fork in the road

noun phrase

1

: a place where a route of travel (as of a road, street, or path) diverges into multiple routes

… Anne took the left turning when they came to a fork in the road. She should have taken the right …

—Lucy Maud Montgomery

2

: a situation in which a person or entity must choose between two options : crossroad sense 2c

However, at this fork in the road, which way should he go? Pursue sports broadcasting … or go full Hollywood?

—Jeanette Settembre

Her stories lead characters to forks in the road where they can choose life or death in metaphorical and real ways …

—Melissa Whaley, quoted in The Gazette (Montreal)

Examples of fork in the road in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Next year should be a fork in the road in the rebuild, and in Davidson’s career. —Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 16 Apr. 2026

Everyone understood that sending in the marines marked a fork in the road that could not be easily unforked. —Louis Menand, New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1773, in the meaning defined at sense 1