva §423 Some have put two little Forks about the bottom of their Trees, to keep them up⁓right. 1816 Keatinge Trav. (1817) I. 43 The boughs..propped up by forks. |
| b. 1591 Garrard Art Warre 7 To traine hys Forke or Staffe after hym whilest he..doth charge hys Musket. |
| c. 1726 Gentlem. Angler 149 A Fork. Vide Rest [for a fishing rod]. |
| d. 1747 Hooson Miner's Dict. G iij b, If..we think it will let the Forks settle when they come to be weighted, we put a Sill under them. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Fork..a piece of wood supporting the side of an excavation in soft ground. |
| e. 1886 A. Winchell Walks & Talks Geol. Field 137 Some..even resorted to the witch-hazel fork [in ‘prospecting’ for petroleum]. |
7. Building. See
quots. 1868, 1883.
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 522 Let make an hous for bestis..Of forkis, & of boord. 1792 Mastin Hist. Antiq. 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 Atkinson Cleveland Gloss., Forks, the centres, in the timber-work of the roof of a shed, house or other building; commonly, ‘a pair of forks’. 1883 Seebohm 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. |
† 8. Anat. fork of the throat or breast:
app. the sternal bone together with the clavicles.
Obs. [
= med.L.
furcula,
OF. fourcelle; the words seem to have been used very vaguely, and it is often impossible to determine the exact sense.]
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 316 For brekyng of þe forke of þe þrote and of þe brest. c 1535 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 900 The forke of the brest..fourcelle. 1639 De Gray Compl. Horsem. 39 The Forke or Throat hath five [bones]. |
† 9. The barbed head of an arrow.
Obs.| 1605 Shakes. Lear i. i. 146 Make from the shaft. Kent. Let it fall rather, though the forke inuade The region of my heart. |
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.
| 1858 in Simmonds Dict. Trade. |
b. (also
forks): see
quot.| 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.
| 1833 Reg. Instr. Calvalry i. 46 The pummel or fore fork. Ibid. 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
attrib., as
fork-blade,
fork-crown,
fork-end,
fork-head. Also
pl.| 1871 English Mechanic XIII. 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. 1898 Cycling 48 The fork ends. 1902 Captain VII. 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. 1957 Encycl. Brit. III. 544/2 The fork crown (at the top of the forks) is fixed to the steering column. |
| 1952 Cycling (‘Know the Game’) (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. 1968 [see frame n. 11 f]. |
11. Mining. (See
quots.)
| 1778 Pryce Min. Cornub., 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 Goldf. Victoria 611 When a mine is in fork the bottom of the engine-shaft is clear of water. |
12. [From 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.| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xviii. (1495) 123 The endes of thyse bones ben departed and haue two forkes. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 375 The forked values making certain gaping fissures betweene their forkes. 1674 N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. iv. (1677) 10 Those sixty Carps were from Eye to Fork from fifteen Inches to eighteen Inches. 1830 Herschel Stud. Nat. Phil. 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 (
sing. and pl.), the lower limbs themselves; the lower half of the body.
Cf. forchure.
| 1605 Shakes. Lear iv. vi. 121. 1631 [see chining vbl. n.]. 1812 Examiner 12 Oct. 652/a, You are not long enough in the fork for the—dragoons. 1872 Baker Nile Tribut. 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.| 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 Murchison Silur. Syst. i. xxix. 372 N. and S. forks of the great estuary of Milford Haven. 18.. Scenes Rocky Mts. 50 (Bartlett) Their village, at the Forks of the Platte. 1877 J. A. Allen Amer. Bison 515 Great herds on the east fork of the Salmon River. |
d. of a road.
| 1839–40 W. Irving Wolfert's R. (1855) 281 A fork in the road. 1860 Pusey Min. Proph. 241 Taking the fork where the ways parted, in order to intercept the fugitives. 1883 Howard Roads (ed. 3) 47 Here take the right hand fork. |
e. of a plant or tree.
| 1776 Withering Brit. Plants (1796) II. 200 Fruit-stalk..rising from the fork of the stem. 1843 Zoologist I. 228 The raven's nest was placed in a fork..of one of these trees. 1871 G. Meredith H. Richmond xv, 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.
| 1859 Tennyson Vivien 939 Dazzled by the livid-flickering fork. 1871 Palgrave Lyr. 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.
| 1656 Beale Royall Game of 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 Armoury (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. 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. |
† 13. fig. a. nonce-use. The union of two lines of descent.
b. A dilemma, choice of alternatives; also, a dichotomy, distinction.
Obs.| 1559 Mirr. Mag., Dk. Clarence vi, Of which two houses ioyned in a forke, My father..was lawful heire beget. a 1616 Beaum. & Fl. Bloody Brother iii. ii, There is a fork, sir, In death..Man may be two ways killed. 1670 Hobbes Behemoth (1840) 214 Declining the force of true reason by verbal forks..distinctions that signify nothing. |
14. Caudine Forks = L.
Furcæ or
Furculæ Caudinæ: 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.
| 1618 Bolton Florus i. xvi. 48 The most notable and famous foyle..was received at the Forkes of Caudium. 1781 J. Q. Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 403 The Romans never saw but one Caudine Forks in their whole history. Americans have shown the Britons two in one war. |
III. attrib. and
Comb. (see also sense 10 d).
15. a. objective, as
fork-grinder, etc.;
b. parasynthetic and similative, as
fork-like,
fork-shaped,
fork-tongued adjs.;
fork-wise adv.| 1844–5 Dodd Dict. Manuf., s.v. 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. |
| 1611 Cotgr., 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. |
| 1835–6 Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 334/2 The vessel then passes between the clavicle and the *fork-shaped bone. |
| 1636 Massinger Gt. Dk. Florence iii. i, They..Had trod on *fork-tongued adders. |
| 1541 R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg. D ij, The veynes..renne *forkewyse in two partyes. 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. i. xvi. 40 Divided forkwise into two twigs. |
16. a. Special comb.:
fork-beam Naut. (see
quot.);
fork-beard, a name given to various fishes of the genus
Phycis;
fork-breakfast (see
quot.);
fork-carving a., that uses a fork in carving;
fork-chuck (
Wood-turning), a chuck with two or more teeth: see
quot. 1874;
fork-fish, ? a kind of thornback;
fork-lift truck, etc. a vehicle fitted with a pronged device in front for lifting and carrying heavy goods; also
fork-lift ellipt.;
fork-moss, a kind of moss (
Dicranum bryoïdes);
fork-ribbed a., having ribs branching off like the prongs of a fork;
fork-shaft, the handle of a fork;
fork-staff-plane, a kind of joiner's plane used for working convex cylindrical surfaces;
fork-way, a point where two roads meet or diverge, a fork;
fork-wrench (see
quot.). Also
fork-head,
fork-tail.
| c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 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. |
| 1864 Couch Brit. Fishes III. 122 Lesser *Forkbeard. |
| 1812 Sporting Mag. XXXIX. 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 B. ii. xv, In this country..the French midday fork-breakfast, is unknown. |
| c 1618 Fletcher Q. Corinth iv. i, Your T beard..doth express the enamour'd courtier, As full as your *fork-carving traveller. |
| 1842 Francis Dict. Arts, *Fork Chuck. 1874 Knight 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. |
| 1601 Holland Pliny 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, Fork-fish, a kind of Thorn-back, so call'd from its forked Tail. |
| 1946 Engin. Index 1945 557/2 Use of carrier *fork lift trucks capable of handling filled cable reels. 1950 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LIV. 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 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. |
| 1860 Gosse Rom. Nat. Hist. 192 The sight of the *fork-moss would ever afterwards call up a vivid recollection of that desolate scene. |
| 1858 Carpenter Veg. Phys. §196 As regards their leaves, the Cryptogamia may be characterized as *fork-ribbed. |
| 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 34 Shorte *forke-shaftes made of seasoned ashe. 1848 A. B. Evans Leicester Words, Fork-shaft, handle of a fork, whether pitchfork or any other. |
| 1816 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 111 A plane..with a concave sole, is also distinguished by the name of a *fork-staff-plane. |
| 1819 W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. XLVII. 308 Hecate, Luna, Diana, who meet in a *fork⁓way. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Fork-wrench, a spanner with two jaws which embrace a nut or square on a coupling. |
b. fork supper (also
fork-buffet,
fork-dinner,
fork-lunch(eon, 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.
| 1940 N. Mitford Pigeon Pie i. 12 He came to all the week-end parties, tea parties, fork luncheons. 1949 Antiquity XXIII. 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. |
Add:
[III.] [16.] [a.] forkball 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-fingered fastball s.v. *
split ppl. a. 5 a.
| 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. |
▸
Molecular Biol. More fully
replication fork. A Y-shaped region where the strands of a duplex DNA molecule are separated during replication.
| 1963J. 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). |
▪ II. fork, v. (
fɔːk)
[f. prec.] 1. a. intr. To form a fork; to divide into branches, divaricate. Of lightning: To play forkedly. Also with
away,
off, or
out.
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. i. Noah 243 Adam's Trunk (of both-our Worlds the Tree) In two faire branches forking fruitfully. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) I. 239 Others [trees] ascend vertically, and..fork off in various tiers. 1808 J. Barlow Columb. v. 276 The flames fork round the semivault of heaven. 1840 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. I. iv. 419 The parsnip..forks away into fingers. 1847 Ansted Anc. World viii. 170 Rays..forking off towards the end. 1851 Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. xli, The lightning forked and flashed. 1853 Phillips Rivers Yorksh. ix. 240 Here the road forked. |
b. Of corn: To sprout.
| 1707 Mortimer Husb. 265 Throw the frozen outsides into the middle till the Corn begin to fork and warm in the Couch. 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Malt. |
c. Chess.
trans. To attack (two pieces) simultaneously with the same piece.
| 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’. |
† 2. fig. a. Of witnesses: To disagree in their testimony.
b. Of the tongue [after F.
fourcher]: To stumble, trip.
Obs.| a 1300 Cursor M. 16074 (Cott.) In þair aun sagh þai said, oft-sith for-kid þai. Ibid. 17754 (Gött.) Þai did þaa thre men þan to sunder, And askid seluen ilkan sere, Oo þair forking fain wald þai here. 1652 Urquhart Jewel Wks. (1834) 265 Philoplutaries, my tongue forks it, I have mistaken..one word for another, I should have said Philosophers. |
3. trans. 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.| 1640 Witts Recreat. C ij, His wife..Behind him forks her fingers. 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. i. viii. 315 The Ramus Iliacus is forked out on each side. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 348 The tail..is forked into two horns. 1816 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 376 A lever..which is forked at the lower part to receive the pendulum. 1816 Byron Ch. Har. iii. xcv, The mightiest of the storms..through these parted hills hath fork'd His lightnings. 1817 Coleridge Biog. Lit. 289 Bertram..stands..with his lower limbs forked. |
| fig. 1683 Dryden & Lee Dk. of Guise iv. iii, Angel⁓traitors..Forked into ills, and split into deceits. |
4. To raise or move with or as with a fork; to dig, take, or throw
in,
out,
up, etc., with a fork.
| 1802 A. Kirkwood Jrnl. in Mem. (1856) 24, I..forked some hay for Mr. Black. 1829 Rep. Doncaster Commission, Bone Manure 30 Fold manure..should be forked up to a considerable height. 1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle xv, Bang..was gobbling his last plantain, and forking up along with it..slices of cheese. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. II. 191 The ancient practice of forking out each parsnip from the ground. 1850 Kingsley Alt. Locke xi, He..set to work forking up some weeds on a fallow. 1851 Glenny Handbk. Fl. Gard. 24 The border should be prepared..by forking in some peat. 1858 ― Gard. Every-day Bk. 75/1 The beds should now be forked over. 1882 Tennyson Promise of May ii, And you an' your Sally was forkin' the haäy. |
| fig. 1647 Trapp Mellif. Theolog. in Comm. Epist. 643 He leaves it [his wealth] to a prodigall, that..forks it abroad, as fast as the miser his father raked it together. [Cf. fork n. 1 fig.] 1828 Landor Imag. Conv. III. 101 Society is not yet trodden down and forked together by you, into one and the same rotten mass. |
| absol. 1683 J. Erskine Jrnl. 11 Sept. (1893) 16, I was seeing the corn cut in the barnyard and whiles forking. |
5. transf. (
colloq. or
slang.)
a. to fork out,
fork over, or
fork up: to give up, hand over, pay.
| 1831 E. J. Trelawny Adv. Younger Son. xxxvi, Fork out something better than this. 1839 Observer & Reporter May 18 The gambler should fork over his illgotten gains. 1843 Punch V. 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 Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. i, 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 I. 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 {pstlg}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. |
| absol. 1836 Franklin Repos. (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 Reade Never too Late lv, See it for twenty-four hours or I won't fork out. 1857 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 Fr. 154 I'll tell Vialls if you do not fork out. |
b. (
U.S.) See
quots.| 1839 Marryat Diary Amer. Ser. i. 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 College Wds., Fork on. At Hamilton College, to fork on, to appropriate to one's self. |
6. intr. (
colloq.) To protrude awkwardly.
| 1882 Fraser's Mag. XXV. 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. Ibid. xix. 133 Leathery noses forking up out of a hedge of whisker. |
7. slang. (
trans.)
to fork a person: to pick his pocket.
Cf. fork n. 3.
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Let's fork him, let us Pick that Man's Pocket. 1785 in Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue. |
8. intr. (
Sc.) To look out, strive
for (something).
| 1681 S. Colvil Whigs Supplic. (1710) 73 That Pauls Iniquities, mystery working, Was men, then for precedency forking. 1825–80 Jamieson s.v. Forking, ‘Forkin’ for siller'; ‘Forkin’ for a job. |
9. Mining. (
trans.) To pump (a mine) dry; to remove (water) by pumping.
Cf. fork n. 11.
| 1702 Savery Miner's Fr. 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 G. 14 Jan. 2/1 The mine has been ‘forked’. |
10. To bestride or mount (a horse).
U.S.| 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 245 Throw your rope and whatever it falls on, fork him. |