FILE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does file mean? 

• FILE (noun)
  The noun FILE has 4 senses:

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

2. a line of persons or things ranged one behind the other

3. office furniture consisting of a container for keeping papers in order

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

  Familiarity information: FILE used as a noun is uncommon.

• FILE (verb)
  The verb FILE has 5 senses:

1. record in a public office or in a court of law

2. smooth with a file

3. proceed in line

4. file a formal charge against

5. place in a container for keeping records

  Familiarity information: FILE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FILE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

data file; file

Hypernyms ("file" is a kind of...):

record (anything (such as a document or a phonograph record or a photograph) providing permanent evidence of or information about past events)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "file"):

computer file ((computer science) a file maintained in computer-readable form)

mug book; mug file (a file of mug shots (pictures of criminals that are kept on file by the police))

tickler; tickler file (a file of memoranda or notices that remind of things to be done)

Instance hyponyms:

Combined DNA Index System (the DNA file maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation)

Derivation:

file (file a formal charge against)

file (place in a container for keeping records)

file (record in a public office or in a court of law)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A line of persons or things ranged one behind the other

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

file; Indian file; single file

Hypernyms ("file" is a kind of...):

line (a formation of people or things one behind another)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "file"):

snake dance (a group advancing in a single-file serpentine path)

column (a line of units following one after another)

Derivation:

file (proceed in line)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Office furniture consisting of a container for keeping papers in order

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

file; file cabinet; filing cabinet

Hypernyms ("file" is a kind of...):

office furniture (furniture intended for use in an office)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "file"):

vertical file (a file in which records are stored upright on one edge)

card catalog; card catalogue; card index (an alphabetical listing of items (e.g., books in a library) with a separate card for each item)

Derivation:

file (place in a container for keeping records)

file (record in a public office or in a court of law)

file (file a formal charge against)

Sense 4

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("file" is a kind of...):

hand tool (a tool used with workers' hands)

Meronyms (parts of "file"):

haft; helve (the handle of a weapon or tool)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "file"):

flat file (a file with two flat surfaces)

nailfile (a small flat file for shaping the nails)

rasp; wood file (a coarse file with sharp pointed projections)

rat-tail file (a thin round file shaped like the tail of a rat)

round file (a file with a circular cross section; used to file the inside of holes)

taper file (a file with converging edges)

blunt file (a file with parallel edges)

• FILE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they file    ... he / she / it files   
Past simple: filed   
Past participle: filed   
-ing form: filing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Record in a public office or in a court of law

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

file; register

Context example:

file a complaint

Hypernyms (to "file" is one way to...):

register (record in writing; enter into a book of names or events or transactions)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "file"):

trademark (register the trademark of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

file (office furniture consisting of a container for keeping papers in order)

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

filing (the entering of a legal document into the public record)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Smooth with a file

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

file one's fingernails

Hypernyms (to "file" is one way to...):

smooth; smoothen (make smooth or smoother, as if by rubbing)

"File" entails doing...:

rub (move over something with pressure)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

filing (the act of using a file (as in shaping or smoothing an object))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Proceed in line

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

The students filed into the classroom

Hypernyms (to "file" is one way to...):

march; process (march in a procession)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Also:

file in (enter by marching in a file)

file out (march out, in a file)

Derivation:

file (a line of persons or things ranged one behind the other)

Sense 4

Meaning:

File a formal charge against

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

charge; file; lodge

Context example:

The suspect was charged with murdering his wife

Hypernyms (to "file" is one way to...):

accuse; criminate; impeach; incriminate (bring an accusation against; level a charge against)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "file"):

impeach (charge (a public official) with an offense or misdemeanor committed while in office)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody with something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

file (office furniture consisting of a container for keeping papers in order)

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

filer (a party who files a notice with a law court)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Place in a container for keeping records

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

file; file away

Context example:

File these bills, please

Hypernyms (to "file" is one way to...):

enter; put down; record (make a record of; set down in permanent form)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They file the newspapers

Derivation:

file (office furniture consisting of a container for keeping papers in order)

filing (preservation and methodical arrangement as of documents and papers etc.)

filer (a clerk who is employed to maintain the files of an organization)

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

 Context examples 

He had been curious to know things, and whatever he acquired he had filed away in separate memory compartments in his brain.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

A notation or direction at one place (as in a book or filing system) to pertinent information at another place.

(Cross-Reference, NCI Thesaurus)

A single digital file in the Electronic Content material.

(Content Item, NCI Thesaurus)

A complex Cycled study requiring multiple files to describe the conditions.

(Cycled Drug Stability Study-Complex, Food and Drug Administration)

We all filed into the front room and sat round the central table while the Inspector unlocked a square tin box and laid a small heap of things before us.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

For Master Files, this represents the items covered by the master file.

(Original Application, Food and Drug Administration)

It is also possible you will file estimated taxes or send in a college tuition payment.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

A person employed in an office who performs various tasks such as keeping records or accounts, filing, letter writing, or transcribing.

(Clerk, NCI Thesaurus)

The meal over, prayers were read by Miss Miller, and the classes filed off, two and two, upstairs.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

A method for performing probe-level normalization of signal intensity to generate summaries file using CNAT method.

(CNAT Probe Normalization Method, NCI Thesaurus)