file

Universal Words noun, verb noun 1 a box or folded piece of card, often with a wire or metal rod, for keeping loose papers together and in order: a box file * A stack of files awaited me on my desk. 2 a collection of information stored together in a computer, under a particular name: to access / copy / create / delete / save a file * Every file on the same disk must have a different name. 3 ~ (on sb) a file and the information it contains, for example about a particular person or subject: secret police files * to have / open / keep a confidential file on sb * Your application will be kept on file (= in a file, to be used later). * Police have reopened the file (= have started collecting information again) on the missing girl. 4 a metal tool with a rough surface for cutting or shaping hard substances or for making them smooth seealsoNAILFILE 5 a line of people or things, one behind the other: They set off in file behind the teacher. IDIOMS (in) Indian / single file (in) one line, one behind the other: They made their way in single file along the cliff path. verb 1 [VN] ~ sth (away) to put and keep documents, etc. in a particular place and in a particular order so that you can find them easily; to put a document into a file: The forms should be filed alphabetically. * I filed the letters away in a drawer. * Please file it in my 'Research' file. 2 ~ (for sth) (law) to present sth so that it can be officially recorded and dealt with: [V] to file for divorce / bankruptcy * [VN] to file a claim / a complaint / a petition / a lawsuit [also Vtoinf] 3 [VN] (of a journalist) to send a report or a story to your employer 4 [V+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. 5 [VN] ~ sth (away / down, etc.) to cut or shape sth or make sth smooth using a file: to file your nails