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
I constructed a special apparatus, consisting of a hard steel circular cutter to act as a circular file.
From James Nasmyth: Engineer; an autobiography by Smiles, Samuel
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.
