rat-tail file
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of rat-tail file
First recorded in 1840–50
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.
You can bend a rat-tail file or ice pick in a vise to fashion a tool.
From Time Magazine Archive
First drill a smaller hole, and then with a 1/4-inch rat-tail file slowly open it out, at the same time rubbing a groove down the stern-post.
From Boys' Book of Model Boats by Yates, Raymond F. (Raymond Francis)
The Butcher, heavy with wonderment, obeyed mechanically—and P. Walton drew a rat-tail file from his pocket.
From The Night Operator by Packard, Frank L. (Frank Lucius)
The satisfactory cutting of this groove is not a very easy matter, but if its position is first carefully marked, a long rat-tail file may be made to plough it out neatly and regularly.
From Butterflies and Moths (British) by Furneaux, William S.
Mac Tavish narrowed his eyes; he whittled his tone to a fine point to correspond, and the general effect was like impaling a puffball on a rat-tail file.
From All-Wool Morrison by Day, Holman
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.
