fork

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
fork/fɔːk/

▶noun

• 1 a pronged implement used for lifting or holding food.

  ■ a pronged farm or garden tool used for digging or lifting.

• 2 the point where something, especially a road or (N. Amer.) river, divides into two parts.

  ■ either of two such parts.

• 3 each of a pair of supports in which a bicycle or motorcycle wheel revolves.

• 4 Chess a simultaneous attack on two or more pieces by one.

▶verb

• 1 divide into two parts.

  ■ take one route or the other at a fork.

• 2 dig or lift with a fork.

• 3 (fork something out/up) informal pay money for something, especially reluctantly.

• 4 Chess attack (two pieces) simultaneously with one.

– derivatives
forkful noun (pl. forkfuls).

– origin OE forca, force, based on L. furca ‘pitchfork, forked stick’; reinforced in ME by Anglo-Norman Fr. furke.