fil|let

fil|let «FIHL iht; n. 6, v. 2, usually fih LAY, FIHL ay», noun, verb.

–n.

1. a narrow band, ribbon, or the like, worn around the head to hold the hair in place, often as an ornament: »

a belt her waist, a fillet binds her hair (Alexander Pope).

2. a narrow band or strip of metal or other material: »

The blanks for silver coins are punched out of a fillet of silver.

3. any kind of strip used for binding anything.

4. Bookbinding. a) a decorative line impressed upon the cover of a book. b) a rolling tool used to make such lines.

5. Architecture. a) a narrow, flat band or strip of any material, especially a plane molding often used between curved moldings. b) one of the flat vertical strips between flutes on the shaft of a column.

6. a) a thin slice of fish or meat without bones or fat; filet. b) a heavy slice of lean beef, mutton, or other meat, cooked especially by broiling. c) a long, flat piece of lean meat rolled up and tied, cooked especially by roasting.

7. Anatomy. a band of fibers, especially a white nerve tract in the brain; lemniscus.

8. a raised rim or edge, especially around the muzzle of a gun.

9. Heraldry. a horizontal portion of an escutcheon, equal to one fourth of the chief, of which it is the lowest part.

–v.t.

1. to bind or decorate with a narrow band, ribbon, strip, or molding.

2. a) to cut (fish or meat) into fillets. When a fish is filleted, the flesh is cut away from the skeleton. b) to slice fillets off of (a meat carcass, or part of one).

╂[< Old French filet (diminutive) < fil thread < Latin fīlum]