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File   /faɪl/   Listen
noun
File  n.  
1.
An orderly succession; a line; a row; as:
(a)
(Mil.) A row of soldiers ranged one behind another; in contradistinction to rank, which designates a row of soldiers standing abreast; a number consisting the depth of a body of troops, which, in the ordinary modern formation, consists of two men, the battalion standing two deep, or in two ranks. Note: The number of files in a company describes its width, as the number of ranks does its depth; thus, 100 men in "fours deep" would be spoken of as 25 files in 4 ranks.
(b)
An orderly collection of papers, arranged in sequence or classified for preservation and reference; as, files of letters or of newspapers; this mail brings English files to the 15th instant.
(c)
The line, wire, or other contrivance, by which papers are put and kept in order. "It is upon a file with the duke's other letters."
(d)
A roll or list. "A file of all the gentry."
2.
Course of thought; thread of narration. (Obs.) "Let me resume the file of my narration."
3.
(computers) A collection of data on a digital recording medium treated as a unit for the purpose of recording, reading, storage, or indexing; such a file is typically accessible by computer programs by the use of a file name. The data may be of any type codable digitally, such as simple ASCII-coded text, complex binary-coded data, or an executable program, or may be itself a collection of other files.
File firing, the act of firing by file, or each file independently of others.
File leader, the soldier at the front of any file, who covers and leads those in rear of him.
File marching, the marching of a line two deep, when faced to the right or left, so that the front and rear rank march side by side.
Indian file, or Single file, a line of people marching one behind another; a single row. Also used adverbially; as, to march Indian file.
On file, preserved in an orderly collection; recorded in some database.
Rank and file.
(a)
The body of soldiers constituting the mass of an army, including corporals and privates.
(b)
Those who constitute the bulk or working members of a party, society, etc., in distinction from the leaders.


File  n.  
1.
A steel instrument, having cutting ridges or teeth, made by indentation with a chisel, used for abrading or smoothing other substances, as metals, wood, etc. Note: A file differs from a rasp in having the furrows made by straight cuts of a chisel, either single or crossed, while the rasp has coarse, single teeth, raised by the pyramidal end of a triangular punch.
2.
Anything employed to smooth, polish, or rasp, literally or figuratively. "Mock the nice touches of the critic's file."
3.
A shrewd or artful person. (Slang) "Will is an old file in spite of his smooth face."
Bastard file, Cross file, etc. See under Bastard, Cross, etc.
Cross-cut file, a file having two sets of teeth crossing obliquely.
File blank, a steel blank shaped and ground ready for cutting to form a file.
File cutter, a maker of files.
Second-cut file, a file having teeth of a grade next finer than bastard.
Single-cut file, a file having only one set of parallel teeth; a float.
Smooth file, a file having teeth so fine as to make an almost smooth surface.


verb
File  v. t.  (past & past part. filed; pres. part. filing)  
1.
To set in order; to arrange, or lay away, esp. as papers in a methodical manner for preservation and reverence; to place on file; to insert in its proper place in an arranged body of papers. "I would have my several courses and my dishes well filed."
2.
To bring before a court or legislative body by presenting proper papers in a regular way; as, to file a petition or bill.
3.
(Law) To put upon the files or among the records of a court; to note on (a paper) the fact date of its reception in court. "To file a paper, on the part of a party, is to place it in the official custody of the clerk. To file, on the part of the clerk, is to indorse upon the paper the date of its reception, and retain it in his office, subject to inspection by whomsoever it may concern."


File  v. t.  
1.
To rub, smooth, or cut away, with a file; to sharpen with a file; as, to file a saw or a tooth.
2.
To smooth or polish as with a file. "File your tongue to a little more courtesy."


File  v. t.  To make foul; to defile. (Obs.) "All his hairy breast with blood was filed." "For Banquo's issue have I filed my mind."


File  v. i.  (Mil.) To march in a file or line, as soldiers, not abreast, but one after another; generally with off.
To file with, to follow closely, as one soldier after another in file; to keep pace. "My endeavors Have ever come too short of my desires, Yet filed with my abilities."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"File" Quotes from Famous Books



... observed during the battle that when spotted by the enemy, delivering orders or busying about such duties as usually indicated some one in authority, the Spanish would fire whole volleys at an individual, this evidently with a view to demoralizing the rank and file ...
— The Colored Regulars in the United States Army • T. G. Steward
... to watch the procession—a file of soldiers, a cavalry troop, carriages and then—the carriage with spirited horses and gay accoutrements. It stopped with a jangle and a ...
— Graustark • George Barr McCutcheon
... black clouds split up like a rent cloth, and showed behind them, not Heaven, but the living fire of Hell. The thunder crashed out in sharp reports like file-firing at a review. With one accord the men ceased rowing and crouched down ...
— With Edged Tools • Henry Seton Merriman
... alley-way in single file, Murphy leading, Brennan next and John acting as a voluntary rear guard. The narrow alley, like the bottom of a canyon with walls of brick, was darker than the streets. In the middle of the block Murphy seemed to disappear into the earth. Then Brennan ...
— Spring Street - A Story of Los Angeles • James H. Richardson
... ceremonies of the Roman Church, is contemplated. Till the time of Doctor Barnard, the procession of the Montem was every two years, and on the first or second Tuesday in February. It consisted of something of a military array. The boys in the remove, fourth, and inferior forms, marched in a long file of two and two, with white poles in their hands, while the sixth and fifth form boys walked on their flanks as officers, and habited in all the variety of dress, each of them having a boy of the inferior forms, smartly ...
— The English Spy • Bernard Blackmantle


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