Defile definition

dĭ-fīl
defiled defiles defiling
See word origin
Frequency:
To make filthy or dirty; pollute.

Defile a river with sewage.

verb
11
4
A narrow gorge or pass that restricts lateral movement, as of troops.
noun
9
2
To make unclean or unfit for ceremonial use; desecrate.

Defile a temple.

verb
6
0
To have sexual intercourse with (a woman who is a virgin).
verb
9
5
To debase the pureness or excellence of; corrupt.

A country landscape that was defiled by urban sprawl.

verb
2
0
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To make impure; to make dirty.
verb
2
0
To defile is defined as to make something unclean, either literally or figuratively.

When you scribble over a beautiful painting, this is an example of a situation where you defile the painting.

verb
1
0
To make filthy or dirty; pollute.
verb
1
0
To make ceremonially unclean.
verb
1
0
To corrupt.
verb
1
0
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(old-fashioned, literary) To violate the chastity of; deflower.
verb
1
0
A narrow way or passage, e.g. between mountains.
noun
1
0
(obsolete, intransitive) To march in a single file.
verb
1
0
To profane or sully (a reputation, for example).
verb
0
0
To march in single file or in files or columns.
verb
0
0
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A march in a line.
noun
0
0
To profane or sully.

Defiled his good name.

verb
0
0
To march in single file or by files.
verb
0
0
A narrow passage through which troops must defile.
noun
0
0
Any narrow valley or mountain pass.
noun
0
0
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A march in single file or by files.
noun
0
0
A single file, such as of soldiers.
noun
0
0
The act of defilading a fortress, or of raising the exterior works in order to protect the interior.
noun
0
0

Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
defile
Plural:
defiles

Origin of defile

  • Middle English defilen alteration (influenced by filen to befoul) (from Old English fȳlan pū̆- in Indo-European roots) of defoulen to trample on, abuse, pollute from Old French defouler to trample, full cloth de- de- fouler to trample, beat down full2

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • French défiler dé- away, off (from Old French de- de–) file line, file (from Old French filer to spin thread, march in line file1) N., from French défilé from past participle of défiler

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • 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.

    From Wiktionary

  • Earlier defilee, from French défilé, from défiler (“to march past”), from file (“file”).

    From Wiktionary

Defile Sentence Examples

  • The story is that the Romans, entangled in a defile, were suffering from thirst.

  • To be distinguished from this word is " soil," to make dirty, to stain, defile.

  • To harvest it would need the forest road bulldozed on through the defile.

  • Finally, a narrow defile, a passage barely a mile across was found.

  • He accordingly fell back a few miles next morning to a strong position covering the exits from the Bar-sur-Aube defile.

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Words near defile in the Dictionary