Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

cocktail fork

/ˌkɑkˌteɪl ˈfɔɹk/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.65 in modern English

Syllables: cock-tail fork
IPA: /ˌkɑkˌteɪl ˈfɔɹk/

27

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

2

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A small fork usually with two or three tines, used for eating dishes served as appetizers (such as fruit cocktails and shrimp cocktails), and for picking up olives and other small snacks.

Example Sentences

"Oyster and cocktail forks are placed at the extreme right of the cover beyond the teaspoons, or they may be laid across the right side of the service plate underlining the cocktail glass or the oyster service."
"No fairy tale this. Just the story of Soviet slave labor in icy camps, dumping millions of pounds of fish for your dainty cocktail forks each month—and so beginning to kill off a multi-million dollar American fishing industry, canneries, boatbuilding and gear production."
"[page 944, column 1] Cocktail fork—used for sea foods. It is a short, slender fork about ½ inch wide at the prong end of the fork. […] [page 945, column 3] On the left are all the forks except the cocktail fork, which is laid to the extreme right of the knives when placed."
"We just returned from a cruise where there were eleven pieces of flatware on the table for dinner: three knives and a soup spoon to the right of the plate, four forks to the left, and a cocktail fork, teaspoon, and demitasse spoon above the plate. Could you please explain the function of each?"
"Mock Meatballs […] Serve in a shallow serving dish with cocktail forks or toothpicks."
"[H]ow could you talk a raving lunatic out of drinking his own urine or stabbing his invalid grandmother a hundred times with a cocktail fork?"

Etymology

From cocktail + fork; cocktail may refer either to: * a dish consisting of small pieces of fruit, vegetables, or seafood with a dressing, usually served chilled in a glass as an appetizer; or * a mixed alcohol beverage such as a martini, which is often garnished with an olive.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˌkɑkˌteɪl ˈfɔɹk/
British English: /ˈkɒkteɪl ˌfɔːk/

Inflected Forms

cocktail forks (plural)

Rhymes With

talk walk hawk chalk by a long chalk stalk pickle fork balk squawk gawk awk caulk

Questions

How do you pronounce cocktail fork?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˌkɑkˌteɪl ˈfɔɹk/.
What does cocktail fork mean?: A small fork usually with two or three tines, used for eating dishes served as appetizers (such as fruit cocktails and shrimp cocktails), and for picking up olives and other small snacks.
Where does cocktail fork come from?: From cocktail + fork; cocktail may refer either to: * a dish consisting of small pieces of fruit, vegetables, or seafood with a dressing, usually served chilled in a glass as an appetizer; or * a mixed alcohol beverage such as a martini, which is often garnished with an olive.

How to pronounce cocktail fork

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “cocktail fork”.
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