Noun

(en noun)

A pronged tool having a long straight handle, used for digging, lifting, throwing etc.

(obsolete) A gallows.

(Bishop Joseph Butler)

A utensil with spikes used to put solid food into the mouth, or to hold food down while cutting.

A tuning fork.

An intersection in a road or path where one road is split into two.

* When you come to a fork in the road, take it -

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.

* Addison

a thunderbolt with three forks .

A point where a waterway, such as a river, splits and goes two (or more) different directions.

(geography) Used in the names of some river tributaries, e.g. West Fork White River and East Fork White River, joining together to form the White River of Indiana

(figuratively) A point in time where one has to make a decision between two life paths.

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

(computer science) A splitting-up of an existing process into itself and a child process executing parts of the same program.

(computer science) An event where development of some free software or open-source software is split into two or more separate projects.

(British) Crotch.

(colloquial) A forklift.

* Are you qualified to drive a fork?

The individual blades of a forklift.

In a bicycle, the portion holding the front wheel, allowing the rider to steer and balance.

Noun

; a body of human beings considered generally or collectively; a group of two or more persons.

:

*ca. 1607: XXII people was in this parrish drownd. (Plaque recording the )

*

*, chapter=12

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people . From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs,

*{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)

, chapter=1 citation , passage=“[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people' do send to other ' people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes like
  Here's rattling good luck and roaring good cheer, / With lashings of food and great hogsheads of beer.

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838, page=11, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= Towards the end of poverty , passage=But poverty’s scourge is fiercest below $1.25 (the average of the 15 poorest countries’ own poverty lines, measured in 2005 dollars and adjusted for differences in purchasing power): people below that level live lives that are poor, nasty, brutish and short.}}

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=72-3, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= A punch in the gut , passage=Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.}}

(plural peoples ) Persons forming or belonging to a particular group, such as a nation, class, ethnic group, country, family, etc; folk; community.

A group of persons regarded as being employees, followers, companions or subjects of a ruler.

*1611, (Old Testament), , 2 (w) 8:15:

*:And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people .[http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=Kjv2Sam.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=8&division=div1]

*1952, (Old Testament), (Revised Standard Version) , Thomas Nelson & Sons, (w) 1:3:

*:The ox knows its owner, and the ass its master's crib; but Israel does not know, my people does not understand.

One's colleagues or employees.

*2001 , Vince Flynn, Transfer of Power , p.250:

*:Kennedy looked down at Flood's desk and thought about the possibilities. "Can you locate him?" "I already have my people checking on all [it]."

*2008 , Fern Michaels, Hokus Pokus? , p.184:

*:Can I have one of my people' get back to your ' people , Mr. President?" She tried to slam the phone back into the base and failed.

A person's ancestors, relatives or family.

:

The mass of a community as distinguished from a special class (elite); the commonalty; the populace; the vulgar; the common crowd; the citizens.

:

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)

, volume=189, issue=2, page=27, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= The tao of tech , passage=The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about