Hypertext Webster Gateway: "fork"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Bracket \Brack"et\, n. (Gunnery)
A figure determined by firing a projectile beyond a target
and another short of it, as a basis for ascertaining the
proper elevation of the piece; -- only used in the phrase, to
establish a bracket. After the bracket is established shots
are fired with intermediate elevations until the exact range
is obtained. In the United States navy it is called {fork}.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Fork \Fork\, 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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Fork \Fork\, 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 or out}, to hand or pay over, as money.
[Slang] --G. Eliot.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Fork \Fork\ (f[^o]rj), n. [AS. forc, fr. L. furca. Cf.
{Fourch['e]}, {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
from 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 {a road}, the branches into which
it divides, or which come together to form it; the place
where separation or union takes place.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
fork
n 1: cutlery used for serving and eating food
2: the act of branching out or dividing into branches [syn: {branching},
{ramification}, {forking}]
3: a part of a forked or branching shape; "he broke off one of
the branches"; "they took the south fork" [syn: {branch},
{leg}]
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 [syn: {crotch}]
v 1: lift with a pitchfork; "pitchfork hay" [syn: {pitchfork}]
2: place under attack with one's own pieces, of two enemy chess
pieces
3: divide into two or more branches; "The road forks" [syn: {branch},
{ramify}, {separate}]
4: shape like a fork: "She forked her fingers"
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