A pronged tool used for various purposes in eating, farming, gardening, and music.

(by abstraction, from the tool shape) A noun "fork" represents a physical intersection in a road or path where one road is split into two, as well as a figurative decision point.

(by abstraction, from the tool shape) A point where a waterway, such as a river or other stream, splits and flows into two (or more) different directions.

(metonymically, and analogous to any prong of a pronged tool) 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.

(figurative, decision-making) A point in time where one has to make a decision between two life paths, or either of the figurative paths thus taken.

(figurative, by abstraction, from a physical fork) A departure from a single source of truth, resulting in the creation of separate pieces/versions, particularly in software development, content management, and cryptocurrencies.

(chess) The simultaneous attack of two adversary pieces with one single attacking piece (especially a knight).

(Britain, vulgar) The crotch. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

(colloquial) A forklift.

Either of the blades of a forklift (or, in plural, the set of blades), on which the goods to be raised are loaded.

(cycling, motorcycling, by abstraction from a pronged tool's shape) In a bicycle or motorcycle, the portion of the frameset holding the front wheel, allowing the rider to steer and balance, also called front fork.

The upper front brow of a saddle bow, connected in the tree by the two saddle bars to the cantle on the other end.

(mining) The bottom of a sump into which the water of a mine drains.

(transitive, intransitive) Divide into two or more branches or copies, spawn a new child process in computing, launch a separate software development effort based on a modified copy of an existing software project, or create a copy of a distributed version control repository in software engineering.

(transitive) To move with a fork (as hay or food).

(transitive, Britain) To kick someone in the crotch.

(intransitive) To shoot into blades, as corn does.

(transitive) Euphemistic form of fuck.

(mining, transitive) To bale a shaft dry.