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Single file   /sˈɪŋgəl faɪl/   Listen
noun
File  n.  
1.
An orderly succession; a line; a row; as:
(a)
(Mil.) A row of soldiers ranged one behind another; in contradistinction to rank, which designates a row of soldiers standing abreast; a number consisting the depth of a body of troops, which, in the ordinary modern formation, consists of two men, the battalion standing two deep, or in two ranks. Note: The number of files in a company describes its width, as the number of ranks does its depth; thus, 100 men in "fours deep" would be spoken of as 25 files in 4 ranks.
(b)
An orderly collection of papers, arranged in sequence or classified for preservation and reference; as, files of letters or of newspapers; this mail brings English files to the 15th instant.
(c)
The line, wire, or other contrivance, by which papers are put and kept in order. "It is upon a file with the duke's other letters."
(d)
A roll or list. "A file of all the gentry."
2.
Course of thought; thread of narration. (Obs.) "Let me resume the file of my narration."
3.
(computers) A collection of data on a digital recording medium treated as a unit for the purpose of recording, reading, storage, or indexing; such a file is typically accessible by computer programs by the use of a file name. The data may be of any type codable digitally, such as simple ASCII-coded text, complex binary-coded data, or an executable program, or may be itself a collection of other files.
File firing, the act of firing by file, or each file independently of others.
File leader, the soldier at the front of any file, who covers and leads those in rear of him.
File marching, the marching of a line two deep, when faced to the right or left, so that the front and rear rank march side by side.
Indian file, or Single file, a line of people marching one behind another; a single row. Also used adverbially; as, to march Indian file.
On file, preserved in an orderly collection; recorded in some database.
Rank and file.
(a)
The body of soldiers constituting the mass of an army, including corporals and privates.
(b)
Those who constitute the bulk or working members of a party, society, etc., in distinction from the leaders.



adjective
Single  adj.  
1.
One only, as distinguished from more than one; consisting of one alone; individual; separate; as, a single star. "No single man is born with a right of controlling the opinions of all the rest."
2.
Alone; having no companion. "Who single hast maintained, Against revolted multitudes, the cause Of truth."
3.
Hence, unmarried; as, a single man or woman. "Grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness." "Single chose to live, and shunned to wed."
4.
Not doubled, twisted together, or combined with others; as, a single thread; a single strand of a rope.
5.
Performed by one person, or one on each side; as, a single combat. "These shifts refuted, answer thy appellant,... Who now defles thee thrice ti single fight."
6.
Uncompounded; pure; unmixed. "Simple ideas are opposed to complex, and single to compound."
7.
Not deceitful or artful; honest; sincere. "I speak it with a single heart."
8.
Simple; not wise; weak; silly. (Obs.) "He utters such single matter in so infantly a voice."
Single ale, Single beer, or Single drink, small ale, etc., as contrasted with double ale, etc., which is stronger. (Obs.)
Single bill (Law), a written engagement, generally under seal, for the payment of money, without a penalty.
Single court (Lawn Tennis), a court laid out for only two players.
Single-cut file. See the Note under 4th File.
Single entry. See under Bookkeeping.
Single file. See under 1st File.
Single flower (Bot.), a flower with but one set of petals, as a wild rose.
Single whip (Naut.), a single rope running through a fixed block.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Single file" Quotes from Famous Books



... affair, weighing over half a ton, and provided by a thoughtful Government for the transit of travellers "stuck up" by the river when in flood. An army of roughriders might have launched it, but as bushmen generally travel in single file, it lay a silent reproach ...
— We of the Never-Never • Jeanie "Mrs. Aeneas" Gunn

... and rough wind. Rapid slopes, covered with yellow and dry grass, now seen in shade, and now suddenly illumined, seemed like precipices, the depth of which the eye sought in vain to measure. We proceeded onwards, in single file, and endeavoured to support ourselves by our hands, lest we should roll down. The guides, who carried our instruments, abandoned us successively, to sleep on the mountain. Among those who remained with ...
— Equinoctial Regions of America • Alexander von Humboldt

... line of shadow a door opened out, and through its portals came a little piper dressed in green and gold. He stepped down, followed by another and another, until they were nine in all, and then the door slung back again. Down through the heather marched the pipers in single file, and all the time they played a music so sweet that the birds, who had gone to sleep in their nests, came out upon the branches to listen to them, and then they crossed the meadow, and they went on and on until they ...
— The Golden Spears - And Other Fairy Tales • Edmund Leamy

... braves performed this office, Silvertip leaned against a tree and took no notice of the brothers. When they were thus securely tied one of their captors addressed the chief, who at once led the way westward through the forest. The savages followed in single file, with Joe and Jim in the middle of the line. The last Indian tried to mount Lance; but the thoroughbred would have none of him, and after several efforts the savage was compelled to desist. Mose trotted reluctantly along ...
— The Spirit of the Border - A Romance of the Early Settlers in the Ohio Valley • Zane Grey

... 200 feet, the loftiest being 280 feet. They assume the most fantastic shapes. The passage through the fissures is so narrow that in some places it can be threaded by one man alone at a time, the others following in single file. A rivulet, clear as crystal, traverses the network of gullies, and in one place forms a tiny cascade. One nook is called the Southern Siberia, because in it the snow lies unmelted ...
— Castles and Cave Dwellings of Europe • Sabine Baring-Gould


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