pitchfork en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˈpɪt͡ʃˌfɔɹk/
Etymology
From Middle English pichfork, pycchefork, pychforke, pikeforke, pikkforke, pic-forcke, equivalent to pitch (verb) + fork (i.e. "a fork used for pitching or throwing material, like hay"). The figurative sense (noun sense 4) is an allusion to a crowd of farmers wielding their farm tools as weapons.
Meanings
- An agricultural hand tool comprising a fork with sparse, light tines, attached to a long handle, used for pitching hay (especially loose hay) high up onto a stack (as on a wagon or haystack, or into a haymow).
-
A similar fork with slightly more and heavier tines, used for mucking stalls and pitching soiled bedding into a wagon or manure spreader.
After my second illness, being too old for “piggy-back rides”, I generally sat in 'Resting Nuke' on a seat naturally formed in a low branch of a cedar, watching relatives down in the bay with pitchforks furiously digging out long black slithery "cockworms" from the muddy sands of Sinky Bay.
1979, Nellie Eileen Musson, Mind the Onion Seed: Black "roots" Bermuda: Presented During Bermuda's First Heritage Week, May, 1979:
- (broadly, informal) Any fork used for farm labor, even a digging fork (but such usage is often considered ignorant by experienced farmers).
-
(figuratively, in-plural, metonymically) An angry mob; the power or effects of such a mob.
The city council was facing the pitchforks once the public had realized what the new ordinance entailed.
-
(rare) A tuning fork.
I went around with a pitchfork [tuning fork] in my pocket, and I'd hit it whenever I thought of it, and I developed perfect pitch […]
1988, Tony Trischka, Pete Wernick, Masters of the 5-String Banjo: In Their Own Words and Music, page 400:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| pitchforks | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Coordinates
graip · digging fork · garden fork · manure fork · garden fork · digging fork · spading fork · spading fork · dungfork
Deriveds
rain pitchforks · pitchforkful · pitchforklike
Hypernyms
tool · fork · fork · tool · fork · tool
Synonyms
graip · manure fork · dungfork
Translations (116)
sh рачве (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · mhr шаньык (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · ja ピッチフォーク (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · kpv вила (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · crh senek (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · el πιρούνα (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · grc δίκρανον (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · sv hötjuga (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · hy եղան (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · cmn 杈 (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · ba һәнәк (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · ru ви́лы (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · pl widły (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · mhn gabel (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · it forcone (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · lb Mëschtgreef (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · wa fonne (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · udm вилка (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · no høygaffel (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · de Heugabel (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · uk га́блі (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · fr fourche (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · gsw Furgge (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · bo ཁ་བྲག (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · nl riek (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · uz yova (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · bg ви́ла (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · es horca pajera (farm tool with 4 or more tines) · de Mistgabel (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · es aviento (farm tool with 4 or more tines) · nog сенек (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · wa fotche (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · pt forquilha (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · cho chufak isht piha (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · mzn لیفا (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · kpv лэбын (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · la mergae (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · sh vile (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · el δικράνι (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · mrj шеньӹк (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · es mielga (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · gl galleta (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · ccc ashtoli (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · es horca (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · hu vasvilla (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · eo forkego (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · sv högaffel (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · pt forcado (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · es bieldo (farm tool with 4 or more tines) · tr yaba (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · pt garfo (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · fa چنگک (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · ro furcă (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · izh hanko (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · gag diiren (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · es bielgo (farm tool with 4 or more tines) · mk вила (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · uz panshaxa (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · ckb شەن (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · mn өвсний сэрээ (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · cy picwarch (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · el δίκρανο (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · es aventador (farm tool with 4 or more tines) · la furcilla (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · fi talikko (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · str TĆOŦEN (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · es bielda (farm tool with 4 or more tines) · it forca (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · cho hʋshuk isht piha (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · is heygaffall (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · be ві́лы (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · nl mestvork (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · gl forcada (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · uk ґа́блі (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · lez кьуьк (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · fur forcje (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · rif tazzart (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · sh виле (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · es horcón (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · cy fforch wair (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · es horquilla (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · alt айырмаш (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · da høtyv (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · nv tłʼoh bee naaljoołí (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · sq sfurk (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · ga píce (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · az yaba (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · io forko (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · sk vidly (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · az beşbarmaq (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · alt айырмууш (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · sl vile (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · ar مِذْرَاة (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · tr dirgen (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · fi hanko (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · no fork (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · vi chĩa (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · sh račve (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · da fork (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · ar شَوْكَة (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · es horqueta (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · alt айрууш (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · cs vidle (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · eu sarde (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · fi heinähanko (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · tg панҷшоха (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · th คราด (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · ood cuaʼaknakud (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · nl hooivork (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · fa هید (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · ca forca (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · et hang (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · uk ви́ла (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · se háŋgu (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · mrc chmaly (farm tool with 2 or more tines) · cmn 叉 (farm tool with 2 or more tines)