noun A2 Elementary Common

fork

fawk

Fork (noun) means a pronged utensil used for eating or serving food. Example: “She picked up her fork and started on the salad.”

noun

A pronged utensil used for eating or serving food.

"She picked up her fork and started on the salad."

A point where a road, path, or river splits into two directions.

"Take the left fork at the end of the trail."

"We reached a fork in the river and had to choose a direction."

A separate version of a software project or dataset created from an existing one.

"The developer created a fork of the open-source library to add new features."

verb

To split into two or more branches or directions.

"The road forks just past the bridge."

How to Use Fork

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishA pronged eating tool, or any point/place that splits into two directions or versions.

Common pairings

fork in the road knife and fork fork over (money)

Word Forms

forked past tense, forks plural, forks plural, forks singular

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She picked up her _____ and started on the salad.

Etymology

From Old English forca, from Latin furca ("pitchfork, forked stake").

Origin: Latin

Synonyms

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branch split divide diverge bifurcate junction

Related Words

way part department cut points river join broken

Rhymes for fork

work cork pork dork bork Mork stork spork

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does “fork” mean?

The word “fork” means a pronged utensil used for eating or serving food. In plain terms, a pronged eating tool, or any point/place that splits into two directions or versions.

How do you pronounce “fork”?

“Fork” is pronounced fawk (/fɔɹk/ in IPA).

How do you use “fork” in a sentence?

Here is “fork” used in a sentence: “She picked up her fork and started on the salad.”

What part of speech is “fork”?

Depending on how it is used, “fork” can be a noun and a verb.

Where does the word “fork” come from?

The word “fork” comes from Latin. From Old English forca, from Latin furca ("pitchfork, forked stake").

Is “fork” a common word?

“Fork” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A2 level.

How many meanings does “fork” have?

“Fork” has 4 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a pronged utensil used for eating or serving food.

What is a fork in programming or on GitHub?

In software development, a fork is a separate copy of a project's code that can then be developed independently of the original. On GitHub, "forking" a repository copies it into your own account so you can experiment or propose changes. Some forks stay in sync with the original; others become permanently independent projects.

What is a hard fork in cryptocurrency?

In cryptocurrency, a fork is a change to a blockchain's rules that splits it into two versions. A "hard fork" is incompatible with the old rules and can create a separate coin, while a "soft fork" remains backward-compatible. The term extends the ordinary sense of "fork": a single line splitting into branches.

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