Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FILCH'ING, ppr.

Stealing; taking from another wrongfully; pilfering.

FILCH'ING-LY, adv.

By pilfering; in a thievish manner.

FILE, n. [Fr. file, a row; filet, a thread; L. filum; Sp. hilo; Port. fila; It. fila, filo; Russ. biel, a thread of flax. The primary sense is probably to draw out or extend, or to twist. W. filliaw, to twist.]

1. A thread, string or line; particularly, a line or wire on which papers are strung in due order for preservation, and for conveniently finding them when wanted. Documents are kept on file.
2. The whole number of papers strung on a line or wire; as, a file of writs. A file is a record of court.
3. A bundle of papers tied together, with the title of each indorsed; the mode of arranging and keeping papers being changed, without a change of names.
4. A roll, list or catalogue. Shak.
5. A row of soldiers ranged one behind another, from front to rear; the number of men constituting the depth of the battalion or squadron.

FILE, n. [Sax. feol; D. vyl; G. feile; Sw. and Dan. fil, a file; Russ. pila, a saw; perhaps connected in origin with polish, – which see. Class Bl, No. 30, 32, 33, 45.]

An instrument used in smoothing and polishing metals, formed of iron or steel, and cut in little furrows.

FILE, v.i.

To march in a file or line, as soldiers not abreast; but one after another.

FILE, v.t.¹

1. To string; to fasten, as papers, on a line or wire for preservation. Declarations and affidavits must be filed. An original writ may be filed after judgment.
2. To arrange or insert in a bundle, as papers, indorsing the title on each paper. This is now the more common mode of filing papers in public and private offices.
3. To present or exhibit officially, or for trial; as, to file a bill in chancery.

FILE, v.t.² [Russ. opilevayu, and spilivayu, to file.]

1. To rub and smooth with a file; to polish.
2. To cut as with a file; to wear off or away by friction; as to file off a tooth.
3. [from Defile.] To foul or defile. [Not used.] Shak.

FILE-CUT-TER, n.

A maker of files. Moron.

FIL-ED, pp.

Placed on a line or wire; placed in a bundle and indorsed; smoothed or polished with a file.

FILE-LEAD-ER, n.

The soldier placed in the front of a file. Cyc.

FIL'E-MOT, n. [Fr. feuille-morte, a dead leaf.]

A yellowish brown color; the color of a faded leaf. Swift.

FIL-ER, n.

One who uses a file in smoothing and polishing.

FIL'IAL, a. [fil'yal; Fr. filial; It. filiale, Sp. filial; from L. filius, a son, filia, a daughter. Sp. hijo, Coptic falu, Sans. bala or bali. It agrees in elements with foal and pullus. The Welsh has hiliaw and eppiliaw, to bring forth; hil and eppil, progeny.]

1. Pertaining to a son or daughter; becoming a child in relation to his parents. Filial love is such an affection as a child naturally bears to his parents. Filial duty or obedience is such duty or obedience as the child owes to his parents.
2. Bearing the relation of a son. Sprigs of like leaf erect their filial heads. Prior.

FIL'IAL-LY, a.

In a filial manner.

FIL-I-A'TION, n. [Fr. from L. filius, a son.]

1. The relation of a son or child to a father; correlative to paternity. Hale.
2. Adoption.

FIL'I-COID, a. [filices and ειδος.]

In botany, fern-like; having the form of ferns.

FIL'I-COLD, n.

A plant resembling ferns. Lindley.

FIL'I-FORM, a. [L. filum, a thread, and form.]

Having the form of a thread or filament; of equal thickness from top to bottom; as, a filiform style or peduncle. Martyn.

FIL'I-GRANE, n.

Sometimes written filigree. [L. filum, a thread, and granum, a grain.] A kind of enrichment on gold and silver, wrought delicately in the manner of little threads or grains, or of both intermixed. Encyc.

FIL'I-GRAN-ED, or FIL'I-GREED, a.

Ornamented with filigrane. Tatter.

FIL-ING, ppr.

Placing on a string or wire, or in a bundle of papers; presenting for trial; marching in a file; smoothing with a file.

FIL-INGS, n. [plur.]

Fragments or particles rubbed off by the act of filing; as, filings of iron.

FILL, n.

Fullness; as much as supplies want; as much as gives complete satisfaction. Eat and drink to the fill. Take your fill of joy. The land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill and dwell therein in safety. Lev. xxv.

FILL, v.i.

1. To fill a cup or glass for drinking; to give to drink. In the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double. Rev. xviii.
2. To grow or become full. Corn fills well in a warm season. A mill pond fills during the night.
3. To glut; to satiate. To fill up, to grow or become full. The channel of the river fills up with sand, every spring.

FILL, v.t. [Sax. fyllan, gefillan; D. vullen; G. füllen; Sw. fylla; Dan. fylder, to fill; Fr. fouler, to full, to tread, that is, to press, to crowd; foule, a crowd; Gr. πολυς, πολλοι; allied perhaps to fold and felt; Ir. fillim; Gr. πιλος; πιλοω, to stuff; L. pilus, pileus. We are told that the Gr. πελαω, to approach, signified originally to thrust or drive, L. pello, and contracted into πλαω, it is rendered to fill, and πλεος is full. If a vowel was originally used between π and λ, in these words, they coincide with fill; and the L. pleo, (for peleo,) in all its compounds, is the same word. In Russ. polnei is full; polnyu, to fill. See Class BI, No, 9, 11, 12, 15, 22, 30, 45, 47.]

1. Properly, to press; to crowd; to stuff. Hence, to put or pour in, till the thing will hold no more; as, to fill a basket, a bottle, a vessel. Fill the water-pots with water: and they filled them to the brim. John ii.
2. To store; to supply with abundance. Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas. Gen. i.
3. To cause to abound; to make universally prevalent. The earth was filled with violence. Gen. vi.
4. To satisfy; to content. Whence should we have so much bread in the wildernesses; as, to fill so great a multitude? Matth. xv.
5. To glut; to surfeit. Things that are sweet and fat are more filling. Bacon.
6. To make plump; as, in a good season the grain is well filled. In the summer of 1816, the driest and coldest which the oldest man remembered, the rye was so well filled, that the grain protruded beyond the husk, and a shock yielded a speck more than in common years.
7. To press and dilate on all sides or to the extremities; as, the sails were filled.
8. To supply with liquor; to pour into; as, to fill a glass for a guest.
9. To supply with an incumbent; as, to fill an office or vacancy. Hamilton.
10. To hold; to possess and perform the duties of; to officiate in, as an incumbent; as, a king fills a throne; the president fills the office of chief magistrate; the speaker of the house fills the chair.
11. In seamanship, to brace the sails so that the wind will bear upon them and dilate them. To fill out, to extend or enlarge to the desired limit. To fill up, to make full. It pours the bliss that fills up all the mind. Pope. But in this and many other cases, the use of up weakens the force of the phrase. #2. To occupy; to fill. Seek to fill up life with useful employments. #3. To fill; to occupy the whole extent; as, to fill up a given space. #4. To engage or employ; as, to fill up time. #5. To complete; as, to fill up the measure of sin. Matth. xxiii. #6. To complete.; to accomplish. And fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ. Col. i.