circular file
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of circular file
First recorded in 1945–50
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.
I freelance, and it seemed like every accounts payable department I deal with had somehow sent my invoices to the online equivalent of a circular file.
From Slate • Jun. 5, 2015
Most of these immediately go in the circular file.
From Forbes • Mar. 31, 2015
These will put your proposal in the circular file, and even future good opportunities from you may go to the bottom of my list:
From Forbes • Sep. 23, 2014
Later, I would learn that the disciplinary committee, inundated with more serious offenses, had essentially thrown this one into the circular file.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
The actual count could have been more because in 1950, UFO reports were about as popular as sand in spinach, and I would guess that at least a few wound up in the "circular file."
From The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects by Ruppelt, Edward J.
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.
