file

file¹

—fileable, adj. —filer, n.

/fuyl/, n., v., filed, filing.

n.

1. a folder, cabinet, or other container in which papers, letters, etc., are arranged in convenient order for storage or reference.

2. a collection of papers, records, etc., arranged in convenient order: to make a file for a new account.

3. Computers. a collection of related data or program records stored on some input/output or auxiliary storage medium: This program's main purpose is to update the customer master file.

4. a line of persons or things arranged one behind another (distinguished from rank).

5. Mil.

a. a person in front of or behind another in a military formation.

b. one step on a promotion list.

6. one of the vertical lines of squares on a chessboard.

7. a list or roll.

8. a string or wire on which papers are strung for preservation and reference.

9. on file, arranged in order for convenient reference; in a file: The names are on file in the office.

v.t.

10. to place in a file.

11. to arrange (papers, records, etc.) in convenient order for storage or reference.

12. Journalism.

a. to arrange (copy) in the proper order for transmittal by wire.

b. to transmit (copy), as by wire or telephone: He filed copy from Madrid all through the war.

v.i.

13. to march in a file or line, one after another, as soldiers: The parade filed past endlessly.

14. to make application: to file for a civil-service job.

[1425-75; late ME filen < MF filer to string documents on a thread or wire, OF: to wind or spin thread < LL filare, v. deriv. of L filum thread, string]

Syn. 11. classify, label, catalog, index, list, categorize.

file²

—fileable, adj. —filer, n.

/fuyl/, n., v., filed, filing.

n.

1. a long, narrow tool of steel or other metal having a series of ridges or points on its surfaces for reducing or smoothing surfaces of metal, wood, etc.

2. a small, similar tool for trimming and cleaning fingernails; nail file.

3. Brit. Slang. a cunning, shrewd, or artful person.

v.t.

4. to reduce, smooth, or remove with or as if with a file.

[bef. 900; ME; OE fil, feol; c. G Feile; akin to Gk pikrós sharp]

file³

/fuyl/, v.t., filed, filing. Archaic.

to defile; corrupt.

[bef. 1000; ME; OE fylan to befoul, defile, deriv. of ful FOUL]

* * *

In hardware and metalworking, bar-or rod-shaped tool of hardened steel with many small cutting edges raised on its surfaces.

Files are used for smoothing or forming objects, especially of metal. A file's cutting or abrading action results from rubbing it, usually by hand, against the workpiece. The single-cut file has rows of parallel teeth cut diagonally across the working surfaces. The double-cut file has rows of teeth crossing each other. Rasp teeth are disconnected and round on top; rasp files are usually very coarse and are used primarily on wood and soft materials.

* * *

▪ tool

      in hardware and metalworking, tool of hardened steel in the form of a bar or rod with many small cutting edges raised on its longitudinal surfaces; it is used for smoothing or forming objects, especially of metal. The cutting or abrading action of the file results from rubbing it, usually by hand, against the workpiece.

      Files are classified according to their cross-sectional shapes, the form of the cutting edges, and the coarseness of the cut (i.e., the number of teeth per inch or centimetre). There are at least 20 different cross-sectional shapes; the most common are rectangular with various width-to-thickness ratios, square, triangular, round or rattail, and half round. There are three general classifications of tooth form: single-cut, double-cut, and rasp. The single-cut file has rows of parallel teeth cut diagonally across the working surfaces. The double-cut file has rows of teeth crossing each other. Rasp teeth are disconnected and round on top; they are formed by raising small pieces of material from the surface of the file with a punch. Rasp files, or rasps, are usually very coarse and are used primarily on wood and soft materials.

      Classification according to coarseness or spacing of the teeth is confined to single- and double-cut files. There are six main classes: rough, coarse, bastard, second-cut, smooth, and dead smooth. The number of teeth per inch varies considerably for different shapes and sizes.

* * *