| 释义 |
▪ I. file, n.1|faɪl|
Forms: 1 fiil, féol, 3 south. vile, (5 vyle), 4–7 fyle, 4– file.
[OE. féol (Anglian fíl) = MDu., MLG. vîle (Du. vijl, LG. file), OHG. fîla, fîgila, fîhala (MHG. vîle, vîgel, mod.Ger. feile); ON. with anomalous initial consonant þél (mod.Icel. þjöl, MSw. fäl, MDa. fel; the mod.Sw. and Da. fil are prob. adoptions from LG. or HG.).
The OTeut. *fihlâ is commonly referred to the Aryan pink, nasalized form of the root peik, to which the primary sense ‘to scratch, mark’ is assigned; cf. OSl. pīsati to write, L. pingĕre to point. The OSl. (also Russian, Bohemian, etc.) pila file, saw, Lith. pela, pėlyczià file, have a remarkable similarity of sound to the Teut. word, but etymological affinity cannot be affirmed.]
1. a. A metal (usually steel) instrument, having one or more of its surfaces covered with numerous small raised cutting edges or teeth, for abrading, reducing, or smoothing surfaces. to bite, gnaw a file: fig. to make an attempt that can result only in vexatious failure (in allusion to the fable); similarly to lick a file (see quot. 1647).
a800Corpus Gloss. (Sweet) 1234 Lima, fiil. c1000Riddles lxx. 4 (Gr.) Ic..eom..laf fyres and feole. 1382Wyclif Isa. xliv. 12 The yren smyth with the file wroȝte. 1432E.E. Wills (1882) 91 A vyle, and a forser with loke and kye. 1484Caxton Fables of æsop iii. xii, She [the serpent] fond a fyle whiche she beganne to gnawe with her teethe. 1549Compl. Scot. iii. 28 Ane file is ane instrument to file doune yrn. 1647H. More Song of Soul i. 11. cxii, Like the mistaken Cat that lick'd the file. 1649J. H. Motion to Parl. Adv. Learn. 26 As soone as they have done licking of this file. 1697Evelyn Numism. vi. 214 The File..which they use for the smoothing of the edges. 1786Beattie Minstr. ii. xiv, So gnaw'd the viper the corroding file. 1824Tredgold Ess. Cast Iron 90 These bars yielded freely to the file. 1880W. Cory Mod. Eng. Hist. i. 105 He bit at the file of English obstinacy, and broke his teeth.
b. fig. esp. with reference to the polish imparted by a file. (Cf. the use of L. lima.)
a1225Ancr. R. 284 He is þi uile þet misseið þe oðer misdeð þe. 1621B. Jonson Gipsies Metamorph. Wks. (Rtldg.) 628/1 From a tongue without a file Heaps of phrases and no style. a1639Wotton in Reliq. Wotton. (1685) 341 If it shall pass the file of your Judgment. 1749Akenside Odes ii. i, The nice touches of the critic's file.
†2. = file-shell. Obs.—1
1705J. Petiver in Phil. Trans. XXV. 1955 The fine blush Jamaica File.
3. slang. An artful, cunning, or shrewd person. Also, a man, ‘fellow’, ‘cove’.[Cf. Fr. slang lime sourde, lit. ‘a silent file’, in similar sense.] 1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., File, a person who has had a long course of experience in the arts of fraud..is termed an old file upon the town;..a man who is extremely cunning..is a deep file. 1819Metropolis I. 61 You're an old file. I know you well; you're as deep as Garrick. 1838Dickens O. Twist (1850) 233 The Dodger..desired the jailer to communicate ‘the names of them two files as was on the bench’. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair lv, All the old files of the Ring were in it. 1857Hughes Tom Brown i. iv. (1871) 84 Old Blow-hard was a dry old file. 1877Holderness Gloss., ‘A deep awd file.’
4. attrib. and Comb.:
a. simple attributive, as file-chisel, file-cut, file-dust, file-handle, file-smith, file-stroke, file-trade.
b. objective, as file-cleaner, file-cutter, file-grinder, file-maker; file-cutting, file-finishing, file-grinding, file-nibbling, file-tempering vbl. ns.
1874Knight Dict. Mech., *File-chisel.
Ibid., *File-cleaner.
1888Hasluck Mech. Workshop Handybk. 86 This method of crossing the *file-cuts..is recommended.
1677–83Moxon Mech. Exerc. 58 *File-cutters also use it to make their Chissels. 1890Pall Mall G. 2 Sept. 4/2 The knife-grinders and file-cutters in Sheffield.
1819Rees Cycl. s.v. File, The most likely machine for *file-cutting.
1601Holland Pliny II. 519 The *file dust which commeth of lead. 1876Voyle Milit. Dict. (ed. 3) s.v. File, Little shavings or shreds..called file dust.
1883Daily News 25 June 2/8 The *file-grinders still stand out.
1874Knight Dict. Mech., *File-grinding Machine, a machine for surfacing forged or rolled file-blanks to bring them to form previous to cutting.
1888Lockwood's Dict. Terms Mech. Eng., *File-Handle.
1842Bk. Trades 230 Some *File-makers are in the habit of using the coal of burnt leather.
1869Times 1 Jan. 4 Mighty little will be done by such *file-nibbling or tinkering over law of entail.
1865Pall Mall G. 19 Oct. 4 A meeting of the *File⁓smiths' Union.
1677Moxon Mech. Exerc. 15 The Smooth file is to take out those cuts, or *file-stroaks, that the fine file made. 1888Hasluck Mech. Workshop Handybk. 84 Without stopping the file-strokes.
1874Knight Dict. Mech., *File-tempering.
1887Daily News 20 June 2/6 In the *file trade there is apparently a slight change.
5. Special comb., as file-blank, a piece of soft steel, shaped and ground ready for cutting, to form a file; also attrib.; file-card, a card used for cleaning files; file-carrier (see quot): † file-fast adv., ? securely; file-shell, a species of Pholas, so called from the roughness of its shell; file snake, a non-poisonous colubrid snake of the genus Mehelya, found in South Africa; file-stripper (see quot.). Also file-fish.
1874Knight Dict. Mech., *File-blank. 1892Simmonds Dict. Trade Suppl., File-blank Forger, a workman who prepares the crude material for the file-cutter.
1884Knight Dict. Mech. IV, *File Card. 1888Hasluck Mech. Workshop Handybk. 86 These file cards are used in the same way as the scratch brushes.
1874Knight Dict. Mech., *File-carrier, a tool-holder like the stock of a frame-saw.
a1225Ancr. R. 244 Þe ueond..wearð ibunden *uileueste mid te holie monnes beoden.
1752Sir J. Hill Hist. Anim. 177 The West Indian *File-shell.
[1908Ann. Transvaal Museum I. 23 Simocephalus capensis (Smith). Three-cornered Snake. Vijlslang.] 1912F. W. Fitzsimons Snakes S. Afr. iv. 96 Three-cornered or File Snakes..although found in most parts of South Africa, seem to be rather rare everywhere. 1931Discovery Mar. 74/2 A file snake captured a frog. 1962R. M. Isemonger Snakes Afr. 98 The file snake is generally feared by Africans, who associate its entry to their house with the death of a relative or friend.
1874Knight Dict. Mech., *File-stripper, a machine in which a worn-out file after being softened by heat, and slow cooling, is smoothed to prepare it for being re-cut.
▪ II. file, n.2|faɪl|
Also 6–7 fyle.
[Properly two different words, ultimately of identical etymology: (1) a. Fr. fil = Pr. fil, It. filo, Sp. hilo:—L. fīlum thread; (2) a. Fr. file = Pr., and It. fila, Sp. hila:—Com. Romanic *fila, fem. sing.; according to some scholars a vbl. n. f. filare, to spin, draw out threads, f. L. fīlum.]
I. Senses chiefly repr. F. fil.
†1. A thread.
a. fig. The thread of life.
b. transf. Of the nerves: A nerve-cord. Obs.
1606N. Baxter Sidney's Ourania N ij b, The fatall Sisters would not cut her file. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 223 A dubble file or threed to the top of the tail.
†2. The thread, course, or tenor (of a story, argument, etc.). Obs.
1560–1Schort Somme 1st Bk. Discipl. Ch. Scot. §14 Following the file and dependance of the text. 1596Spenser F.Q. vii. vi. 37 Ill fitting for this file To sing of hills and woods 'mongst wars and knights. 1612Shelton Quix. iii. x. I. 209 You must promise me that you will not interrupt the File of my doleful Narration. a1639Wotton in Reliq. Wooton. (1685) 223 Let me resume the File of my Relation. 1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. i. xlv. (1739) 73 If the file of his purposes be rightly considered.
3. a. A string or wire, on which papers and documents are strung for preservation and reference. In recent use extended to various other appliances for holding papers so that they can be easily referred to.
1525in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. viii. 214 Thapothecaries shall kepe the billis that they serue, vpon a fyle. 1649Lanc. Tracts (Chetham Soc.) 233 Their examinations remaining still upon fyle in Manchester. 1666Pepys Diary 9 Dec., Burning all the unnecessary letters which I have had upon my file for four or five years backward. 1732Acc. Workhouses 175 Keep the tradesmen's notes upon a file. 1768Foote Devil on 2 Sticks ii. Wks. 1799 II. 259 There are some of their names, I am sure, that I never desire to see on my file. 1866W. Collins Armadale II. iv. iii. 277 Some place in the City where all the papers are kept, as he calls it, in file. 1882Black Shandon Bells vi. A printed slip which the latter pulled off a file.
fig.1581J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 275 We hang uppe this accusation also upon the file of your other slaunderous lyes. 1659J. Arrowsmith Chain Princ. 200 This commination standeth upon the file in holy Scripture.
b. esp. one in a court of law to hold proceedings or documents in a cause, etc.; the list of documents, etc., in a cause.
In the Court of Chancery the pleadings themselves were filed; in the Common Law Courts the pleadings and judgements were enrolled, and only affidavits and collateral documents were filed.
1607in J. Cowell Interpr. 1631Star Chamb. Cases (Camden) 42 The sentence of the court was..that the bill should be taken off the fyle, that [etc.]. 1718Prior Solomon ii. 722 Causes unjudg'd disgrace the loaded file. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) V. 285 They will not, however, order the fine to be taken off the file. 1833Mylne & Keen Reports II. 247 This was the only bill upon the file relative to the testator's estate. 1885Law Times' Rep. LII. 681/2 A motion was made to take the affidavits off the file.
†c. A catalogue, list, roll. Obs.
1566Partridge Hist. Plasidas D iij, Thus ended they their mortall race, their file was at an ende. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. iii. 10 Our present Musters grow vpon the File To fiue and twenty thousand men of choice. 1620Dekker Dreame 10 With Pens of Steele, Eternall Files to keepe Of euery Nation, since the Earth began. 1697Dryden Disc. Epic Poetry Prose Wks. 1800 III. 441 The file of heroick poets is very short. 1702C. Mather Magn. Chr. iii. iii. (1852) I. 544 It would not be improper under this file to lodge the singular and surprising successes of his prayers. 1795Burke Regic. Peace iv. Wks. IX. 335 Catalogued files of murders.
4. a. A collection of papers placed on a file, or merely arranged in order of date or subject for ready reference.
a1626Bacon Adv. Villiers Wks. 1740 III. 566 After you have ranked them into several files, according to the subject matter. 1699Garth Dispens. 32 Then from the Compter he takes down the File And with Prescriptions lights the solemn Pile. 1806Naval Chron. XV. 113 Files of newspapers. 1806Wilberforce in G. Rose Diaries (1860) II. 212 Having just this moment got a file of letters. 1847Ld. Houghton in Life (1891) I. ix. 401 You can get at..the newsroom a file of the Times. 1851D. Jerrold St. Giles xii. 121 A man who has a file of receipts to show for everything. 1860Mrs. Gaskell C. Brontë 301 She sent to Leeds for a file of the ‘Mercuries’ of 1812, '13 and '14.
b. Computers. A collection of related records stored for use by a computer and able to be processed by it. Also attrib. and Comb.
1954Jrnl. Assoc. Comput. Mach. I. 8/2 A ‘master’ tape..contains the file of unit records as at the last date of processing. 1967Cox & Grose Organiz. Bibl. Rec. by Computer 19 A file sequence may contain only one file, and this is generally the case when updating procedures are being carried out. 1969Computers & Humanities III. 132 This search (once through the file), whether for a single interrogation or for several, is called a file-pass.
5. Her. = label (but sometimes distinguished: cf. quot. 1727). [So in Fr.]
1562Leigh Armorie (1597) 107 He beareth Argent a fyle with iij Lambeaux Azure, for a difference. Some will call them a Labell of three pointes. c1640J. Smyth Lives Berkeleys (1883) I. 120 The Cheveron..distinguished by a file with five labels to shew that he was a fifth brother. 1710Hearne Collect. 5 May, A Shield with a Cross Saltire and a File of 3 Points. 1727Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. File, Some distinguish File and Label, calling the File the upper horizontal Line, and the Label the Point that issues from it. 1889Elvin Dict. Herald., File or Label.
6. A disease, ? from its producing an appearance of lines or threads:
†a. in trees—Fr. fil (obs.);
b. in cattle. dial.
1600Surflet Countrie Farme iii. xlvii. 520 The file is a disease in trees that fretteth their barkes. 1688in R. Holme Armoury ii. 86/1. 1892 Northumberland Gloss. s.v. File, ‘File in the foot’ is a disease peculiar to cattle and sheep.
II. Senses repr. Fr. file.
7. Mil.
a. The number of men constituting the depth from front to rear of a formation in line, etc. in file: one behind the other. For Indian, single file see those adjs. rank and file: see rank.
The front of a file is one man (the file-leader), the depth may be any number; but in the modern English formation of infantry it is only two, consisting of the front and the rear rank men.
1598Barret Theor. Warres iii. i. 37 By file, I vnderstand all the line..of all the souldiers standing consequently one after another, from front to the traine. 1625Markham Souldier's Accid. 6 A File..ought neuer to be aboue ten persons deepe. 1633T. Stafford Pac. Hib. ii. (1821) 524 It was impossible for men to march but in file. 1667Milton P.L. vi. 339 His Chariot..stood retir'd From off the files of warr. 1734tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. V. 9 Each squadron had..8 in depth, for that was the usual depth of the files. 1790Burns Sheriffmuir 15 Great Argyle led on his files. 1796–7Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 34 The others..will first cover in file with precision. 1810Wellington in Gruw. Desp. VI. 208 The 16th are very strong; when I saw them the other day they were 59 file a squadron. 1816Byron Siege Cor. xxiii, Even as they fell, in files they lay. 1838Prescott Ferd. & Is. (1846) I. x. 406 Riding along their broken files. 1864Skeat Uhland's Poems 243 The brave Fernando, Searching through the files of war.
transf. and fig.a1613Overbury A Wife (1638) 109 Hunger and cold ranke in the same file with him. 1649Bp. Hall Cases Consc. (1650) 15 That we be not in the first file of enhancers. 1650R. Stapylton Strada's Low C. Warres ii. 44 He was by the Emperour valued in the first file of Nobility. c1665Mrs. Hutchinson Mem. Col. Hutchinson (1846) 31 In all his actions it [valour] ever marched in the same file with wisdom. 1700Blackmore Song of Moses, The foaming files o'ertook them in the chase. 1713Young Last Day ii. 142 The radiant files of angels. 1842Tennyson Locksley Hall 178, I the heir of all the ages, in the foremost files of time.
b. Phrases: † to accept the files, to open one's own ranks for a charging enemy to enter. to double the files: to put two files in one and so make the ranks smaller; also fig. to close their files, see close v. 10 b. to take the right-hand file, to take precedence.
1616Bingham ælian's Tactics xxix. 137 notes, Double your files to the right or left hand. 1629Massinger Picture iii. v, There are Many..who may take..the right-hand file of you. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. i. i. 3 In her husbands absence she is wife and deputy-husband, which makes her double the files of her diligence. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey) s.v. File, To Double the Files. 1868Kinglake Crimea IV. v. 163 It used to be said of the foreigners that they ‘accepted the files’.
c. A small body of men, formerly varying in number from two to twelve or more, but now usually two. Also, when ‘marching in files’ (see file-marching in 11), the two soldiers walking abreast.
1616Bingham ælian's Tactics xxix. 136 notes, When 16 men (that is a file) are so extended, that they possesse as much length as 32 should doe (that is, as 2 files). 1624Capt. Smith Virginia vi. 239 They met with a file of Saluages that let fly their Arrowes. 1647Sprigge Anglia Rediv. ii. iv. (1854) 105 Twelve files of men with firearms and pikes. 1702Steele Funeral v. 70 A file of Men, Bumpkin, is six Men. 1769Junius Lett. xxxi. 142 The general was escorted by a file of musqueteers. 1832Regul. Instr. Cavalry iii. 45 A File, two Soldiers placed one behind the other when formed in ranks, but abreast when marching in file. 1836Marryat Midsh. Easy viii, I shall send a sergeant and a file of marines to fetch you. 1844Regul. & Ord. Army 262 A Non-commissioned Officer, with a file of men.
d. An individual soldier.
1903Med. Record 7 Feb. 227 (Cent. Dict. Suppl.), The poor file who has to carry it, as well as his gun and various other accoutrements. 1916‘Boyd Cable’ Action Front 105 ‘Dusty Miller’, the next file on his left,..spoke to him.
8. A row of persons, animals, or things placed one behind the other. the common file = ‘the common herd’ (obs. or arch.) in file: one after another, in succession.
1603Shakes. Meas. for M. iii. ii. 144 The greater file of the subiect held the Duke to be wise. 1607― Cor. i. vi. 43 The common file..did budge From Rascals worse then they. 1656tr. Hobbes' Elem. Philos. 364 This Hoarse Sound..seemeth to be nothing but the dividing of the air into innumerable and very small Files. 1712–4Pope Rape Lock i. 137 Here files of pins extend their shining rows. a1734North Lives III. 134 He furnished..one state-apartment of divers rooms in file. 1740Somerville Hobbinol iii. 230 Before him march in Files The rural Minstralsy. 1794Wordsw. Guilt & Sorrow iv, Long files of corn-stacks. 1826Disraeli Viv. Grey iii. viii, I push my way into court through files of attorneys. Ibid. vi. i, A double file of wine-glasses and goblets. 1834H. Miller Scenes & Leg. xviii. (1857) 264 An endless file of bare gloomy cliffs. 1838Prescott Ferd. & Is. (1846) I. xi. 432 Whose military prowess had raised him from the common file. 1845Darwin Voy. Nat. ii. (1879) 35 When the ants came to the road they changed their course, and in narrow files reascended the wall. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. I. xvi. 192 The men were standing in silent file on each side of it. 1867M. E. Herbert Cradle L. iv. 121 A file of camels.
9. Chess. One of the eight lines of squares extending across the board from player to player. an open file: one on which no piece or pawn of either colour is standing. to seize the open file: to place a rook or the queen on the first square.
1614A. Saul Chesse-play i. 3 Imagine that the blacke King for his first draught playeth his owne Pawne into the third house in his owne file. 1680Cotton Compl. Gamester iv. (ed. 2) 39 The Rook goes backward and forward in any file. 1860Pardon Handbk. Chess 15 The horizontal rows of squares are termed ranks and the vertical squares files.
10. The run or track of a hare; also, to run her file (see quot. 1838).
1815Sporting Mag. XLV. 109 It is strictly necessary to look into the hares' files for wires. 1838Holloway Provincialisms, When sportsmen say the hare runs her File, that is runs round the same track continually to foil or deceive the dogs.
11. attrib. and Comb., as file-closer, file-leader († file-lead), file-mark; (sense 4) file card, file copy, file cover, file signal. Also file-fire, -firing, firing by files, now called independent firing (opposed to volley-firing); file-marching, marching in files, by turning from a formation in line to the right or left, so that the line becomes a series of files facing to the right or left flank; † file-wort, Gerarde's rendering of botanical L. fīlāgo, the name of a genus of plants.
1966English Studies XLVII. 200 It is as though a scholar..were to decide to re-arrange a mountainous stack of *file-cards.
1836J. Hildreth Dragoon Campaigns Rocky Mts. i. vi. 48 Next in order of inspection came the adjutant, and, commencing at the right of the line, ‘told off’ the battalion by equal troops, the subalterns taking their stations in the rank of *file-closers. 1888Harper's Mag. Apr. 788/1 The..officers hidden as file-closers behind their companies.
1899Daily News 23 Jan. 4/7 Prudent swains might find a *file copy extremely useful in general emergencies. 1909Daily Chron. 2 Sept. 4/7 The file copy of ‘The Daily Chronicle’ of the same date. 1968V. C. Clinton-Baddeley My Foe Outstretch'd ii. 27, I don't know why Miss Cragg couldn't give you a tape... I suppose..she's only got a file copy.
1925J. G. Bruce in E. F. Norton Fight for Everest, 1924 vi. 349 A few *file covers are useful to keep the correspondence on various subjects separate.
1857New Boy at Styles's in Househ. Words 9 May 436 The usual *file-fire of glances was exchanged.
1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. vi. iii. 324 His Jurymen are charged to make feu de file, *file-firing till the ground be clear. 1847Infantry Man. (1854) 40 Independent or file firing may commence.
1775Ash, *File-lead..the foremost man in the file.
1616Bingham ælian's Tactics v. 42 Hee that leadeth the file, who is also called the *file-leader. 1796–7Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 18 The file leaders preserve such distances as they ought from which ever hand they are to dress to. 1809W. Irving Knickerb. (1861) 135 Most people require a..file-leader.
1847Infantry Man. (1854) 49 *File marching may be adopted.
1961Lebende Sprachen VI. 69/2 Office furniture, machines and supplies. *File signal.
1597Gerarde Herbal App, *Filewort is Filago minor.
Add:III. [11.] (sense 4 b) file directory.
1968IEEE Internat. Convention Digest 94/2 A code word or name for the file should be returned to the individual's local computer system and an entry made in his own individual *file directory. 1983WordStar Ref. Manual (Release 3.3) ix. 7 Use F at the Opening Menu to switch the File directory for your currently logged disk drive on or off.
file handling.
1958Communications Assoc. Computing Machinery I. 31 The *file handling commands have been designed to facilitate the addition of new requests. 1980C. S. French Computer Sci. xxxi. 265 The techniques apply mainly to sequential and Index Sequential file handling.
file maintenance.
1959Business Computer Symposium iv. 157 (heading) Large scale *file maintenance. 1986Byte May 270/3 You..have access to file maintenance, textfont controls, and screen-element editing.
file management.
1967Proc. 21st Nat. Conf. Assoc. Computing Machinery 75 (heading) Design of a multi-level *file management system. 1985Personal Computer World Feb. 13 (Advt.), 1-2-3 from Lotus, most popular spreadsheet, file management and business graphics program, is permanently built into the Portable.
file-name.
1971Communications Assoc. Computing Machinery XIV. 409/1 It is assumed that there is a similarity of function between the data names of a programming language and the *file names of an operating system. 1985Personal Computer World Feb. 140/3 It does also display the filename along with a cursor which you can use to edit the filename.
file organization.
1959Proc. Western Joint Computer Conf. 1958 194 (heading) Methods of *file organization for efficient use of IBM RAMAC Files. 1985Byte Dec. 221/2 You can't just say, ‘Well, with version 4 we'll go to a totally new file organization,’ because then conversion programs will need writing.
file transfer.
1971Rev. Electr. Communication Lab. (Tokyo) Mar. 246 An addition of *file transfer function made possible wide applications. 1986Byte Oct. 300/1 Unless you absolutely need the ability to perform file transfers as a background task, there is no reason to purchase a high-priced commercial telecommunications program.
file server Computing, in a network or other multi-user system: a device which manages access to one or more separately stored files of data; cf. *server n. 2 d.
1979Computer Networks III. 396/1 When the *file server gets a read or write request, it translates the logical file access request into one or more physical storage access requests. 1989H. Alshawi et al. in Boguraev & Briscoe Computational Lexicogr. ii. 62 The Remote Procedure Call Protocol..provided the necessary functionality to incorporate the manager into a dictionary server node..—this bypassed the need for costly fileservers and proved the integrity of the design.
▸ file extension n. Computing a string of characters affixed to a file name, usually preceded by a point and serving to indicate the type of file.
[1975R. Clements Request for Comments (Network Working Group) (Electronic text) No. 683 The pathname is specified in the RETR or STOR verb. It includes the directory name, file name, file name extension, and version number.] 1981Proc. 8th Symp. Operating Syst. Princ. (Assoc. Computing Machinery) 96/2 In the TOPS-10 operating system, every file has a 6-character file name and a 3-character *file extension... The file extension indicates the nature of the contents of a file. 1988Computers & Libraries Dec. 5 An MS-DOS filename can consist of up to eight characters;..then up to three more characters which are the file extension, sometimes called the filetype. 2004Christchurch (N.Z.) Press (Nexis) 20 May c6 Safe file extensions include:.jpg,.gif,.bmp,.txt,.rtf, and.doc—although viruses can be contained in the code of.doc (Microsoft Word) files.
▸ file space n. (a) the storage space available for paper files; (b) Computing (usu. in form filespace) the memory space available (esp. to a particular user) for storing electronic files.
1885Washington Post 6 Nov. 1/7 The Treasury Department building..will have about 150,000 cubic feet additional of *file space. 1959Managem. Sci. 6 102 When the entry counter reaches the upper limit of the file space, the file contents are compacted to the bottom of the file space. 1986R. L. Ward in J. A. Burden & R. A. Wright Teaching in Small College vi. 81 Aggregate demand, measured in terminal hours per student per week, file space per user, or some other appropriate metric, should be compared to usage levels reported by other colleges. 1999P. E. Kneale Study Skills for Geogr. Students iv. 37 Mark items of interest as you search, to download via e-mail to your own filespace.
▸ file transfer protocol n. Computing = FTP n.
1971A. Bhushan et al. Request for Comments (Network Working Group) (Electronic text) No. 172. 2 The *file transfer protocol (FTP) is a user-level protocol for file transfer between host computers (including terminal IMP's), on the ARPA computer network. 1993Online Access Spring 41/1, 11 file transfer protocols are available including the popular Zmodem. 1998R. Darnell et al. HTML 4 Unleashed iii. xii. 193 The File Transfer Protocol is still in use for retrieving files from FTP servers, though not as much as in earlier days.
▪ III. † file, n.3 Obs.
[a. OF. file (Fr. fille) girl:—L. fīlia daughter.]
A girl, woman; also in a bad sense, a concubine, a whore.
1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 4540 To rage wyþ ylka fyle [gl. maydgerle]. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. vii. 135 Dame purnele a prestes file, prioresse worth hue neuere.
▪ IV. † file, n.4 Obs.
[a. ON. fýla foulness, fig. foul person, f. fúll foul a.]
A worthless person (male or female); a rascal.
a1300Cursor M. 715 (Cott.) Sorful bicom þat fals file. c1300Havelok 2499 Men mithe thethen a mile Here him rore, that fule file. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 95 Þat did Roberd trauaile for nouht, he was a file. c1450Douce MS. 559 (Bodleian) Quest. 240 My brotheres wyfe may be a fyle.
▪ V. † file, n.5 slang. Obs.|faɪl|
Also 7 foyl, 8 foile.
[First appears in the longer form foyl-cloy (later file-cloy); possibly this is not a comb. of file n., but the original from which the latter is shortened; but the etymology is unknown. Cf. to file a cly (file v.4).]
A pick-pocket. Also, file-cloy, file-lifter.
1673R. Head Canting Acad. 191 The sixth is a Foyl-cloy. 1676Warning for Housekprs. Title-p., Budg and Snudg, File-lifter, Tongue-padder, the private Theif. 1695Kennett Par. Antiq. Gloss. s.v. Putta, A file, or pick-pocket whore. 1708Motteux Rabelais (1737) V. 218 Pickpockets, Divers, Buttocking-Foiles. 1721Bailey, Bulk and File, is when one jostles you while another picks your pocket. 1725New Cant. Dict., File-Cloy, a Pickpocket, Thief or Rogue. 1743Fielding Jon. Wild iv. xiii, A Pick-pocket, or, in truer Language, a File.
▪ VI. † file, n.6 Obs.
Apparently = Fylde, proper name of a district in Lancashire.
1775Sir E. Barry Observ. Wines 416 The..files of Lancashire.
▪ VII. file, n.7 U.S. local.|faɪl|
[app. a. Du. feil, given in Bomhoff's Dict. as variant or synonym of dweil floor-cloth, corresp. to ON. þvegill towel:—OTeut. *þvagilo-z f. *þwahan (OE. þwéan) to wash.]
A cloth used for wiping a floor or a table after scrubbing, a house-flannel.
1851Eliz. Warner Wide W. World II. xxii. (1852) 368 ‘A file!’ said Ellen..‘O I remember now..I didn't know what you meant. Margery calls it a dish-cloth, or a floor-cloth, or something else’. 1860in Bartlett Dict. Amer. 1889in Farmer Americanisms.
▪ VIII. file, v.1|faɪl|
Forms: 3 south. vile, 4–7 fyle, (5 fylin), 6 fill, 5– file.
[f. file n.1; cf. OHG. fîlôn (MHG. vîlen, mod.G. feilen), Du. vijlen.]
1. trans. To rub smooth, reduce the surface of, with a file. to file (one's) teeth: (fig.) to render harmless. to file in (or † a) two: to cut in two by filing.
In the contextual use ‘to sharpen’ (weapons) sometimes associated with affile.
a1225Ancr. R. 284 And nis þet iren acursed þet iwruðeð þe swarture & þe ruhure so hit is ofture & more iviled? c1340Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2225 A denez ax..Fyled in a fylor. c1420Chron. Vilod. 354 And a file to file þis nayle a two. 1542–3Act 34–5 Hen. VIII, c. 6 Pinnes..shal..haue..the point well and rounde, filled, canted and sharped. 1553Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 16 He fyleth and whetteth his horne on a stone. 1599Broughton's Lett. i. 6 It is..time enough to file your teeth, or muzzle you. 1696Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) IV. 65 Some persons are committed for fyling the edges of new shillings. 1787Holcroft tr. Life Baron Trenck (1886) II. 33, I filed the iron which passed through it on the outside. 1876Voyle Milit. Dict. (ed. 3) s.v. File, Leaving the surface that has been filed more or less smooth.
absol.1680Cotton Compl. Gamester i. (ed. 2) 10 Others have made them [false dice] by filing and rounding. 1888Hasluck Mech. Workshop Handybk. 85 Take an old file and file away steadily.
b. fig. To remove the roughness of; to smooth, polish, elaborate to perfection. Also, to wear down; to bring into (a certain condition) as if by filing.
c1400Rom. Rose 3812 His tunge was fyled sharpe & square. 1551Recorde Pathw. Knowl. title-p., All fresshe fine wittes by me are filed. 1568T. Howell Arb. Amitie (1879) 101 Nor he that files his smoothed speeche. c1600Shakes. Sonn. lxxxv, Precious phrase by all Muses fil'd. 1700Dryden Fables Pref. Wks. (Globe) 494 Dante had begun to file their language, at least in verse. 1757Wesley Wks. (1872) IX. 192 The Treatise..which he has had leisure for many years to revise, file, correct, and strengthen against all objections. 1820Scott Ivanhoe ii, And file your tongue to a little more courtesy. 1837Dickens Pickw. xlii, His bones [were] sharp and thin..the iron teeth of confinement and privation had been slowly filing them down for twenty years. 1889Temple Bar Mag. Nov. 406 Lads who would be filed into business shape.
2. To remove (roughnesses, part of a surface, etc.) by filing. Now only with away, off. Also fig.
a1225Ancr. R. 184 He is þi uile & uileð awei al þi rust. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. xxvii. (1611) 241 They that would file away most from the largenesse of that offer. a1618Raleigh Advice of Son (1651) 7 Death hath already filed from you the better part of your natural forces. 1625Fletcher Noble Gent. i. i, That..Files off all rudeness and uncivil 'haviour. 1670Clarendon Ess. Tracts (1727) 216 He will never file away the stain. 1707Norris Treat. Humility iii. 154 It [Humility]..files off the roughnesses of our passions. 1833J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 291 They adjusted the balance by filing away some of the thickness of the longest part of the beam. 1850H. Rogers Ess. II. iv. 204 What was required was to file away asperities [in language]. 1859Tennyson Vivien 621 So grated down and filed away with thought.
▪ IX. file, v.2|faɪl|
Forms: 2–3 fulen, 3 filen(n, 3–6 fele, 4–8 fyle, (6 fyll, 7 feel), 3– file.
[OE. *fýlan, in combs. a-, be-, ᵹefýlan) = MDu. vuilen, OHG. fûlen:—OTeut. *fúljan, f. *fúlo- foul a.
In early southern ME. the spelling fule-n represents both this vb. (the u being sounded |y|) and the originally intransitive vb. foul:—OE. fúlian.]
1. trans. To render (materially) foul, filthy or dirty; to pollute, dirty; to destroy the cleanness or purity of; = defile v.1 2. Obs. exc. dial.
13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 136 No festiual frok but fyled with werkkez. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 2348 A thyng es fouler þat may file Þan þe thyng þat it fyles. c1475Rauf Coilȝear 446 Oft fylit my feit in mony foull fen. 1494Fabyan Chron. vi. cxcvii. 202 He felyd the holy lyker with the fruyte of his wombe. 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §41 If any shepe..be fyled with dounge about the tayle. 1611G. Wilkins Miseries Inforced Marr. v. in Old Plays (1825) V. 86 As not to file my hands in villain's blood. 1721Kelly Sc. Prov. 384 You need not file the House for want of Legs to carry you to the Midding. 1753Stewart's Trial App. 84 A piece which is laid by foul, will..file one's finger. 1792Burns Willie's Wife iv, Her face wad fyle the Logan Water. 1825Southey Tale Paraguay iii. 44 No art of barbarous ornament had..'filed her face. 1888Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk., File, to defile.
fig.1607Tourneur Rev. Trag. ii. Wks. 1878 II. 644 A word that I abhorre to file my lips with. 1606L. Bryskett Civ. Life 78 He will not vouchsafe himselfe to file his hands vpon so base..a person.
b. Proverbs.
a1250Owl & Night. 100 Dahet habbe that ilke beste, That fuleth his owe nest. 1568Jacob & Esau ii. iii. in Hazl. Dodsley II. 216 Claw a churl by the tail and he will file your hand. 1823Galt Entail II. xx. 190 It's a foul bird that files its ain nest.
†c. intr. for refl. To become soiled. Obs.
1565J. Calfhill Answ. Treat. Cross (1846) 132 His garments never filed; nor his shoes..waxed old.
†d. absol. Also intr., to void excrement. Obs.
1560Becon New Catech. Wks. (1844) 62 If doves, or any other fowls or beasts file upon their [i.e. the images] heads, they perceive it not. 1611G. Wilkins Miseries Inforced Marr. iii. in Old Plays (1825) V. 40 Oaths are..like smoak from a chimney that files all the way it goes.
†2. trans. To taint with disease, infect. Obs.
1456Sc. Acts James II (1814) §6 And not lat þame pas away fra þe place..to fyle þe cuntre about thame.
3. To render morally foul or polluted; to destroy the ideal purity of; to corrupt, taint, sully; = defile v.1 3. Obs. exc. arch.
[c1175Cott. Hom. 205 Ich habbe..mid flesches fulðe ifuled me.] c1200Ormin 1959 Þatt nan ne shollde filedd ben Wiþþ hæþenndom þurrh macche. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 287/314 Alle þo..þat his ordre fuylden ouȝt with..worldes feo. a1340Hampole Psalter Prol., To confourme men þat are filyd in adam til crist in newnes of lyf. 1434Misyn Mending of Life 129 No man filys hym-self with wardly bisynes after þat he truly has ioyd in lufe euerlastyng. 1513Douglas æneis iv. Prol. 104 Is that trew luif, guid faith and fame to fyle? 1605Shakes. Macb. iii. i. 65 For Banquo's Issue haue I fil'd my Minde. 1816Byron Ch. Har. iii. cxiii, Had I not filed my mind, which thus itself subdued. 1860Trollope Framley P. xxxiii. 539 Why had he thus filed his mind?
†4. To violate the chastity of, to deflower; to debauch. Obs. = defile v.1 4.
a1400Morte Arth. 978 He has forsede hir and fylede. c1460Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 75 For me was she never fylyd. 15..Peebles to Play xviii, ‘Ye fyl'd me; fy, for shame!’ quoth she.
†5. To sully the honour of, dishonour. Obs. = defile v.1 6.
c1250Gen. & Ex. 3498 Tac ðu noȝt in idel min name[n] Ne swer it les to fele in gamen. c1400Destr. Troy 8120 Euery lede will þe lacke and þi lose file. c1440Gesta Rom. xvii. 62 (Harl. MS.) He made the new lawe, & fylid not þat othir. c1470Harding Chron. ccxviii. v, They the trewce had broken and did fyle. c1500Doctr. Gd. Servaunts 10 A good name that none dooth fyle. 1502Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W. 1506) iv. xxi. 251 If he hath broken and fyled the preuyleges of the chyrche. 1594Jas. VI in Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) IV. 217 That so wise and provident a prince [Elizabeth]..should be so fyled and contemned by a great number of her own subjects. a1668D'Avenant Siege iii. (1673) 75 The bold warrier, that hath deserv'd Fame..once feel'd [mod. ed. fil'd] his victories Are quite forgot.
†6. To charge with a crime, accuse. Obs.
c1460Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 273 To thare prynces thay can hym fyle. c1560Durham Depositions (Surtees) 64 Mr. Ratlyf was in great greif that Doon shuld fyll his man Dixon for certain shepe. 1721Kelly Sc. Prov. 376 You are busy to clear your self when no Body files you. 1759Fountainhall Decisions I. 14 They..were ready to file, by their delation, sundry gentlewomen.
†b. To find guilty, condemn. Obs.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 173 Þe courte opon him sat, þe quest filed him & schent. 1525in Pitcairn Crim. Trials Scot. I. *131 Quhil þai had..fylit þame of þe said slauchtir. 1609Skene Reg. Maj. iv. i. §5 Gif anie man is fyled or condemned of that crime. 1673–50Row Hist. Kirk (1842) 387 He was noted as if he had fylled him.
Hence † filed ppl. a.
1483Cath. Angl. 130/2 Filed, deturpatus. 1590Spenser F.Q. iii. i. 62 She lightly lept out of her filed bedd, And to her weapon ran. 1593Queen Elizabeth Boeth. (E.E.T.S.) 95 His fyled conscience.
▪ X. file, v.3|faɪl|
Also 5–7 fyle, (fill, fyll).
[f. file n.2]
1. a. trans. † To string upon a thread (obs.); to place (documents) on a file; to place (papers) in consecutive order for preservation and reference. Also, † to file together, file up (obs.).
1601Holland Pliny II. 613 Their maner is to bore holes through them, and then to file them vp into chains and collars. 1625B. Jonson Staple of N. i. i, They..sort and file And read the news and issue them. 1653H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xxxvi. 142 At her arm-pits hung a many of little idols..filed together. 1682Grew Anat. Plants Pref. 3 A Letter..now filed amongst others in the Custody of the Royal Society. 1770Franklin Wks. (1887) IV. 364 No care is taken to file the newspapers. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. ii, Miss Abbey filed her receipts.
transf. and fig.1581J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 292 Let not this accusation of Osorius be filed uppe amongst the other hys false reproches and lyes. 1596Spenser F.Q. iv. ii. 32 Dan Chaucer..On fames eternall beadroll worthie to be fyled. 1632Massinger Maid of Hon. iv. iii, I am no churchman: Such a one must file it on record. 1647Fanshawe Pastor Fido 187 Thou dost file One Lye upon another well. 1753Short in Phil. Trans. XLVIII. 14 F. Frisi..files it up, as the sixth of the errors, which he says have been discovered in the Principia. 1778Arminian Mag. I. 201 Lest I should be filed upon that chain.
b. spec. To place (a document) in a due manner among the records of a court or public office; esp. to file a bill (in Chancery), file an information. Also, † to file up (obs.).
1511–2Act 3 Hen. VIII, c. 23 §3 The same accomptes..to be taken and filed up in the Pipe. Ibid. §5 The Kinges said lettres missives annexed and fyled to the same Accomptes. 1529More Dyaloge iii. Wks. 213/1 He..therwith brought in those letters and filed them among the recordes of the court. 1677Lond. Gaz. No. 1211/4 If they do not forthwith File and Enter all such their Proceedings. 1769Blackstone Comm. iv. 305 When an information is filed. 1776Trial of Nundocomar 80/1 An office copy of the executors' accounts..filed the first of October, 1774. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) II. 20 Leaving two daughters, who..afterwards filed a bill in Chancery against the trustees. 1835T. P. Granger Tomlins' Law-Dict. (ed. 4) I. s.v. Bankrupt 11, By what Acts..a Trader may become a Bankrupt... If any..trader shall file..a declaration..that he is insolvent..the..secretary of bankrupts..shall sign a memorandum that such declaration hath been filed. 1853Marsden Early Purit. 387 The king..cancelled the judgments filed against him. 1886Williams in Encycl. Brit. (ed. 9) XX. 342/1 The difference between filing and registration is that the documents filed are filed without alteration, while only an epitome is usually registered. 1957Encycl. Brit. III. 66/2 An act of bankruptcy is committed..if he [sc. the debtor] files in court a declaration of inability to pay his debts. 1966Times 12 Aug. 14/4 About 80 of the world's larger foreign companies whose shares are traded in the United States have filed public financial information about their operations.
fig.1619Middleton Inner-Temple Masques C i b, Thy faire desires in Vertue's Court are fil'de. 1742Young Nt. Th. vii. 502 Let conscience file the sentence in her court.
c. N. Amer. To file a claim on or upon, assert a title to, apply for (a piece of land or a mining claim); also absol.
1871Scribner's Monthly II. 254 The half-breed who had ‘filed on’ the claim alongside Lindley's. 1879[see file v.3 4 c]. 1893Congress. Rec. 11 Feb. 1470/1 Many persons filed upon these lands. 1910W. A. Fraser Red Meekins (1921) 194 First thing in the mornin' we'll hike to the outside an' file the claim. 1911J. F. Wilson Land Claimers 2 The relinquishment has been made in Portland where you filed. 1932T. G. Springer Sagebrush Buckaroo (1933) xxii. 252 You thought to stake out all the locations, file on them with dummies, and..get the cream! 1948Sat. Even. Post 4 Dec. 70/2 He..had assays made and was on the way to file his claim, but I got him drunk and filed myself. 1968R. M. Patterson Finlay's River 29 F. H. Davis was the first man alert enough to stake the fraction and get in first to the mining recorder's office to file.
d. Of a newspaper reporter: to transmit (a story, information, etc.) to his newspaper.
1954D. Dodge Lights of Skaro ii. 57 A reporter could file one, and only one, story the Party didn't like before they cancelled his visa. 1964New Statesman 13 Mar. 387/2 They agreed not to file their stories for that morning's British papers.
†2. To arrange in consecutive order. Obs.
c1450Bk. Curtasye 435 in Babees Bk. 313 Gromes palettes shyn fyle and make litere. c1470Harding Chron. vii. i, In balade thus it shall be made and fyled. 1607Fletcher Woman-hater i. ii, I would have my several courses and my dishes well filed. 1676Grew Anat. Flowers i. §4 (1682) 164 Not being filed one just over another but alternately.
†3. To arrange (men, soldiers) in a file, or files.
1598Barret Theor. Warres iii. i. 44 The other halfe is to be brought vnto the traine of the pikes, and there filed in like maner. 1623Bingham Xenophon 87 They stood a hundred deepe..filing themselues one opposite to the other. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iii. xviii. 200 The King of Sweden never filed his men above six deep in one company. 1643Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. ii. §1 One man is ranked with another, another filed before him, according to the quality of his desert.
4. a. intr. To march or move in file. Also with away, etc. to file off, ‘to wheel off by files from moving in a spacious front, and march in length’ (Stocqueler Mil. Encycl.).
1616Bingham ælian's Tactics xix. 109 notes, The first [kind of Rhombe] both filed and ranked, this neither fileth, nor ranketh. 1703Lond. Gaz. No. 3914/5 Some of their Battalions filed up several steep and narrow Passages. 1704Ibid. No. 4054/1 At night they filed and stood to the Northward. 1708Ibid. No. 4475/3 The Enemy filed off..towards the Thickets. 1749Fielding Tom Jones ix. iii, This fair creature entering the field of battle, immediately filed to that wing where [etc.]. 1796–7Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 89 The whole divisions then file from their reverse flanks. 1808Scott Marm. i. xxxi, Till, filing from the gate, he past That noble train. 1813Wellington in Gurw. Desp. XI. 101 note, The French troops shall file out tomorrow morning. 1858Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. (1872) I. 70 A party of Americans filed into his studio. 1876F. E. Trollope Charming Fellow I. iv. 48 The players file off in the wake of the host. 1883E. E. Hale in Harper's Mag. Dec. 145/2 They filed away for the south.
†b. To march in line, keep pace with; in quot. fig. Obs.
1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, iii. ii. 171 My endeauors Haue euer come too short of my Desires Yet filld [mod. edd. filed] with my Abilities. 1619Fletcher M. Thomas i. ii, Too light..To fyle with her affections.
c. U.S. to file upon: to march upon, occupy (vacant land).
1879H. King in Scribner's Mag. Nov. 132/1 Intervals not yet ‘filed upon’ or ‘opened up’.
5. trans. To cause or order (soldiers) to file off.
1831Examiner 338/1 When the soldiers had returned..they were filed off in four divisions to receive billets for the night.
Hence ˈfiling ppl. a.
1616Bingham ælian's Tactics xix. 110 notes, The filing Rhombe began at the front point & reare-point & proceeded to the flanks.
▪ XI. † file, v.4 slang. Obs.
[Cf. file n.5]
To pick pockets. Also, to file a cly.
a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew s.v. Tout, Do you Bulk and I'll File, if you'll jostle him, I will Pick his Pocket. Ibid. s.v. Cly, Filed a Cly, Pickt a Pocket.
Hence ˈfiler, a pick-pocket. ˈfiling vbl. n., the action of the vb. file, in comb. filing-lay, pocket-picking.
1674Cotton Compl. Gamester i. (1680) 5 Filers, Budgies, Droppers..&c...may all pass under the general..appellation of Rooks. 1719D'Urfey Pills III. 100 A filer my Sister, a Filcher my Brother. 1743Fielding J. Wild iv. ii, I am committed for the Filing-Lay.
▪ XII. file
obs. var. of vile, foil n. |