forge
UK /fɔːd͡ʒ/ · US /fɔɹd͡ʒ/ noun, verb, proper noun
- noun A furnace or hearth where metals are heated prior to hammering them into shape.
- noun A workshop in which metals are shaped by heating and hammering them.
- noun The act of beating or working iron or steel.
- noun (computing) A web-based collaborative platform for developing and sharing software.
- verb (metallurgy, metalworking) To shape a metal by heating and hammering.
- verb To form or create with concerted effort. “The politician's recent actions are an effort to forge a relationship with undecided voters.”
- verb To create a forgery of; to make a counterfeit item of; to copy or imitate unlawfully. “He had to forge his ex-wife's signature. The jury learned the documents had been forged.”
- verb To make falsely; to produce, as that which is untrue or not genuine; to fabricate.
- verb (intransitive) To move forward slowly (originally as a ship); to advance gradually but steadily, especially in the face of resistance or difficulty. “The party of explorers forged through the thick underbrush.”
- verb (intranstive) To advance, move or act with an abrupt increase in speed or energy. “With seconds left in the race, the runner forged into first place.”
- proper noun A surname from Old French.
Synonyms
smithy smithery software forge carve out hammer fake counterfeit invent contrive devise excogitate formulate spurt spirt shape form work mold mould fashion
Etymology
From Middle English forge, from Old French forge, early Old French faverge, from Latin fabrica (“workshop”), from faber (“workman in hard materials, smith”) (genitive fabri). Cognate with Franco-Provençal favèrge. Doublet of fabric and fabrica. Partially displaced English smithy.
* Computing sense perhaps derived from the early SourceForge service, launched in 1999.
From Middle English forgen, from Anglo-Norman forger and Old French forgier, from Latin fabrico (“to frame, construct, build”). Doublet of fabricate.
Make way, move ahead, most likely an alteration of force, but perhaps from forge (n.), via notion of steady hammering at something. Originally nautical, in reference to vessels.
From Old French forge (“forge, furnace”), a surname for someone who lived near or worked in a forge or smithy.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A place or establishment where iron or other metals are wrought by heating and hammering; especially, a furnace, or a shop with its furnace, etc., where iron is heated and wrought; a smithy.
- noun The works where wrought iron is produced directly from the ore, or where iron is rendered malleable by puddling and shingling; a shingling mill.
- verb To form by heating and hammering; to beat into any particular shape, as a metal.
- verb To form or shape out in any way; to produce; to frame; to invent.
Etymology [F. forge, fr. L. fabrica the workshop of an artisan who works in hard materials, fr. faber artisan, smith, as adj., skillful, ingenious; cf. Gr. Fabric.]
Etymology [F. forger, OF. forgier, fr. L. fabricare, fabricari, to form, frame, fashion, from fabrica. See Forge, n., and cf. Fabricate.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “forge”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details