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Definition and meaning of fork

Definitions

fork (n.)

1.an arrangement of branching parts

2.the act of branching out or dividing into branches

3.cutlery used for serving and eating food

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

6.a long-handled hand tool with sharp widely spaced prongs for lifting and pitching hay

7.the region of the angle formed by the junction of two branches"they took the south fork" "he climbed into the crotch of a tree"

fork (v. intr.)

1.divide into two branches"The road bifurcated"

2.shape like a fork"She forked her fingers"

3.divide into two or more branches so as to form a fork"The road forks"

4.place under attack with one's own pieces, of two enemy pieces

5.lift with a pitchfork"pitchfork hay"

fork (v.)

1.extend in a different direction"The lines start to diverge here" "Their interests diverged"

fork

1.pass to the other side of"turn the corner" "move around the obstacle"

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Merriam Webster

ForkFork (fôrk), n. [AS. forc, fr. L. furca. Cf. Fourché, Furcate.]
1. An instrument consisting of a handle with a shank terminating in two or more prongs or tines, which are usually of metal, parallel and slightly curved; -- used for piercing, holding, taking up, or pitching anything.

2. Anything furcate or like a fork in shape, or furcate at the extremity; as, a tuning fork.

3. One of the parts into which anything is furcated or divided; a prong; a branch of a stream, a road, etc.; a barbed point, as of an arrow.

Let it fall . . . though the fork invade
The region of my heart.
Shak.

A thunderbolt with three forks. Addison.

4. The place where a division or a union occurs; the angle or opening between two branches or limbs; as, the fork of a river, a tree, or a road.

5. The gibbet. [Obs.] Bp. Butler.

Fork beam (Shipbuilding), a half beam to support a deck, where hatchways occur. -- Fork chuck (Wood Turning), a lathe center having two prongs for driving the work. -- Fork head. (a) The barbed head of an arrow. (b) The forked end of a rod which forms part of a knuckle joint. -- In fork. (Mining) A mine is said to be in fork, or an engine to “have the water in fork,” when all the water is drawn out of the mine. Ure. -- The forks of a river or The forks of a road, the branches into which it divides, or which come together to form it; the place where separation or union takes place.

ForkFork, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Forked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Forking.]
1. To shoot into blades, as corn.

The corn beginneth to fork. Mortimer.

2. To divide into two or more branches; as, a road, a tree, or a stream forks.

ForkFork, v. t. To raise, or pitch with a fork, as hay; to dig or turn over with a fork, as the soil.

Forking the sheaves on the high-laden cart. Prof. Wilson.

To fork over To fork out, to hand or pay over, as money; to cough up. [Slang] G. Eliot.

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Definition (more)

definition of Wikipedia

Synonyms

See also

fork (n.)

pitchfork bifurcate, split, split up

fork (v. intr.)

bifurcation

fork (v.)

converge, meet

Phrases

A Fork in the Road • A Fork in the Road (disambiguation) • A Fork in the Tale • American Fork River • American Fork, Utah • Ash Fork, Arizona • Battle of Wyse Fork • Beech Fork Lake • Beech Fork River • Beech Fork State Park • Big South Fork • Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area • Big South Fork Scenic Railway • Black Fork • Black Fork (Cheat River) • Black Fork Mohican River • Black Fork Mountain Wilderness • Black Fork of Mohican River • Black Fork of the Mohican River • Brushy Fork Lake • Cedar Creek (North Fork Shenandoah River) • Cherry Fork, Ohio • Clark Fork Junior/Senior High School • Clark Fork, Idaho • Clarks Fork River • Clarks Fork Yellowstone River • Clear Fork • Clear Fork High School • Clear Fork Mohican River • Clear Fork Valley Local School District • Clear Fork of Mohican River • Clear Fork of the Mohican River • Coal Fork, West Virginia • Cross Fork • Deep Fork River • Devils Fork State Park • Dry Fork • Dry Fork (Cheat River) • Dry Fork (Tug Fork) • Dutch Fork • Dutch Fork High School • East Fork East Branch Saco River • East Fork Little River • East Fork Pond River • East Fork Tombigbee River • East Fork, Arizona • East Fork, Pennsylvania • Elkhorn Creek (Tug Fork) • Elm Fork Red River • FORK-256 • Floyds Fork • Floyds Fork River • Fork (chess) • Fork (disambiguation) • Fork (filesystems) • Fork (operating system) • Fork (software development) • Fork (topology) • Fork Township, Marshall County, Minnesota • Fork Township, Michigan • Fork Township, Wayne County, North Carolina • Fork Union Military Academy • Fork Union, Virginia • Fork bomb • Fork in the road • Fork-exec • Fork-lift truck • Fork-tailed • Fork-tailed Drongo • Fork-tailed Flycatcher • Fork-tailed Palm Swift • Fork-tailed Palm-Swift • Fork-tailed Storm Petrel • Fork-tailed Storm-petrel • Fork-tailed swift • Fourpole Creek (Tug Fork) • Glady Fork • Glady Fork (Cheat River) • Glady Fork River • Greens Fork, Indiana • Heretic's fork • Hume's Fork (novel) • Hume's fork • Impossible fork • Jacks Fork River • James Fork • Kettle Creek (South Fork South Branch Potomac River) • Lake Fork • Lake Fork Mohican River • Lake Fork Township, Logan County, Illinois • Lake Fork of Mohican River • Lake Fork of the Mohican River • Lake Fork, Illinois • Laurel Fork • Laurel Fork (Cheat River) • Laurel Fork Railway • Lava Fork • Lawsons Fork Creek • Locust Fork • Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River • Locust Fork, Alabama • Long Fork Subdivision • Masoala Fork-crowned Lemur • Middle Fork River • Middle Fork Vermilion River • Mill Creek (North Fork South Branch Potomac River) • Morton's fork • Morton's fork coup • Motorcycle fork • Mountain Fork • Mountain Fork Little River • Mountain Fork of the Little River • North Fork (Pennsylvania) • North Fork Bank • North Fork Brewery • North Fork Cache la Poudre River • North Fork Catoctin Creek • North Fork East Branch Pemigewasset River • North Fork Grand River (South Dakota) • North Fork Humboldt River • North Fork John Day Wilderness • North Fork Maquoketa River • North Fork Middle Fork Willamette River • North Fork Mountain • North Fork Musselshell River • North Fork Nancy Creek • North Fork New River • North Fork River (Missouri–Arkansas) • North Fork Rough River • North Fork Township, Stearns County, Minnesota • North Fork Umatilla Wilderness • North Fork Village, Ohio • North Fork, California • North Fork, Nevada • North River (South Fork Shenandoah River) • Osage Fork Gasconade River • POV fork • Prairie Dog Town Fork • Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River • Prices Fork, Virginia • Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork • Replication fork • Resource fork • Right Fork Canyon • Roaring Fork • Roaring Fork River • Roaring Fork Transportation Authority • Roaring Fork Valley • Rocky Fork State Park • Rolling Fork (Arkansas) • Rolling Fork, Mississippi • Salt Fork • Salt Fork Arkansas River • Salt Fork Red River • Salt Fork Vermilion River • Salt Fork of Arkansas River • Salt Fork of the Arkansas River • Sand Fork, West Virginia • Seneca Creek (North Fork South Branch Potomac River) • Shavers Fork • Shavers Fork Mountain Complex • Sipsey Fork • Sipsey Fork, Mississippi • Sipsey fork • Skillet Fork • Skillet Fork River • Slab Fork, West Virginia • Snow Fork • Software fork • South Fork Catoctin Creek • South Fork Estates, Texas • South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club • South Fork Grand River (South Dakota) • South Fork Humboldt River • South Fork Little Cacapon River • South Fork Musselshell River • South Fork New River • South Fork State Recreation Area • South Fork Township, Kanabec County, Minnesota • South Fork, Colorado • South Fork, Missouri • South Fork, Pennsylvania • South Fork, Wisconsin • South River (South Fork Shenandoah River) • Spanish Fork, Utah • Spoon-fork • Stinging Fork Falls State Natural Area • Stony Fork Creek • The Tuning Fork • Tuning fork • West Fork • West Fork Pond River • West Fork River • West Fork of the Little Sioux River • West Fork, Arkansas • Wikipedia fork • Williams Fork • Williams Fork River • Woods Fork Gasconade River

Analogical dictionary






fork (n.)

outil de jardinage (fr)[ClasseParExt.]

objet à dents ou indentations (fr)[ClasseParExt.]

fork[ClasseHyper.]

chose pointue (fr)[ClasseParExt.]

tool[Hyper.]

fork, pitchfork[Dérivé]



fork (n.)

hand tool[Hyper.]

fork, pitchfork[Dérivé]


fork (n.)






fork (v. intr.)

form, shape[Hyper.]

fork - crotch, fork[Dérivé]



fork (v. intr.)


fork (v. intr.)

lift[Hyper.]

fork[GenV+comp]

fork, pitchfork[Dérivé]


Wikipedia - see also

Wikipedia

Fork

                   
  Assorted forks. From left to right: dessert fork, relish fork, salad fork, dinner fork, cold cuts fork, serving fork, carving fork.

As a piece of cutlery or kitchenware, a Fork is a tool consisting of a handle with several narrow tines on one end. The fork as an eating utensil has been a feature primarily of the West, whereas in East Asia chopsticks have been more prevalent. Today, forks are increasingly available throughout East Asia. The utensil (usually metal) is used to lift food to the mouth or to hold ingredients in place while cooking or cutting them. Food can be lifted either by spearing it on the tines, or by holding it on top of the tines, which are often curved slightly. For this former function, in the American style of fork etiquette, the fork is held with tines curving up; however, in continental style, the fork is held with the tines curving down.[citation needed] A fork is also shaped in the form of a trident but curved at the joint of the handle to the points.

Though the fork's early history is obscure, the fork as a kitchen and dining utensil is generally believed to have originated in the Roman Empire, or perhaps in Ancient Greece. The personal table fork most likely originated in the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire. Its use spread to what is now the Middle East during the first millennium CE and then spread into southern Europe during the second millennium. It did not become common in northern Europe until the 18th century and was not common in North America until the 19th century.

Contents

  History

  Bronze forks made in Iran during the 8th or 9th century.

The word fork comes from the Latin furca, meaning "pitchfork." Some of the earliest known uses of forks with food occurred in Ancient Egypt where large forks were used as cooking utensils.[1] Bone forks had been found in the burial site of Qijia culture as well as later Chinese dynasties' tombs.[2] The ancient Greeks used the fork as a serving utensil,[3] and it is also mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, in the Book of I Samuel 2:13 ("The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant came, while the fresh flesh was boiling, with a fork of three teeth in his hand...").

In the Roman Empire, bronze and silver forks were used, indeed many examples are displayed in museums around Europe.[4][5] The use varied according to local customs, social class and the nature of food, but forks of the earlier periods were mostly used as cooking and serving utensils. The personal table fork was most likely invented in the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire where they were in common use by the 4th century CE (its origin may even go back to Ancient Greece, before the Roman period).[6][7] Records show that by the 9th century a similar utensil known as a barjyn was in limited use in Persia within some elite circles.[8] By the 10th century the table fork was in common use throughout what is now the Middle East and Turkey.[1]

By the 11th century, the table fork had made its way to Italy. In Italy, it became quite popular by the 14th century, being commonly used for eating by merchant and upper classes by 1600. It was proper for a guest to arrive with his own fork and spoon enclosed in a box called a cadena; this usage was introduced to the French court with Catherine de' Medici's entourage. In Portugal, forks began being used with Infanta Beatrice, Duchess of Viseu, king Manuel I of Portugal's mother.[9] That happened around 1450. Still forks were not commonly used in Western Europe until the 16th century when they became part of the etiquette in Italy.[10] It had also gained some currency in Spain by this time,[11] and its use gradually spread to France. Even at that, though, most of Europe did not adopt use of the fork until the 18th century.[6]

Long after the personal table fork had become commonplace in France, at the supper celebrating the marriage of the duc de Chartres to Louis XIV's natural daughter in 1692, the seating was described in the court memoirs of Saint-Simon: "King James having his Queen on his right hand and the King on his left, and each with their cadenas." In Perrault's contemporaneous fairy tale of La Belle au bois dormant (1697), each of the fairies invited for the christening is presented with a splendid "Fork Holder."

The fork's adoption in northern Europe was slower. Its use was first described in English by Thomas Coryat in a volume of writings on his Italian travels (1611), but for many years it was viewed as an unmanly Italian affectation. Some writers of the Roman Catholic Church expressly disapproved of its use (despite its above-mentioned use in the Bible), seeing it as "excessive delicacy": "God in his wisdom has provided man with natural forks – his fingers. Therefore it is an insult to Him to substitute artificial metallic forks for them when eating."[12][13] It was not until the 18th century that the fork became commonly used in Great Britain, although some sources say forks were common in France, England and Sweden already by the early 17th century.[14][15] The fork did not become popular in the North America until near the time of the American Revolution.[1] The curved fork that is used in most parts of the world today, was developed in Germany in the mid 18th century. The standard four-tine design became current in the early 19th century.

The 20th century also saw the emergence of the "spork", a utensil that is half-fork and half-spoon. With this new "fork-spoon", only one piece of cutlery is needed when eating (so long as no knife is required). The back of the spork is shaped like a spoon and can scoop food while the front has shortened tines like a fork. It has found popularity in fast food and military settings.

  Types of forks

A 1998 design patent drawing for a spork, from U.S. Patent D388,664
  • Asparagus fork
  • Barbecue fork
  • Beef fork
A fork used for picking up very thin slices of meat. This fork is shaped like a regular fork, but it is slightly bigger and the tines are curved outward. The curves are used for piercing the thin sliced beef.
  • Berry fork
  • Carving fork
A two-pronged fork used to hold meat steady while it is being carved. They are often sold with carving knives or slicers as part of a carving set.
  • Cheese fork
  • Chip fork
A two-pronged disposable fork, usually made out of sterile wood (though increasingly of plastic), specifically designed for the eating of chips (known as french fries in North America).
  • Cocktail fork
A small fork resembling a trident, used for spearing cocktail garnishes such as olives.
A short, sharp and narrow three-pronged or two-pronged fork designed to easily extract meat when consuming cooked crab.
  • Dessert fork (alternatively, pudding fork/cake fork in Great Britain)
Any of several different special types of forks designed to eat desserts, such as a pastry fork. They usually have only three tines and are smaller than standard dinner forks. The leftmost tine may be widened so as to provide an edge with which to cut (though it is never sharpened).
  • Dinner fork
  • Fish fork
  • Fondue fork
A narrow fork, usually having two tines, long shaft and an insulating handle, typically of wood, for dipping bread into a pot containing sauce
  • Fruit salad fork
A fork used which is used to pick up pieces of fruit such as grapes, strawberries, melon and other varies types of fruit.
A utensil combining characteristics of a knife and a fork
  • Lunch fork
  • Meat fork
  • Olive fork
  • Oyster fork
  • Pastry fork
  • Pickle fork
A long handled fork used for extracting pickles from a jar, or an alternative name for a ball joint separator tool used to unseat a ball joint.[16]
Similar to a regular fork, but may be shorter, or have one of the outer tines shaped differently. Often, a "salad fork" in the silverware service of some restaurants (especially chains) may be simply a second fork; conversely, some restaurants may omit it, offering only one fork in their service.
A utensil combining characteristics of a spoon and a knife
A utensil combining characteristics of a spoon, a fork and a knife
A utensil combining characteristics of a spoon and a fork
  • Tea fork
  • Toasting fork
A fork, usually having two tines, very long metal shaft and sometimes an insulating handle, for toasting food over coals or an open flame

  Novelty forks

  Spaghetti fork
  • Extension Fork
A long-tined fork with a telescopic handle, allowing for its extension or contraction.
  • Spaghetti fork
A fork with a metal shaft loosely fitted inside a hollow plastic handle. The shaft protrudes through the top of the handle, ending in a bend that allows the metal part of the fork to be easily rotated with one hand while the other hand is holding the plastic handle. This supposedly allows spaghetti to be easily wound onto the tines. Electric variations of this fork have become more prevalent in modern times.


  See also

  References

  1. ^ a b c Ward, Chad (6 May 2009). "The Uncommon Origins of the Common Fork". Leite's Culinaria. http://leitesculinaria.com/1157/writings-the-uncommon-origins-of-the-common-fork.html. 
  2. ^ Needham (1986), volume 6 part 5 105–108
  3. ^ "Forks". http://research.calacademy.org/research/anthropology/utensil/forks.htm. 
  4. ^ "Fitzwilliam Museum – A combination Roman eating implement". http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/opac/search/cataloguedetail.html?&priref=70534&_function_=xslt&_limit_=10. 
  5. ^ Sherlock, D. (1988)[citation needed] A combination Roman eating implement (1988). Antiquaries Journal [comments: 310–311, pl. xlix]
  6. ^ a b James, Peter; Thorpe, Nick; Thorpe, I. J. (1995). Ancient inventions. Ballentine Books. p. 305. http://books.google.com/books?id=VmJLd3sSYecC. 
  7. ^ Casey, Wilson (2009). [9781592579242 Firsts: Origins of Everyday Things that Changed the World]. Penguin. 9781592579242. 
  8. ^ Wright, Clifford A. (1999). A Mediterranean Feast: The Story of the Birth of the Celebrated Cuisines of the Mediterranean from the Merchants of Venice to the Barbary Corsairs, with More than 500 Recipes. William Morrow Cookbooks. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-688-15305-2. 
  9. ^ "Livro de Cozinha da Infanta D. Maria". http://www.cm-loures.pt/Agenda_out11_PMes.asp. 
  10. ^ Rautman, Marcus Louis (2006). Daily life in the Byzantine Empire. Greenwood. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-313-32437-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=hs3iEyVRHKsC. 
  11. ^ "Table Forks of the Medieval & Renaissance Period". The International Guild of Hospitality & Restaurant Managers. http://www.hospitalityguild.com/History/Table_Forks_of_the_Medieval&Renaissance.htm. Retrieved 8 Dec 2011. 
  12. ^ "A History of the Table Fork". http://www.maybe.org/~rodmur/sca/fork.html. 
  13. ^ "The Irrational Exhuberance of American Dining Etiquette". Archived from the original on 27 October 2009. http://web.archive.org/web/20091027152440/http://www.geocities.com/rationalargumentator/Dining_Etiquette.html. 
  14. ^ bookrags.com. bookrags.com (2 November 2010).
  15. ^ popularhistoria.se[dead link]
  16. ^ news.carjunky.com. news.carjunky.com.

  Further reading

  • A history of the evolution of fork design can be found in: Henry Petroski, The Evolution of Useful things (1992); ISBN 0-679-74039-2

  External links

   
               

 

All translations of fork


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