Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A hand tool for pitching hay.
  • noun A machine-operated fork for moving hay.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A fork used for turning over hay to dry, or in lifting it, as into a cart, on to a rick, etc.
  • noun Hay-forks used with hay-carriers are made in the form of spears or harpoons, or of hinged grappling-irons resembling a clam-shell dredge. The harpoons are single or double and are provided with barbs which, when the shaft is thrust into the hay, can be thrown out to gather and lift a large bunch of it. The grappling-forks are opened and dropped upon the hay, when a pull upon a cord draws the tines together, gathering and lifting the hay.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A fork for pitching and tedding hay.
  • noun a contrivance for unloading hay from the cart and depositing it in the loft, or on a mow, by horse power.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A tool used for moving hay; a pitchfork.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a long-handled fork for turning or lifting hay

Etymologies

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Examples

  • A scholar from Chelm who finds a hayfork in the road is likely to conclude it's a giant's menorah.

    The Man Who Left Chelm Steven Barnes 2010

  • A scholar from Chelm who finds a hayfork in the road is likely to conclude it's a giant's menorah.

    Archive 2010-04-01 Steven Barnes 2010

  • This said, I thank you for your point of view, it is helpful to know the dark recesses where the oppostion resides, that I may keep my torch lit and well fueled, and the tines of mine hayfork pointed in the right direction … … ….

    Think Progress » ThinkFast: April 25, 2006 2006

  • Her hands would unclench from their imaginary grip on the hayfork only with effort, and her head throbbed with a general pain.

    Cold Mountain Frazier, Charles, 1950- Cold Mountain 2003

  • Her hands would unclench from their imaginary grip on the hayfork only with effort, and her head throbbed with a general pain.

    Cold Mountain Frazier, Charles, 1950- Cold Mountain 1997

  • Mr Wium was viciously attacked with a hayfork and pickaxe, while

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1992

  • Mat dug his hayfork into the straw and manure and gave a sidelong frown at the farmer, coming from the back of the barn with a bucket in one hand and his milking stool in the other.

    The Eye of the World Jordan, Robert, 1948- 1990

  • Wishing he could think of a joke, Rand tried to concentrate on his hayfork.

    The Eye of the World Jordan, Robert, 1948- 1990

  • She wears muumuu dresses and glass jewelry hanging all over her, and in the morning she puts a boombox on the bar and she and him scrub out the toilets and sing opera together like somebody stuck them in the butt with a hayfork.

    Heaven’s Prisoners James Lee Burke 1988

  • She wears muumuu dresses and glass jewelry hanging all over her, and in the morning she puts a boombox on the bar and she and him scrub out the toilets and sing opera together like somebody stuck them in the butt with a hayfork.

    Heaven’s Prisoners James Lee Burke 1988

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