file

¹

[fahyl]

noun

1. a folder, cabinet, or other container in which papers, letters, etc., are arranged in convenient order for storage or reference.

2. a collection of papers, records, etc., arranged in convenient order.

   to make a file for a new account.

3. Computers.,  a collection of related data or program records stored on some input/output or auxiliary storage medium.

   This program's main purpose is to update the customer master file.

4. a line of persons or things arranged one behind another (rank ).

5. Military.

   1. a person in front of or behind another in a military formation.

   2. one step on a promotion list.

6. one of the vertical lines of squares on a chessboard.

7. a list or roll.

8. a string or wire on which papers are strung for preservation and reference.

verb (used with object)

filed, filing 

1. to place in a file.

2. to arrange (papers, records, etc.) in convenient order for storage or reference.

   Synonyms: index, catalog, label, classify, categorize, list

3. Journalism.

   1. to arrange (copy) in the proper order for transmittal by wire.

   2. to transmit (copy), as by wire or telephone.

      He filed copy from Madrid all through the war.

verb (used without object)

filed, filing 

1. to march in a file or line, one after another, as soldiers.

   The parade filed past endlessly.

2. to make application.

   to file for a civil-service job.

file

²

[fahyl]

noun

1. a long, narrow tool of steel or other metal having a series of ridges or points on its surfaces for reducing or smoothing surfaces of metal, wood, etc.

2. a small, similar tool for trimming and cleaning fingernails; nail file.

3. British Slang.,  a cunning, shrewd, or artful person.

verb (used with object)

filed, filing 

1. to reduce, smooth, or remove with or as if with a file.

file

³

[fahyl]

verb (used with object)

Archaic.

filed, filing 

1. to defile; corrupt.

filé

⁴

[fi-ley, fee-ley]

noun

New Orleans Cooking.

1. a powder made from the ground leaves of the sassafras tree, used as a thickener and to impart a pungent taste to soups, gumbos, and other dishes.

file

¹

/ faɪl /

noun

1. a hand tool consisting essentially of a steel blade with small cutting teeth on some or all of its faces. It is used for shaping or smoothing metal, wood, etc

2. rare,  a cunning or deceitful person

verb

1. (tr) to shape or smooth (a surface) with a file

file

²

/ faɪl /

verb

1. obsolete,  (tr) to pollute or defile

file

³

/ faɪl /

noun

1. a folder, box, etc, used to keep documents or other items in order

2. the documents, etc, kept in this way

3. documents or information about a specific subject, person, etc

   we have a file on every known thief

4. an orderly line or row

5. a line of people in marching formation, one behind another Compare rank 1

6. any of the eight vertical rows of squares on a chessboard

7. computing a named collection of information, in the form of text, programs, graphics, etc, held on a permanent storage device such as a magnetic disk

8. obsolete,  a list or catalogue

9. a group of problems or responsibilities, esp in government, associated with a particular topic

   the environment file

10. recorded or catalogued for reference, as in a file

verb

1. to place (a document, letter, etc) in a file

2. (tr) to put on record, esp to place (a legal document) on public or official record; register

3. (tr) to bring (a suit, esp a divorce suit) in a court of law

4. (tr) to submit (copy) to a newspaper or news agency

5. (intr) to march or walk in a file or files

   the ants filed down the hill

file

1. A collection of related data or program records stored as a unit with a single name. Files are the basic units that a computer works with in storing and retrieving data.

Other Word Forms

• fileable adjective
• filer noun
• nonfiler noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of file¹

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English verb filen, from Middle French filer “to string documents on a thread or wire,” Old French: “to wind or spin thread,” from Vulgar Latin fīlāre “to wind or spin thread,” from the Latin noun fīlum “a string, thread”; the English noun is derived from the verb

Origin of file²

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English fīl, fēol; cognate with German Feile; akin to Slavic (Polish) piła “saw”

Origin of file³

First recorded before 1000; Middle English, Old English fȳlan “to befoul, defile,” derivative of fūl foul

Origin of file⁴

1800–10, < Louisiana French; literally, twisted, ropy, stringy (perhaps originally applied to dishes thickened with the powder), past participle of French filer; file ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of file¹

Old English fīl ; related to Old Saxon fīla , Old High German fīhala file, Greek pikros bitter, sharp

Origin of file²

Old English fӯlan ; related to Middle Low German vülen ; see _defile ¹ , _filth , _foul

Origin of file³

C16 (in the sense: string on which documents are hung): from Old French filer , from Medieval Latin fīlāre ; see _filament

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. on file, arranged in order for convenient reference; in a file.

   The names are on file in the office.

see in single file; on file; rank and file.

Example Sentences

Detroit, Stockton, Calif., and San Bernardino, Calif., also saved billions by shifting pre-Medicare retirees to ObamaCare when they filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy in the 2010s.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

About 34,000 of the nearly four million New York City households that filed tax returns in 2023 earned $1 million or more, according to preliminary estimates from the city’s Independent Budget Office.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Attorneys are already poised to file complaints if the referendum passes.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The best evidence of that sordid policy comes from Kissinger’s own National Security Council files, including near-verbatim transcripts of his face-to-face negotiations with communist leaders.

Read more on Salon

Instead, eight months later, Smith filed his own lawsuit against the city, alleging he faced retaliation for trying to blow the whistle on a range of misconduct within the LAPD.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• book 
• case 
• data 
• directory 
• dossier 
• folder 
• information 
• list 
• notebook 
• record