5  definitions  found 
 
  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]: 
 
  Forked  \Forked\,  a. 
  1.  Formed  into  a  forklike  shape;  having  a  fork;  dividing  into 
  two  or  more  prongs  or  branches;  furcated;  bifurcated; 
  zigzag;  as  the  forked  lighting. 
 
  A  serpent  seen,  with  forked  tongue.  --Shak. 
 
  2.  Having  a  double  meaning;  ambiguous;  equivocal. 
 
  {Cross  forked}  (Her.),  a  cross,  the  ends  of  whose  arms  are 
  divided  into  two  sharp  points;  --  called  also  {cross 
  double  fitch['e]}.  A  {cross  forked  of  three  points}  is  a 
  cross,  each  of  whose  arms  terminates  in  three  sharp 
  points. 
 
  {Forked  counsel},  advice  pointing  more  than  one  way 
  ambiguous  advice.  [Obs.]  --B.  Jonson  --  {Fork"ed*ly}, 
  adv  --  {Fork"ed*ness},  n. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  forked 
  adj  1:  resembling  a  fork;  divided  or  separated  into  two  branches; 
  "the  biramous  appendages  of  an  arthropod";  "long 
  branched  hairs  on  its  legson  which  pollen  collects"; 
  "a  forked  river";  "a  forked  tail";  "forked  lightning"; 
  "horseradish  grown  in  poor  soil  may  develop  prongy 
  roots"  [syn:  {bifurcate},  {biramous},  {branched},  {pronged}, 
  {prongy}] 
  2:  having  two  meanings  with  intent  to  deceive;  "a  sly  double 
  meaning";  "spoke  with  forked  tongue"  [syn:  {double}] 
 
  From  Jargon  File  (4.2.3,  23  NOV  2000)  [jargon]: 
 
  forked  adj.,vi.  1.  [common  after  1997,  esp.  in  the  Linux 
  community]  An  open-source  software  project  is  said  to  have  forked  or  be 
  forked  when  the  project  group  fissions  into  two  or  more  parts  pursuing 
  separate  lines  of  development  (or,  less  commonly,  when  a  third  party 
  unconnected  to  the  project  group  ).  Forking  is  considered  a  {Bad  Thing} 
  -  not  merely  because  it  implies  a  lot  of  wasted  effort  in  the  future, 
  but  because  forks  tend  to  be  accompanied  by  a  great  deal  of  strife 
  and  acrimony  between  the  successor  groups  over  issues  of  legitimacy, 
  succession,  and  design  direction.  There  is  serious  social  pressure 
  against  forking.  As  a  result,  major  forks  (such  as  the  Gnu-Emacs/XEmacs 
  split,  the  fissionings  of  the  386BSD  group  into  three  daughter  project, 
  and  the  short-lived  GCC/EGCS  split)  are  rare  enough  that  they  are 
  remembered  individually  in  hacker  folklore.  2.  [Unix;  uncommon; 
  prob.  influenced  by  a  mainstream  expletive]  Terminally  slow,  or  dead. 
  Originated  when  one  system  was  slowed  to  a  snail's  pace  by  an  inadvertent 
  {fork  bomb}. 
 
 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  forked 
 
  (Unix;  probably  after  "fucked")  Terminally  slow,  or  dead. 
  Originated  when  one  system  was  slowed  to  a  snail's  pace  by  an 
  inadvertent  {fork  bomb}. 
 
  [{Jargon  File}] 
 
  (1994-12-14) 
 
 

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