file

1.
n. & v.
—n.
1 a folder, box, etc., for holding loose papers, esp. arranged for reference.
2 a set of papers kept in this.
3 Computing a collection of (usu. related) data stored under one name.
4 a series of issues of a newspaper etc. in order.
5 a stiff pointed wire on which documents etc. are impaled for keeping.
—v.tr.
1 place (papers) in a file or among (esp. public) records.
2 submit (a petition for divorce, an application for a patent, etc.) to the appropriate authority.
3 (of a reporter) send (a story, information, etc.) to a newspaper.
Phrases and idioms:
filing cabinet a case with drawers for storing documents.
Derivatives:
filer n.
Etymology: F fil f. L filum thread
2.
n. & v.
—n.
1 a line of persons or things one behind another.
2 (foll. by of) Mil. a small detachment of men (now usu. two).
3 Chess a line of squares from player to player (cf. RANK(1)).
—v.intr. walk in a file.
Phrases and idioms:
file off (or away) Mil. go off by files.
Etymology: F file f. LL filare spin or L filum thread
3.
n. & v.
—n. a tool with a roughened surface or surfaces, usu. of steel, for smoothing or shaping wood, fingernails, etc.
—v.tr.
1 smooth or shape with a file.
2 elaborate or improve (a thing, esp. a literary work).
Phrases and idioms:
file away remove (roughness etc.) with a file. file-fish any fish of the family Ostracionidae, with sharp dorsal fins and usu. bright coloration.
Derivatives:
filer n.
Etymology: OE fil f. WG