pitchfork
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A long-handled hand tool with sharp widely spaced prongs for lifting and pitching hay.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pichfawrkSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɪtʃfɔɹk
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A long-handled hand tool with sharp widely spaced prongs for lifting and pitching hay
An agricultural 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.
casualloosely
Any fork used for farm labor, even a digging fork (but such usage is often considered ignorant by experienced farmers).
verb
transitivefigurative
To throw suddenly.
Lift with a pitchfork
transitive
To toss or carry with a pitchfork.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A long-handled hand tool with sharp widely spaced prongs for lifting and pitching hay
Used this way, pitchfork is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.