🍴 An eating utensil 🔀 A split point 🌾 A digging tool 🌾 To lift with tool 🔀 To split 💻 A project copy ♟️ To attack two pieces

to fork

13 4.6

To divide into two or more branches

verb
/fɔrk/

: bifurcarse

The horse trail forks off.
the road forks
the river forks
fork into two

Examples

Take it to where it forks.

Couples Retreat (2009)
The hiking trail will fork into two at the next clearing, so be sure to choose the right direction.
Up to the split the trail And then fork off.

Schoolgirls in Chains (1973)
But our trails fork here.

The Big Trail (1930)
Where it forks, go left.

First Daughter (1999)
"I suspect we were at the place where the road forked, where we went the wrong way.

Fiction book (1999)
North of Milano, where the track forks.

Von Ryan's Express (1965)
Then taxiway alpha forks off to the left.

Planes (2013)
Our trails fork here.

The Big Trail (1930)
The sign hammered into a tree where the trail forked said HAW KNOB, ELEV. 5,472 FEET.

Fiction book (1995)

Synonyms

to separate

vsto fork

297 1.9

To break into parts or pieces

involves splitting into branches or different directions, not just separation

to branch

vsto fork

49 2.7

To split into two or more parts

emphasizes splitting into different directions rather than just parts

to branch off

vsto fork

4 3.3

Leave a main route, area, or topic and go in a different direction

often applies to physical splitting without the topic or subject sense

to ramify

vsto fork

Specialized

1 8.4

To spread out into many branches like a tree or its roots

is about a single split into two or more directions rather than wide spreading

to furcate

vsto fork

Specialized

9.9

To divide into branches, for example a road or river

is the everyday term for the same action without technical tone

to fork off

vsto fork

5.9

To leave a main road and go in a different direction

can describe general splitting without implying leaving a main route

Antonyms

to unite

∞ 2.1

To join people or things into one group for a shared purpose

Phrasal Verbs

to fork over

Informal

15 6.1

To give money to someone after they ask or force you

to stick a fork in

Informal

4 8.4

To check if food is cooked by poking it with a fork or to say something is finished

to fork out

Informal

3 7.5

To pay money when you do not want to

to fork up

Informal

1 8.1

To pay money unwillingly

to fork off

5.9

To leave a main road and go in a different direction

to fork off

Specialized

7.4

To copy a code project so someone can work on it separately

Compounds

fork in the road

11 3.7

A place where a road divides into two paths or a time to choose between two options

tuning fork

4 4.5

A small metal tool with two prongs that makes a clear sound to help find the right musical note

salad fork

3 1.4

A small fork with short, wide prongs for eating salad

barbecue fork

1 2.0

A long two-pronged metal tool for lifting and turning food on a grill

toasting fork

1 6.3

A long-handled fork used to toast food like bread over a fire

carving fork

2.7

A large kitchen tool with two long points used to hold meat while you cut it

skeleton fork fern

Specialized

9.9

A fern with thin yellow branches and tiny leaves that grows on trees or the ground in warm forests

How Branched

to fork

13 4.6

to split

513 1.3

to separate

297 1.9

Surface Forms

fork infinitive

forked past

forked past participle

forking present participle

forks third person singular

Etymology

Fork as a verb meaning 'to divide' comes from the Latin furca for a pronged tool, so to fork is to split into two or more branches just like the prongs of a fork split apart.