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Defile   Listen
noun
Defile  n.  
1.
Any narrow passage or gorge in which troops can march only in a file, or with a narrow front; a long, narrow pass between hills, rocks, etc.
2.
(Mil.) The act of defilading a fortress, or of raising the exterior works in order to protect the interior. See Defilade.


verb
Defile  v. t.  (Mil.) Same as Defilade.


Defile  v. t.  
1.
To make foul or impure; to make filthy; to dirty; to befoul; to pollute. "They that touch pitch will be defiled."
2.
To soil or sully; to tarnish, as reputation; to taint. "He is... among the greatest prelates of this age, however his character may be defiled by... dirty hands."
3.
To injure in purity of character; to corrupt. "Defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt."
4.
To corrupt the chastity of; to debauch; to violate; to rape. "The husband murder'd and the wife defiled."
5.
To make ceremonially unclean; to pollute. "That which dieth of itself, or is torn with beasts, he shall not eat to defile therewith."


Defile  v. i.  (past & past part. defiled; pres. part. defiling)  To march off in a line, file by file; to file off.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Defile" Quotes from Famous Books



... the mountain-range of Guadarrama, which had to be crossed by the pass of Somosierra. This defile was found to be strongly guarded; there were not only infantry stationed on the heights, but artillery also, sixteen guns being below the turn of the pass in a most advantageous position. In the early ...
— The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte - Vol. III. (of IV.) • William Milligan Sloane
... Gerard distinguishes between the summits that rise in the middle of the plateau, where he states the elevation of the snow-line to be between 18,000 and 19,000 feet, and the northern slopes of the chain of the Himalaya, which border on the defile of the Sutledge, and can radiate but little heat, owing to the deep ravines with which they are intersected. The elevation of the village of Tangno is given at only 9300 feet, while that of the plateau surrounding the sacred ...
— COSMOS: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1 • Alexander von Humboldt
... which I was, unexpectedly left the route of Fezzan to the east, and turned sharp round to the south, through the gorge of a low mountain range, which we had had all along to the right. In this defile we proceeded an hour, but it had no natural opening at the end. We came at last to a very abrupt ascent of some hundred feet high, and mounted an elevated plateau. Once on the plateau, all was plain as far as the eye could see. The defile was tertiary formation, mere ...
— Travels in the Great Desert of Sahara, in the Years of 1845 and 1846 • James Richardson
... "a handful of resolute men may defend any defile in these mountains against such a small force as this is, providing that their bravery is equal ...
— Old Mortality, Complete, Illustrated • Sir Walter Scott
... their protecting trenches around the other side of this stricken village, like a great embracing arm. It stirred him to think that it was now within the refuge of the American lines and that the arrogant Prussian officers could no longer defile those low, ...
— Tom Slade Motorcycle Dispatch Bearer • Percy Keese Fitzhugh


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