Noun
a steel hand tool with small sharp teeth on some or all of its surfaces; used for smoothing wood or metal

Noun
office furniture consisting of a container for keeping papers in order

Noun
a set of related records (either written or electronic) kept together

Noun
a line of persons or things ranged one behind the other

Verb
file a formal charge against; "The suspect was charged with murdering his wife"

Verb
place in a container for keeping records; "File these bills, please"

Verb
record in a public office or in a court of law; "file for divorce"; "file a complaint"

Verb
smooth with a file; "file one''s fingernails"

Verb
proceed in line; "The students filed into the classroom"

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n.
An orderly succession; a line; a row

n.
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.

n.
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.

n.
The line, wire, or other contrivance, by which papers are put and kept in order.

n.
A roll or list.

n.
Course of thought; thread of narration.

v. t.
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.

v. t.
To bring before a court or legislative body by presenting proper papers in a regular way; as, to file a petition or bill.

v. t.
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.

v. i.
To march in a file or line, as soldiers, not abreast, but one after another; -- generally with off.

n.
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.

n.
Anything employed to smooth, polish, or rasp, literally or figuratively.

n.
A shrewd or artful person.

v. t.
To rub, smooth, or cut away, with a file; to sharpen with a file; as, to file a saw or a tooth.

v. t.
To smooth or polish as with a file.

v. t.
To make foul; to defile.

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File

File , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Filed ; p. pr. & vb. n. 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. Burrill. 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

File, v. i. [Cf. F. filer.] (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.

File

File , n. [AS. fe'a2l; akin to D. viji, OHG. f'c6la, f'c6hala, G. feile, Sw. fil, Dan. fiil, cf. Icel. l, Russ. pila, and Skr. pi to cut out, adorn; perh. akin to E. paint.] 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. &hand; 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] Fielding.

Will is an old file 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.

File

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. Shak.

File your tongue to a little more courtesy.Sir W.Scott.

File

File, v. t. [OE. fulen, filen, foulen, AS. flan, fr. fl foul. See Foul, and cf. Defile, v.t.] To make ful; to defile. [Obs.]

All his hairy breast with blood was filed.Spenser.

For Banquo's issue have I filed mind.Shak.

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.

To march in a file or line, as soldiers, not abreast, but one after another; -- generally with off.

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.

To rub, smooth, or cut away, with a file; to sharpen with a file; as, to file a saw or a tooth.

To make ful; to defile.