Adjacent Words

File definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FILE, n. [L. filum. The primary sense is probably to draw out or extend, or to twist.]
1. A thread, string of line; particularly, a line or wire on which papers are strung in due order for preservation, and for conveniently finding them when wanted. Documents are kept on file.
2. The whole number of papers strung on a line or wire; as a file of writs. A file is a record of court.
3. A bundle of papers tied together, with the title of each indorsed; the mode of arranging and keeping papers being changed, without a change of names.
4. A roll, list or catalogue.
5. A row of soldiers ranged one behind another, from front to rear; the number of men constituting the depth of the battalion or squadron.
FILE, v.t.
1. To string; to fasten, as papers, on a line or wire for preservation. Declarations and affidavits must be filed. An original writ may be filed after judgment.
2. To arrange or insert in a bundle, as papers, indorsing the title on each paper. This is now the more common mode of filing papers in public and private offices.
3. To present or exhibit officially, or for trial; as, to file a bill in chancery.
FILE, v.i. To march in a file or line, as soldiers, not abreast, but one after another.
FILE, n.
An instrument used in smoothing and polishing metals, formed of iron or steel, and cut in little furrows.
FILE, v.t.
1. To rub and smooth with a file; to polish.
2. To cut as with a file; to wear off or away by friction; as, to file off a tooth.
3. [from defile.] To foul or defile. [Not used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a set of related records (either written or electronic) kept together [syn: file, data file]
2: a line of persons or things ranged one behind the other [syn: file, single file, Indian file]
3: office furniture consisting of a container for keeping papers in order [syn: file, file cabinet, filing cabinet]
4: a steel hand tool with small sharp teeth on some or all of its surfaces; used for smoothing wood or metal v
1: record in a public office or in a court of law; "file for divorce"; "file a complaint" [syn: file, register]
2: smooth with a file; "file one's fingernails"
3: proceed in line; "The students filed into the classroom"
4: file a formal charge against; "The suspect was charged with murdering his wife" [syn: charge, lodge, file]
5: place in a container for keeping records; "File these bills, please" [syn: file, file away]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English f?ol; akin to Old High German f?la file Date: before 12th century 1. a tool usually of hardened steel with cutting ridges for forming or smoothing surfaces especially of metal 2. a shrewd or crafty person II. transitive verb (filed; filing) Date: 13th century to rub, smooth, or cut away with or as if with a file III. transitive verb (filed; filing) Etymology: Middle English, from Old English fy?lan, from f?l foul Date: before 12th century chiefly dialect defile, corrupt IV. verb (filed; filing) Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin filare to string documents on a string or wire, from filum file of documents, literally, thread, from Latin; akin to Armenian ?il sinew Date: 15th century transitive verb 1. to arrange in order for preservation and reference <file letters> 2. a. to place among official records as prescribed by law <file a mortgage> b. to send (copy) to a newspaper <filed a story> c. to return to the office of the clerk of a court without action on the merits 3. to initiate (as a legal action) through proper formal procedure <threatened to file charges> intransitive verb 1. to register as a candidate especially in a primary election 2. to place items in a file 3. to submit documents necessary to initiate a legal proceeding <file for bankruptcy> • filer noun V. noun Date: 1525 1. a device (as a folder, case, or cabinet) by means of which papers are kept in order 2. a. archaic roll, list b. a collection of papers or publications usually arranged or classified c. (1) a collection of related data records (as for a computer) (2) a complete collection of data (as text or a program) treated by a computer as a unit especially for purposes of input and output VI. noun Etymology: Middle French, from filer to spin, draw out, from Late Latin filare, from Latin filum Date: 1598 1. single file 2. any of the rows of squares that extend across a chessboard from one player's side to the other player's side VII. intransitive verb (filed; filing) Date: 1614 to march or proceed in single file

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. & v. --n. 1 a folder, box, etc., for holding loose papers, esp. arranged for reference. 2 a set of papers kept in this. 3 Computing a collection of (usu. related) data stored under one name. 4 a series of issues of a newspaper etc. in order. 5 a stiff pointed wire on which documents etc. are impaled for keeping. --v.tr. 1 place (papers) in a file or among (esp. public) records. 2 submit (a petition for divorce, an application for a patent, etc.) to the appropriate authority. 3 (of a reporter) send (a story, information, etc.) to a newspaper. Phrases and idioms: filing cabinet a case with drawers for storing documents. Derivatives: filer n. Etymology: F fil f. L filum thread 2. n. & v. --n. 1 a line of persons or things one behind another. 2 (foll. by of) Mil. a small detachment of men (now usu. two). 3 Chess a line of squares from player to player (cf. RANK(1)). --v.intr. walk in a file. Phrases and idioms: file off (or away) Mil. go off by files. Etymology: F file f. LL filare spin or L filum thread 3. n. & v. --n. a tool with a roughened surface or surfaces, usu. of steel, for smoothing or shaping wood, fingernails, etc. --v.tr. 1 smooth or shape with a file. 2 elaborate or improve (a thing, esp. a literary work). Phrases and idioms: file away remove (roughness etc.) with a file. file-fish any fish of the family Ostracionidae, with sharp dorsal fins and usu. bright coloration. Derivatives: filer n. Etymology: OE fil f. WG

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

File File (f[imac]l), n. [F. file row (cf. Pr., Sp., Pg., & It. fila), LL. fila, fr. L. filum a thread. Cf. Enfilade, Filament, Fillet.] 1. An orderly succession; a line; a row; as: (a) (Mil) A row of soldiers ranged one behind another; -- in contradistinction to rank, which designates a row of soldiers standing abreast; a number consisting the depth of a body of troops, which, in the ordinary modern formation, consists of two men, the battalion standing two deep, or in two ranks. Note: The number of files in a company describes its width, as the number of ranks does its depth; thus, 100 men in ``fours deep'' would be spoken of as 25 files in 4 ranks. --Farrow. (b) An orderly collection of papers, arranged in sequence or classified for preservation and reference; as, files of letters or of newspapers; this mail brings English files to the 15th instant. (c) The line, wire, or other contrivance, by which papers are put and kept in order. It is upon a file with the duke's other letters. --Shak. (d) A roll or list. ``A file of all the gentry.'' --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

File File, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Filed; p. pr. & vb. n. Filing.] 1. To set in order; to arrange, or lay away, esp. as papers in a methodical manner for preservation and reverence; to place on file; to insert in its proper place in an arranged body of papers. I would have my several courses and my dishes well filed. --Beau. & Fl. 2. To bring before a court or legislative body by presenting proper papers in a regular way; as, to file a petition or bill. --Burrill. 3. (Law) To put upon the files or among the records of a court; to note on (a paper) the fact date of its reception in court. To file a paper, on the part of a party, is to place it in the official custody of the clerk. To file, on the part of the clerk, is to indorse upon the paper the date of its reception, and retain it in his office, subject to inspection by whomsoever it may concern. --Burrill.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

File File, v. i. [Cf. F. filer.] (Mil.) To march in a file or line, as soldiers, not abreast, but one after another; -- generally with off. To file with, to follow closely, as one soldier after another in file; to keep pace. My endeavors Have ever come too short of my desires, Yet filed with my abilities. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

File File, n. [AS. fe['o]l; akin to D. viji, OHG. f[=i]la, f[=i]hala, G. feile, Sw. fil, Dan. fiil, cf. Icel. ??l, Russ. pila, and Skr. pi? to cut out, adorn; perh. akin to E. paint.] 1. A steel instrument, having cutting ridges or teeth, made by indentation with a chisel, used for abrading or smoothing other substances, as metals, wood, etc. Note: A file differs from a rasp in having the furrows made by straight cuts of a chisel, either single or crossed, while the rasp has coarse, single teeth, raised by the pyramidal end of a triangular punch. 2. Anything employed to smooth, polish, or rasp, literally or figuratively. Mock the nice touches of the critic's file. --Akenside. 3. A shrewd or artful person. [Slang] --Fielding. Will is an old file in spite of his smooth face. --Thackeray. Bastard file, Cross file, etc. See under Bastard, Cross, etc. Cross-cut file, a file having two sets of teeth crossing obliquely. File blank, a steel blank shaped and ground ready for cutting to form a file. File cutter, a maker of files. Second-cut file, a file having teeth of a grade next finer than bastard. Single-cut file, a file having only one set of parallel teeth; a float. Smooth file, a file having teeth so fine as to make an almost smooth surface.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

File File, v. t. 1. To rub, smooth, or cut away, with a file; to sharpen with a file; as, to file a saw or a tooth. 2. To smooth or polish as with a file. --Shak. File your tongue to a little more courtesy. --Sir W. Scott.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

File File, v. t. [OE. fulen, filen, foulen, AS. f?lan, fr. f?l foul. See Foul, and cf. Defile, v. t.] To make foul; to defile. [Obs.] All his hairy breast with blood was filed. --Spenser. For Banquo's issue have I filed my mind. --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(files, filing, filed) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A file is a box or a folded piece of heavy paper or plastic in which letters or documents are kept. He sat behind a table on which were half a dozen files. ...a file of insurance papers. N-COUNT 2. A file is a collection of information about a particular person or thing. We already have files on people's tax details, mortgages and poll tax... You must record and keep a file of all expenses. N-COUNT: oft N of/on n 3. If you file a document, you put it in the correct file. They are all filed alphabetically under author. VERB: V n 4. In computing, a file is a set of related data that has its own name. N-COUNT 5. If you file a formal or legal accusation, complaint, or request, you make it officially. A number of them have filed formal complaints against the police... I filed for divorce on the grounds of adultery a few months later. VERB: V n, V for n 6. When someone files a report or a news story, they send or give it to their employer. Catherine Bond filed that report for the BBC from Nairobi... VERB: V n 7. When a group of people files somewhere, they walk one behind the other in a line. Slowly, people filed into the room and sat down. VERB: V prep/adv 8. A file is a hand tool which is used for rubbing hard objects to make them smooth, shape them, or cut through them. N-COUNT 9. If you file an object, you smooth it, shape it, or cut it with a file. Manicurists are skilled at shaping and filing nails. VERB: V n 10. see also nail file, rank and file 11. Something that is on file or on someone's files is recorded or kept in a file or in a collection of information. His fingerprints were on file in Washington... We'll keep your details on file... It is one of the most desperate cases on her files. PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v 12. A group of people who are walking or standing in single file are in a line, one behind the other. We were walking in single file to the lake. PHRASE: PHR after v

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

fil:

Found only in 1Sa 13:21, but the text here is obscure.

The Hebrew (petsirah phim) signifies "bluntness of edge," and is so rendered in the Revised Version, margin.

See TOOLS.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Toothed or threaded tool, rasp. 2. (Mil.) Row (of soldiers ranged one behind another). 3. Bundle of papers. II. v. a. 1. Rasp, rub down with a file, smooth or finish with a file. 2. Place on file. 3. Smooth, polish. III. v. n. March in a file.

Moby Thesaurus

Indian file, KP, ablate, abrade, abrase, achievement, aculeate, acuminate, alerion, alphabetize, aluminum oxide, ammunition box, analyze, animal charge, annulet, apply for, archives, argent, ark, armorial bearings, armory, arms, army, army group, arrange, array, articulation, ask, ask for, assort, attache case, auto polish, azure, backpack, bandeau, bandolier, bank, bar, bar sinister, barb, bark, baton, battalion, battery, battle group, bearings, beg leave, bend, bend sinister, bespeak, bibliography, billet, billfold, bin, blank, blazon, blazonry, book, boot, bordure, box, break down, briefcase, brigade, broad arrow, bulletin board, bundle away, bunker, buzz, cache, cadency mark, cadre, caisson, calendar, call for, canister, canton, capsula, capsule, card, card catalog, cardcase, carton, carve, case, casket, catalog, catalog card, catalogue raisonne, categorize, catena, catenation, cedar chest, chafe, chain, chain reaction, chaining, chalk, chalk up, chancery, chaplet, charge, check in, chest, chevron, chief, chirograph, chronicle, chronologize, cigarette case, cist, class, classified catalog, classify, coat of arms, cockatrice, codify, coffer, coffin, cohort, colcothar, column, combat command, combat team, compact, company, complete, concatenation, cone, connection, consecution, continuum, coronet, corps, corundum, course, crate, crave, crescent, crest, crib, crocus, cross, cross moline, crown, cuspidate, cut, cycle, data, defile, demand, deposit, descent, desire, detachment, detail, device, difference, differencing, digest, disc, dispatch box, divide, division, docket, document, documentation, dossier, drone, eagle, echelon, edge, emery, emery board, emery paper, endless belt, endless round, engrave, enroll, enscroll, enter, enumerate, envelope, erase, ermine, ermines, erminites, erminois, erode, escutcheon, etui, falcon, fess, fess point, field, field army, field train, file folder, file for, file off, files, filiation, filing box, filing card, filing system, fill out, film, finding list, flanch, fleur-de-lis, flying column, folder, folio, footslog, form, fray, frazzle, fret, fur, fusil, gall, gamut, garland, garnet, garrison, gnaw, gnaw away, go on parade, goose-step, gradation, grade, grate, grave, graze, griffin, grind, group, gules, gyron, handlist, hatchment, helmet, heraldic device, hike, holograph, holster, hone, honor point, hope chest, housewife, hum, hussy, hutch, impalement, impaling, impanel, incise, indent, index, index card, inescutcheon, information, inscribe, insert, instrument, inventory, itemize, jot down, keep score, kit, kitchen police, label, lay away, lay down, lay in, lay in store, legal document, legal instrument, legal paper, legion, letter file, library catalog, line, lineage, lion, list, lodge, log, lozenge, magnetic tape, make a memorandum, make a note, make a request, make a requisition, make an entry, make application, make out, maniple, mantling, march, march past, mark down, marshaling, martlet, mascle, matriculate, metal, microcard, microdot, microfiche, microfilm, minute, monotone, monstrance, motion-picture film, motto, mullet, mush, nail file, nexus, nombril point, note, note down, octofoil, official document, oilstone, or, order, ordinary, organization, organize, orle, ostensorium, outfit, pack away, packet, packing case, pale, paly, paper, papers, parade, parchment, pean, pendulum, periodicity, personal file, phalanx, pheon, phonograph record, pigeonhole, pigeonholes, pillbox, place, place upon record, platoon, platter, plenum, pod, point, polishes, poll, portfolio, posse, post, post up, powder box, powder train, program, progression, promenade, pumice, pumice stone, purpure, put away, put down, put in for, put in order, put in writing, put on paper, put on tape, quarter, quartering, queue, quiver, rack, range, rank, rasp, rate, raze, record, recurrence, reduce to writing, regiment, register, register office, registry, reliquary, reposit, request, requisition, reservoir, reset, reticulation, roll, rose, rotation, rottenstone, rouge, round, routine, row, rub away, rub off, rub out, run, sable, salt away, salt down, saltire, sand, sandblast, sandpaper, sarcophagus, scabbard, scale, schedule, score, scoreboard, scorecard, scoresheet, scour, scrape, scrip, script, scroll, scrub, scuff, scutcheon, section, sequence, series, set, set down, sharpen, sheath, shield, shoe polish, silicon carbide, silver polish, single file, skin, skippet, slip, snuffbox, socket, sort, spectacle case, spectrum, spiculate, spread eagle, spur, squad, squadron, stash, store, store away, stow, stow away, stow down, strap, string, strop, subdivide, submit, subordinary, succession, swath, systematize, tabulate, tactical unit, take down, tally, tape, tape-record, taper, task force, tea chest, tenne, thread, ticker tape, tier, till, tincture, tinderbox, torse, train, tramp, tressure, troop, type, unicorn, unit, vair, vanity case, vasculum, vert, videotape, walk, wallet, warehouse, wax, wear, wear away, whet, whistle for, windrow, wing, wish, wreath, writ, write, write down, write in, write out, write up, writing, yale