tuning-forkn.
1. A small steel instrument (invented in 1711 by John Shore) consisting of a stem with two stout flat prongs which on being caused to vibrate produce a definite musical note of constant pitch, thus serving as a standard for tuning musical instruments and in acoustical investigations, etc.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > tuning or intonation > [noun] > device for tuning instruments > tuning-fork or -pipe
pitch-pipe1685
pitch-fork1776
fork1800
tuning-fork1800
1800 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 90 134 The fundamental note was found to be one-sixth of a tone higher than the respective octave of a tuning-fork marked C.
1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 3403 Chromatic tuning-forks.
1878 G. B. Prescott Speaking Telephone (1879) 51 Vibrating a tuning fork in front of the mouth.
2. An instrument used for turning the pins in tuning a pianoforte.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > tuning or intonation > [noun] > device for tuning instruments > for tuning piano
tuning-hammer1786
tuning-fork1877
1877 in E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. III.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1915; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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n.1800