English Reference
Idiom idiom

fork over


To pay, give up or hand over a large amount of money.

Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.


SIMPLE

I had to fork over fifty dollars for parking.

CONTEXTUAL

The landlord made us fork over two months' rent before we could move in.

COMPLEX

Reluctantly, the company forked over millions in damages to settle the lawsuit out of court.


Related idioms5entries
  1. 01

    dukes

    [Cockney slang]fork, i.e. hand, now chiefly when balled into a fist

  2. 02

    fork off

    to diverge into two or more separate paths.

  3. 03

    forked tongue

    The characteristic of deceptiveness; duplicity; untruthfulness.

  4. 04

    speak with a forked tongue

    To speak deceptively; to be duplicitous or untruthful.

  5. 05

    stick a fork in something

    Used to indicate that something or someone is finished, or, in a broader sense, defeated or ruined.

Last updated August 10, 2026