file
verb/faɪl/
/faɪl/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they file | /faɪl/ /faɪl/ |
| he / she / it files | /faɪlz/ /faɪlz/ |
| past simple filed | /faɪld/ /faɪld/ |
| past participle filed | /faɪld/ /faɪld/ |
| -ing form filing | /ˈfaɪlɪŋ/ /ˈfaɪlɪŋ/ |
- [transitive] to put and keep paper documents in a particular place and in a particular order so that you can find them easily; to put a paper document in a box, file, etc.
- file something (+ adv./prep.) The forms should be filed alphabetically.
- Please file it in my ‘Research’ file.
- file something away I filed the letters away in a drawer.
Extra Examples- She mentally filed the name away for later.
- The card is filed alphabetically under the name of the editor.
- These notes should be carefully filed away for future reference.
- The report was filed away in the archives.
- Wynne-Jones should be filed under ‘W’.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- alphabetically
- electronically
- mentally
- …
- under
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- [intransitive, transitive] (law) to present something so that it can be officially recorded and dealt with
- file for something to file for divorce/bankruptcy
- file something to file a lawsuit/complaint/petition
- file something against somebody/something No criminal charges were filed against him.
- file to do something He filed to divorce his wife.
Extra Examples- A copy of the notice must be filed with the court.
- He filed a lawsuit against the company for $100 000 in damages.
- He has now formally filed a complaint against the police.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- formally
- officially
- jointly
- …
- for
- with
- [transitive] file something (of a journalist) to send a report or a story to your employer
- Newspaper and television reporters filed dozens of stories from the scene of the fire.
- [intransitive] + adv./prep. to walk in a line of people, one after the other, in a particular direction
- The doors of the museum opened and the visitors began to file in.
- The long line of mourners filed silently past.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- silently
- out
- past
- …
- in
- into
- out of
- …
- [transitive] file something (away/down, etc.) to cut or shape something or make something smooth using a file
- to file your nails
Word Originverb senses 1 to 3 late Middle English (as a verb meaning ‘string documents on a thread or wire to keep them in order’): from French filer ‘to string’, fil ‘a thread’, both from Latin filum ‘a thread’. Compare with file ‘line’. verb sense 4 late 16th cent.: from French file, from filer ‘to string’. verb sense 5 Old English fīl, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch vijl and German Feile.
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file