tuning fork

noun

1. a steel instrument consisting of a stem with two prongs, producing a musical tone of definite, constant pitch when struck, and serving as a standard for tuning musical instruments, making acoustical experiments, and the like.

tuning fork

noun

1. a two-pronged metal fork that when struck produces a pure note of constant specified pitch. It is used to tune musical instruments and in acoustics

Word History and Origins

Origin of tuning fork¹

First recorded in 1765–75

Example Sentences

Davis and a team of undergraduates from the Odum School used a tuning fork to simulate the vibrations caused by prey when caught in a spider's web and then watched if the spiders attacked.

From Science Daily

“One morning we got in this argument, and she picked up this fork and threw it across the table and it stuck in my side. It sounded like a tuning fork.”

From Salon

The U-M researchers point to what's called the Hubble tuning fork, a diagram that depicts the way astronomer Edwin Hubble classified galaxies.

From Science Daily

Then she held a tuning fork over our heads.

From Los Angeles Times

To film Ariel’s underwater sequences, she repeatedly simulated swimming motions while suspended in harnesses and tuning fork rigs.

From Los Angeles Times