A tine is one of the pointed prongs that stick out from a fork. When you pick up your dinner fork, those three or four sharp tips are the tines. A pitchfork used on a farm also has tines, usually longer and sturdier ones for lifting hay or straw.

Tines pierce food to hold it steady while you cut or lift it to your mouth. Different forks have different numbers of tines depending on their purpose. A salad fork might have four slender tines, while a serving fork could have just two thick ones.

You might also hear tine used for the pointed branches of a deer's antlers, especially when people count how many points an antler has. But in everyday life, you'll most often encounter the word when someone asks you to grab a fork with sturdy tines for serving the roast, or when a tine accidentally gets bent and needs straightening.