enfilade
Americannoun
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Military.
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a position of works, troops, etc., making them subject to a sweeping fire from along the length of a line of troops, a trench, a battery, etc.
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the fire thus directed.
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Architecture.
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an axial arrangement of doorways connecting a suite of rooms with a vista down the whole length of the suite.
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an axial arrangement of mirrors on opposite sides of a room so as to give an effect of an infinitely long vista.
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verb (used with object)
noun
verb
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to subject (a position or formation) to fire from a flank
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to position (troops or guns) so as to be able to fire at a flank
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have enfiladedperfect
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has enfiladedperfect 3rd person singular
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am enfiladingprogressive 1st person singular
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has been enfiladingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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have been enfiladingperfect progressive
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is enfiladingprogressive 3rd person singular
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enfiladessingular 3rd person
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are enfiladingprogressive
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enfiladingparticiple
Past
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had enfiladedperfect
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had been enfiladingperfect progressive
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was enfiladingprogressive singular
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enfiladedparticiple
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were enfiladingprogressive plural
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enfiladedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of enfilade
1695–1705; < French, equivalent to enfil ( er ) to thread, string ( en- en- 1 + -filer, derivative of fil < Latin fīlum thread) + -ade -ade 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Enfilade fire, the most telling of all, is more easily brought to bear than of old owing to the increase in the effective range and in the rate of fire.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
