vertical file

American  

noun

1. a collection of pamphlets, pictures, clippings, or other materials stored upright, as in a filing cabinet or cabinets.

2. a cabinet for such storage.

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Etymology

Origin of vertical file

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

There is no vertical file at the county HQ labeled “Cheerios Park: Name.”

From Washington Post

This happens so often that she has prepared a document that sits in the vertical file that explains how little we are sure of.

From Washington Post

In “Cubed” he walks us through the invention of a few of our favorite things: the vertical file cabinet, the suspended ceiling, the fluorescent light bulb, the elevator, the Dictaphone, the human-resources department.

From New York Times

Probably the best arrangement for a large part of this material is to assign a subject heading or a class number and keep in a vertical file alphabetically or by class number.

From Project Gutenberg

Next to it, Mr. Moggridge’s nifty bright red space heater from 1973, which resembles a vertical file lying on its side, seems to bow in veneration.

From New York Times