# pitchfork

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈpɪt͡ʃˌfɔɹk/ · frequency rank #28,670

## Definitions
1. An agricultural tool comprising a fork with sparse, light tines, attached to a long handle, used for pitching hay (especially loose hay) high up onto a stack (as on a wagon or haystack, or into a haymow).
2. A similar fork with slightly more and heavier tines, used for mucking stalls and pitching soiled bedding into a wagon or manure spreader.
3. Any fork used for farm labor, even a digging fork (but such usage is often considered ignorant by experienced farmers).
4. A tuning fork.

## Etymology
From Middle English pichfork, pycchefork, pychforke, pikeforke, pikkforke, pic-forcke, equivalent to pitch + fork.

## Easily confused with
- **patchwork** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/patchwork-vs-pitchfork)

## Common misspellings (15)
`iptchfork`, `picthfork`, `pitcchfork`, `pitcfhork`, `pitchffork`, `pitchfokr`, `pitchforkk`, `pitchforrk`, `pitchfrok`, `pitchhfork`, `pitchofrk`, `pithcfork`, `pittchfork`, `ppitchfork`, `ptichfork`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/pitchfork