defile
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
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From Middle English defilen (“to make dirty”), alteration (due to Middle English defoulen, defoilen (“to trample, abuse”)) of Middle English befilen (“to defile, make foul”), from Old English befȳlan (“to befoul, defile”), from Proto-Germanic *bi- + *fūlijaną (“to defile, make filthy”). Cognate with Dutch bevuilen (“to defile, soil”). More at be-, file, foul.
Verb
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- (transitive) To make unclean, dirty, or impure; soil; befoul.
- 1611, “Job 16:15”, in King James Bible:
- I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, And defiled my horn in the dust.
- 1911, The Forerunner, volume 2, page 271:
- “That's only dirt—it will brush off.” But he looked at me with his haggard hopeless eyes and said—— “It is mud. Black, slimy, horrible mud. I am defiled."
- (transitive) To vandalize or add inappropriate contents to something considered sacred or special; desecrate
- To urinate on someone's grave is an example of a way to defile it.
- (transitive) To deprive or ruin someone's (sexual) purity or chastity, often not consensually; stain; tarnish; mar; rape
- The serial rapist kidnapped and defiled a six-year-old girl.
Synonyms
- (make unclean): contaminate, pollute, spoil, sully; see also Thesaurus:dirty
- (vandalize something considered sacred): desecrate, profane; see also Thesaurus:desecrate
- (violate chastity of): ravish, violate, vitiate
Antonyms
- (make unclean): clean, purify; see also Thesaurus:make clean
- (vandalize something considered sacred): sanctify; see also Thesaurus:consecrate
Related terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2
Earlier defilee, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] French défilé, from défiler (“to march past”), from file (“file”).
Noun
defile (plural defiles)
- A narrow way or passage, e.g. between mountains.
- (Can we date this quote by Plutarch and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?), "Life of Nicias", tr. Ian Scott-Kilvert, Penguin, p. 239:
- The next morning the enemy were on the march before him, seized the defiles, blocked the fords of the rivers, destroyed the bridges, and sent out cavalry to patrol the open ground, so as to oppose the Athenians at every step as they retreated.
- (Can we date this quote by Plutarch and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?), "Life of Nicias", tr. Ian Scott-Kilvert, Penguin, p. 239:
- A single file, such as of soldiers.
- The act of defilading a fortress, or of raising the exterior works in order to protect the interior.
Translations
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See also
Verb
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- (archaic, intransitive) To march in a single file.
- 1979, Cormac McCarthy, Suttree, Random House, p.138:
- They defiled down a gully to the water and bunched and jerked their noses at it and came back.
- 1979, Cormac McCarthy, Suttree, Random House, p.138:
Translations
Anagrams
Serbo-Croatian
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] French défilé.
Pronunciation
Noun
defìlē m (Cyrillic spelling дефѝле̄)
Declension
References
- “defile” in Hrvatski jezični portal
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/aɪl
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with quotations
- English terms derived from French
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- Requests for date/Plutarch
- English terms with archaic senses
- English intransitive verbs
- English terms with multiple etymologies
- en:Landforms
- Serbo-Croatian terms derived from French
- Serbo-Croatian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Serbo-Croatian lemmas
- Serbo-Croatian nouns
- Serbo-Croatian masculine nouns