What does pitchfork mean?
A pitchfork is a farming tool with several pointed tines attached to a long wooden or metal handle. It is traditionally used to lift, throw, and spread hay, straw, manure, and other loose agricultural material. The word can also be used as a verb: to pitchfork someone means to stab or impale them with the tool, while to pitchfork material means to move it using the prongs. In political imagery, especially in discussions of revolutions, labor movements, and peasant uprisings, a pitchfork symbolizes the grievances or collective force of workers and farmers. Although its agricultural use is practical, the tool has also become a vivid cultural symbol, often appearing in literature, political cartoons, and historical accounts of uprisings. The word combines “pitch,” referring to packed material such as hay or manure, with “fork,” the basic implement whose pointed prongs distinguish it from a spade or shovel.
A long-handled farming tool with several pointed tines, used to lift and throw hay, straw, manure, or similar material.
"He stacked the hay with a pitchfork."
The word is common in agricultural contexts and is also used symbolically to represent workers or peasants, particularly in political and historical imagery.
To stab or impale someone with a pitchfork, or to propel or move something with the prongs of a pitchfork.
"The angry farmer threatened to pitchfork the trespassers."
This use is relatively uncommon outside dramatic, historical, or deliberately vivid contexts.
Usually countable; the plural is used for multiple tools or individual pitchforks.
"The workers carried pitchforks across the field."
The pitchfork is one of farming’s most recognizable tools—and one of history’s most unmistakable political symbols.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does pitchfork come from?
“Pitchfork” is a compound formed in the 16th century from “pitch” and “fork.” The word “pitch” in this agricultural sense refers to a compact mass of hay, manure, or similar material, while “fork” supplies the idea of a pronged implement. The compound developed as a specific term for a larger, multi-tined version of a farm fork used to handle such material. Its later political associations arose from the traditional image of farm laborers carrying the tool.
How pitchfork is actually used
The noun is standard in agricultural contexts and is also widely understood in political imagery. The verb is relatively uncommon and can sound deliberately dramatic or violent.
Easily confused with pitchfork
A pitchfork has several pointed tines and is designed for handling hay or similar material, whereas a fork is a general utensil with two or more prongs used mainly for eating or serving food.