forkful


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fork

 (fôrk)
n.
1. A utensil with two or more prongs, used for eating or serving food.
2. An implement with two or more prongs used for raising, carrying, piercing, or digging.
3.
a. A bifurcation or separation into two or more branches or parts.
b. The point at which such a bifurcation or separation occurs: a fork in a road.
c. One of the branches of such a bifurcation or separation: the right fork. See Synonyms at branch.
4. Games An attack by one chess piece on two pieces at the same time.
v. forked, fork·ing, forks
v.tr.
1. To raise, carry, pitch, or pierce with a fork.
2. To give the shape of a fork to (one's fingers, for example).
3. Games To launch an attack on (two chess pieces).
4. Informal To pay. Used with over, out, or up: forked over $80 for front-row seats; forked up the money owed.
v.intr.
1. To divide into two or more branches: The river forks here.
2.
a. To use a fork, as in working.
b. To turn at or travel along a fork.

[Middle English forke, digging fork, from Old English forca and from Old North French forque, both from Latin furca.]

fork′er n.
fork′ful′ n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

fork•ful

(ˈfɔrk fʊl)

n., pl. -fuls.
the amount a fork can hold.
[1635–45]
usage: See -ful.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
Translations

forkful

[ˈfɔːrkfʊl] nfourchettée fforklift truck fork-lift truck [ˌfɔːrklɪftˈtrʌk] nchariot m élévateur (à fourche)
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
References in classic literature ?
To the left, carts were rumbling over the meadow that had been already cleared, and one after another the haycocks vanished, flung up in huge forkfuls, and in their place there were rising heavy cartloads of fragrant hay hanging over the horses' hind-quarters.
In an Abergorki restaurant, fifteen minutes away now, Jacky's father scooped a forkful of pink flesh from his trout, and then stabbed the silver prongs into an al dente floret of broccoli.
"Yeah, it's me diet," he explains, stirring the plastic pot and slurping down a forkful. "Chicken and mushroom...
I also add a good forkful or so into the planting hole when I plant a tree or shrub.
There was no way Dad was getting a forkful of this rich, individual portion with plenty of meat and lashings of Cheddar topping, nor the fruit wedges and ice cream he tucked away afterwards (pounds 1.75).
As Meadows tucked in, Carlyle, who stars in the film with Ricky Tomlinson and Kathy Burke, helped himself to a forkful.
Of course, if Gregg starts feeling the pinch, he could always try finishing off the three course meals the amateur chefs have cooked for him, instead of just sampling one forkful - but what about the average consumer?
So much so that even my wife - tucking worthily into a starter of mixed salad that she said was varied, fresh and excellent - was tempted to sample a forkful that she grudgingly admitted was good.
Eight-year-old Sian would say something cutting to her 16-year-old sister who would respond with a forkful of mashed potato.
This year, I'm positively relishing that first forkful. Unlike most people sitting down for their Christmas meal this weekend, at least I know that my birds have had the best life possible, and were raised completely free-range, being allowed to graze naturally and exercise whenever they felt like it.
Emma's main meal was a similar success - and she took great delight in showing me how a proper Thai curry should taste by offering me a forkful.
The shellfish were a pleasant distraction, but the bass itself was wonderful, each forkful of flesh substantial and moist with high oil content.