master file

American  

noun

1. Computers. a permanent file, periodically updated, that serves as an authoritative source of data.

---

Example Sentences

There can be no question that “intentionally marking people who are still living as dead” in the master file “is unheard of and improper,” Flick stated.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2025

The IRS had been trying to replace the master file for more than a decade but then decided to reassign employees to other work.

From Washington Post • Feb. 24, 2023

Take the Yahoo hiccup: What likely happened was that the offending URL, https://occupywallst.org, was added to a spam filter master file.

From Slate • Sep. 22, 2011

If the computer accepts the return, it gets saved to the master file.

From Washington Post

In the memory banks of tubes and relays there was a master file of all names—aliases and nicknames included—with which the organization had ever been concerned.

From Brink of Madness by Sheldon, Walter J.