file 
To place or fasten on a file ; fasten, as papers, 
on a line or wire, for preservation ; hence, to 
arrange in order, or insert in a bundle, as pa- 
pers ; arrange in a given order ; classify. 
Then tin- examiner. register. :mil two clerks. 
They manaue all at home, ami sort, tnajut, 
And seal the news, ami issue them. 
/;. ./,,,,*I,H. staple of News, l. 1. 
Specifically 2. To place in due manner, as a 
document, among the records of a court or a 
public office. 
On ane Farnstein they fyled a bill. 
l!,ii,l of tin' lli-i'ilxirire (Child's Ballads, VI. 134). 
Ashmole was obliged to tilr a bill in Chancery. 
/. Walton, Complete Angler, p. 42, note. 
Thy fair desires in virtue's court xnfil'd. 
Miildlton, Inner-Temple llas(iue. 
3. To receive, or receive and indorse, as a 
document so placed. 
II. iutraiis. To march in a file or line, as sol- 
diers, not abreast, but one after another. 
All ran down without order or ceremony, till we drew 
up in good order, and fled oft*. 
Down to the haven of the Isle, 
The monks and nuns in order file, 
From Cuthbert's cloisters grim. 
Scott, Marmion, ii. 11. 
File left (milit.), a tactical command to change the di- 
rection of a column marching in file 90 toward the left. 
File right (milit.), a tactical command to change the 
direction of a column inarching in flle 90" toward the 
right To flle Off, in milit. tactics, to wheel off by flies 
from marching in line and to inarch in flle parallel to the 
original front, or at right angles to the first direction. 
To flle With, to rank with ; be equal to. 
My endeavours 
Have ever come too short of my desires, 
Vet fild^th my abilities.^ Hen vm . 2 
file 4 (fil), a- and n. [< ME. file, fyle, a var. of 
vile : see vile. As a noun, ME. file, a wretch, a 
villain, a vague term of abuse. Cf. OD. fiel, 
fielt, a vile, worthless, cowardly, lazy, ragged 
fellow. In sense 3 file seems to be popularly 
associated with file'-, as if it meant a 'hard' 
or ' hard-headed' person, a ' hard case.' Slang 
terms are unstable in meaning.] I.t a- Vile. 
The old emperiee, the/i/fe tray tour. 
Octvvian (Weber's Metr. Rom.). 
II. n. If. A wretch; a villain: a vague term 
of abuse. 
Men mithe [might] thethen [thence] a mile 
Here him rore, that fule [foul]/te. Ila,mlok,\. 2498. 
Sorful bicom that false fie [Satan], 
And thoght how he moght man biwill [var. bigyle]. 
Cursor Mundi, 1. 715. 
Philip the Valas was a file ; 
He Bed. ilinot, Poems (ed. Wright), p. 31. 
2. A pickpocket ; a thief. [Slang.] 
The greatest character among them was that of a pick- 
pocket, or, in their language, a. file. 
Fielding, Jonathan Wild, iv. 12. 
3. [See etym.] A hard, cunning person; a 
shrewd person ; a deep or artful man : as, a 
sly old file. [Slang.] 
The Dodger . . . desired the jailer to communicate 
" the names of them two files as was on the bench." 
Dickens, Oliver Twist, xlin. 
file-card (fil'kard), . A piece of card-clothing 
used for cleansing files from metallic dust. 
file-carrier (fil'kar'i-er), n. A holder in which 
a file is mounted, like a frame-saw in its stock. 
file-Cleaner (fil'kle'ner), n. 1. A wire brush 
or a piece of carding used to cleanse files. 
2. A machine employing a sand-blast, used to 
clean and resharpen old files. 
file-closer (firklo'zer), n. Milit., a non-com- 
missioned officer who marches behind troops in 
line, or on the flank when in column, to assist 
in preserving the formation and alinement. 
Front after front the sturdy infantry trudges by, the stu- 
dent-officers hidden ijUt-em*n behind their companies. 
Harper's Mar/., LXXVI. 788. 
file-cloth (fil'k!6th), n. Same as file*, 9. 
file-cutter (firkut"er), n. One who cuts teeth 
in files; a file-maker. 
file-finishing (fil'fm*ish-ing), n. The smooth- 
ing off and finishing of metal- or wood-work 
with files previous to the use of the emery- 
wheel or sandpaper. 
file-firing (fil'fii'"ing),H. The discharge of small- 
arms by files of soldiers firing in succession. 
file-fish (fil'fish), n. Any plectognathous fish 
of the family Bnlistida- : so called from the 
roughly granular skin. The European species is linn*- 
tes caprtscus, a common inhabitant of the Mediterranean, 
and occasionally met with on the southern coasts of Eng- 
land. It grows to the length of 2 feet. B. aculeatus, a 
native of the Indian and American seas, as well as of the 
Bed Sea, is sometimes 12 or 14 inches long. Another is a 
monacanthine fish, Aluttrn tcha'iifi, with a single dorsal 
spine, a moderate abdominal flap not extended beyond the 
File-fish (Aluttra schapfi). 
pelvic spine, and of a dull-greenish color mottled with a 
darker hue. It is abundant along the southern coast of 
the United States. 
filegreent, n. An obsolete form of filigram, fili- 
gree. 
This Treillage is performed with that variety of Orna- 
ments that it resembles t'ilei/reen Work, and is large. 
Lister, Journey to Paris, p. 186. 
file-guard (fil'gard), . A holder, or temporary 
protecting handle, for a file. 
fileiniet. " A Middle English form of mllainy. 
file-leader (fil'le"der), n. M Hit., asoldier placed 
in the front of and leading a file. 
file-marching (fil'mar'ching), )(. Milit., the 
marching of a line two deep, when faced to 
the right or left, so that the front and rear 
ranks march side by side. Brande. 
file-mark (fil'mark), n. The note indorsed by 
a clerk or recording officer upon a document 
filed, usually consisting of the word filed and 
the date of filing. 
filemot (fiTe-mot), n. and a. [Sometimes writ- 
ten philomot; an accom. of F. fetnllemorte, of 
the color of a dead leaf: seefeuUlemorte.] I. . 
The color of a faded leaf; a yellowish-brown 
color. 
The colours you ought to wish for are blue, or filemot 
turned up with red. Steift, Directions to Servants, iii. 
II. . Of a dead-leaf color. 
Labelled folios all filemot with age and use. 
L. Wallace, Ben-Hur, p. 177. 
filer 1 (fi'ler), n. One who files or uses a file in 
cutting, smoothing, or polishing. 
filer' 2 (fi'ler), n. [Cf.filel, ,j.,2.] A pickpocket. 
[Slang.] 
A Filer my sister, a Filcher my Brother, 
A Canter [tramping beggar] my Unckle 
That car'd not for Pelfe ; 
A Lifter [shoplifter] my Aunt, a begger myselfe. 
John Bagford, Collection of Ballads (1671). 
file-Shell (fil'shel), . A bivalve mollusk of 
the family Pholadida?, as Pholas dacti/lus, the 
piddock: so called from the roughness of the 
shell. 
filet (fe-la'), n. [F., dim. oifil, a thread: see 
file 3 , fillet.] In decorative art, a thin line forming 
part of a design or ornamenting an edge or the 
like; afillet: as, afilet in gold in bookbinding; a 
filet of ruby luster on a majolica vase. See fillet. 
Filet guipure Same as darned lace. See lace. 
filial (fil'yal), a. [= F. filial = Pr. Sp. Pg. fil- 
ial = It.fi'iiale, < LL. filialis, of a son or daugh- 
ter/ filius, a son, fern, filia, a daughter; perhaps 
orig. (like E. son, q.v.) 'one born,' < / "fe,*fev, 
bear, produce, in fetus, offspring, fecundus, 
fruitful, femina, woman, etc. : see fetus, fecund, 
female, etc.] 1 . Pertaining to a son or daugh- 
ter ; becoming to or due from a child in relation 
to the parents. 
The Son from the Father had fatherly Love, and the 
Father from the Son a filial Obedience. 
Baker, Chronicles, p. 25. 
It were a sin against the piety 
Of filial duty, if I should forget 
The debt I owe my father. 
Beau, and Fl., Laws of Candy, i. 2. 
With filial confidence inspired, 
Can lift to Heaven an unpresumptuous eye, 
And smiling say, " My Father made them all." 
I'liu'iifr, Task, v. 745. 
2. Bearing the relation of a child. 
Sprigs of like leaf erect their filial heads. Prior. 
The same good office is performed by Property and its 
filial systems of debt and credit. Emersuu, Nature. 
filially (fil'yal-i), adv. In a filial manner. 
There is no servant of Cod but feares filialhi. 
Bp. Hall, Holy Panegyric. 
filiate (fiTi-at), v. t. ; pret. and pp. filiated, ppr. 
filiatinii. [< L. filing, a son, filin, a daughter, 
+ -ii to 2 ; cf. affiliate.] 1. To adopt as a son 
filibuster 
or daughter; take into filial relation. 2. In 
law, to determine judicially the paternity of, as 
a bastard child; hence, to refer to the author 
or maker. 
Many parts indeed authenticate themselves, bearing so 
Strongs likeness that no one c;m hesitate at jiliiltiiu/ them 
upon the ipsissimus Luther. Sonlhrii. The Doctor, ccxxxi. 
3. To establish any analogous close relation be- 
tween ; affiliate. 
Not only are the sciences as now advanced correlated 
by innumerable traces of cousinship, but all the past 
stages of science are filiated by the same ties. 
Pop. Sei. Mo., XXII. 123. 
filiation (fil-i-a'shon), M. [= F. filiation = Sp. 
filiation = Pg. filii't<;ao = It. filiazione; &s filiate 
+ -ion.] 1. The relation of a son ordaughter 
to a parent: the correlative of paternity. 
The fathers finding great authority and energy In this 
confession of Peter for the establishment of the natural 
filiation of the Son of God. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), II. 352. 
2. The establishment of a filial relation, spe- 
cifically by adoption. 
God hath forgot all these paternities, all these filiations, 
all these incorporatings, all these inviscerations of Israel 
into his own bosom, and Israel is become the generation 
of his wrath. Donne, Sermons, vi. 
3. In law, the judicial determination of the pa- 
ternity of a child, especially of a bastard ; af- 
filiation. 
We are now sure that, if the principle on which Solo- 
mon decided a famous case of filiation were correct, there 
can be no doubt as to the justice of our suspicion. 
Macaulay, Sadler's Kef. Refuted. 
4. Any analogous close connection or relation. 
Two of our English letters, n and d, are derived, in 
strict historical filiation, from two of the alphabetic signs 
by means of which the nameof King Sent is expressed. 
Isaac Taylor, The Alphabet, I. 61. 
Everything tends to show that there is direct filiation 
between the rude workmanship of the flint of Sain t- Acheul 
and the skilled workmanship of the flint of the neolithic 
age. If. Joly, Man before Metals (trans.), p. 29. 
filibeg (fil'i-beg), n. [Also written fillibeg and 
(improp.) philibeg, sometimes fillybag ; < Gael. 
feileadh-beag, the kilt in its modern shape, lit. 
' small kilt' (beag, small, little), in distinction 
from fcileadh-mor, the 'large kilt' (mor, large, 
great), the kilt in its primitive form, consist- 
ing of one piece, generally of tartan, covering, 
when spread, the whole body, and girt around 
the waist; feileadh, feile, the kilt, cf. fillfadh, 
a fold, plait, < fill, v., fold.] A plaited petticoat 
or skirt reaching only to the knees, worn by 
men in the Highlands of Scotland ; a kilt. 
The filibeg or lower garment is still very common. 
Johnson, Jour, to Western Isles. 
Upon the road to Port-ree, Prince Charles changed his 
dress, and put on man's clothes again, a tartan short coat 
and waistcoat, with philibeij and short hose, a plaid and 
wig, and bonnet. Bom'ell, Journal, p. 222. 
filibuster (fil'i-bus-ter), B. [< Sp. filibnstero 
(with inserted i in first syllable) (= It. filibus- 
tiere), < F.flibustier, earlier fribustier, a filibus- 
ter, bucaneer, freebooter (with inserted, but 
orig. not pronounced a common fact in 17th 
century F., after the analogy of words in which 
an original s was retained in spelling, though 
it had become silent in pronunciation); < D. 
vrijbueter (Kilian, 1598), now vrijbuiter, a free- 
booter, = E. freebooter = Dan. fribytter = Sw. 
fribi/tare = G.freibenter(ihe E., Dan., Sw., and 
G. words being not independent formations, 
but formed after the analogy of the D. vrijbue- 
ter, which appears to be the oldest form). In 
a Dutch work ("De Americaensche Zee-Roo- 
vers," 1678) written by a bucaneer named John 
Oexmelin, otherwise Exquemelin or Esqueme- 
ling, and translated into French and Spanish, 
and subsequently into English (1684), the ad- 
venturers of the West Indies are said to have 
been divided into three classes the bucaneers 
(boucaniers) or hunters (see bucaneer), the fili- 
busters (fiibitstiers) or rovers, and the farmers 
(habitaiis); and the flibmtiers are said to have 
assumed their name "from the English word 
fiibnster, which means rover"; this must re- 
fer to E. freebooter, but the D. form appears 
to be the original. The bucaneers consisted 
mainly of French, Dutch, and English adven- 
turers, and not to any extent of Spaniards, with 
whom they were constantly at war ; the Sp. form 
filibnstero can only be an accom. of the F. fll- 
bnstier; the s is now pronounced in F., etc., be- 
cause, as now used, it is taken from the books, 
as spelled. The commonly assumed connection 
with E. fit/boat (Sp.flibote, filibote, F. flibot, < D. 
rlieboot: seefiyboat) has no support either in 
form or in historical fact. ] 1 . A freebooter : in 
history, a name distinctively applied to the West 
