idiom · informal

fork out

UK/fɔːk aʊt/US/fɔrk aʊt/FORK OUT

speaking

to pay (often unwillingly) for something

Examples

We had to fork out £200 for the car repairs.

He finally forked out for the software licence.

I don’t want to fork out that much for a phone.

Band 8 sentence

When the heater broke down, we had to fork out a significant sum to get it fixed immediately.

Collocations

  • fork out for repairs
  • fork out £200

Word family

fork out (phrasal verb) verbforked out verb (past)

Common mistakes

He fork money outHe forked out the money

to fork paidto fork out

Say it for a higher band

5pay6pay up7+fork out

Synonyms

cough up

Easily confused

cough up

They made him cough up the money he owed.

Related words

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In Money

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