files

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of file.

   The detective pulled several files from the cabinet before the meeting.

   All the patient files were transferred to a secure server overnight.

   Note

   A regular -s plural that serves every noun meaning at once. It can mean folders of collated papers, rolls or lists, named units of data on a disk, or even rows of kitchen cabinets under a countertop. In US and Canadian usage it can also be short for file cabinets. The same spelling is the present-tense verb, so in "she files the files" a determiner usually marks the noun.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of file.

   The clerk files every complaint within an hour of receiving it.

   Each morning she files the overnight reports before the staff meeting.

   Note

   Most uses take a direct object. A clerk files papers with an office, a correspondent files a story, an archivist files records in their proper order, and a computer user files data on a disk. One meaning stands without an object: someone who files is submitting a formal request, and what is sought follows as a phrase. An older sense, simply to set things in order, is now obsolete.

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