Indian file

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
Indian file
    n 1: a line of persons or things ranged one behind the other
         [syn: {file}, {single file}, {Indian file}]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Indian \In"di*an\ (?; 277), a. [From India, and this fr. Indus,
   the name of a river in Asia, L. Indus, Gr. ?, OPers. Hindu,
   name of the land on the Indus, Skr. sindhu river, the Indus.
   Cf. {Hindu}.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. Of or pertaining to India proper; also to the East Indies,
      or, sometimes, to the West Indies.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Of or pertaining to the aborigines, or Indians, of
      America; as, Indian wars; the Indian tomahawk.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Made of maize or Indian corn; as, Indian corn, Indian
      meal, Indian bread, and the like. [U.S.]
      [1913 Webster]

   {Indian} bay (Bot.), a lauraceous tree ({Persea Indica}).

   {Indian bean} (Bot.), a name of the catalpa.

   {Indian berry}. (Bot.) Same as {Cocculus indicus}.

   {Indian bread}. (Bot.) Same as {Cassava}.

   {Indian club}, a wooden club, which is swung by the hand for
      gymnastic exercise.

   {Indian cordage}, cordage made of the fibers of cocoanut
      husk.

   {Indian cress} (Bot.), nasturtium. See {Nasturtium}, 2.

   {Indian cucumber} (Bot.), a plant of the genus {Medeola}
      ({Medeola Virginica}), a common in woods in the United
      States. The white rootstock has a taste like cucumbers.

   {Indian currant} (Bot.), a plant of the genus
      {Symphoricarpus} ({Symphoricarpus vulgaris}), bearing
      small red berries.

   {Indian dye}, the puccoon.

   {Indian fig}. (Bot.)
      (a) The banyan. See {Banyan}.
      (b) The prickly pear.

   {Indian file}, single file; arrangement of persons in a row
      following one after another, the usual way among Indians
      of traversing woods, especially when on the war path.

   {Indian fire}, a pyrotechnic composition of sulphur, niter,
      and realgar, burning with a brilliant white light.

   {Indian grass} (Bot.), a coarse, high grass ({Chrysopogon
      nutans}), common in the southern portions of the United
      States; wood grass. --Gray.

   {Indian hemp}. (Bot.)
      (a) A plant of the genus {Apocynum} ({Apocynum
          cannabinum}), having a milky juice, and a tough,
          fibrous bark, whence the name. The root it used in
          medicine and is both emetic and cathartic in
          properties.
      (b) The variety of common hemp ({Cannabis Indica}), from
          which hasheesh is obtained.

   {Indian mallow} (Bot.), the velvet leaf ({Abutilon
      Avicenn[ae]}). See {Abutilon}.

   {Indian meal}, ground corn or maize. [U.S.]

   {Indian millet} (Bot.), a tall annual grass ({Sorghum
      vulgare}), having many varieties, among which are broom
      corn, Guinea corn, durra, and the Chinese sugar cane. It
      is called also {Guinea corn}. See {Durra}.

   {Indian ox} (Zool.), the zebu.

   {Indian paint}. See {Bloodroot}.

   {Indian paper}. See {India paper}, under {India}.

   {Indian physic} (Bot.), a plant of two species of the genus
      {Gillenia} ({Gillenia trifoliata}, and {Gillenia
      stipulacea}), common in the United States, the roots of
      which are used in medicine as a mild emetic; -- called
      also {American ipecac}, and {bowman's root}. --Gray.

   {Indian pink}. (Bot.)
      (a) The Cypress vine ({Ipom[oe]a Quamoclit}); -- so called
          in the West Indies.
      (b) See {China pink}, under {China}.

   {Indian pipe} (Bot.), a low, fleshy herb ({Monotropa
      uniflora}), growing in clusters in dark woods, and having
      scalelike leaves, and a solitary nodding flower. The whole
      plant is waxy white, but turns black in drying.

   {Indian plantain} (Bot.), a name given to several species of
      the genus {Cacalia}, tall herbs with composite white
      flowers, common through the United States in rich woods.
      --Gray.

   {Indian poke} (Bot.), a plant usually known as the {white
      hellebore} ({Veratrum viride}).

   {Indian pudding}, a pudding of which the chief ingredients
      are Indian meal, milk, and molasses.

   {Indian purple}.
      (a) A dull purple color.
      (b) The pigment of the same name, intensely blue and
          black.

   {Indian red}.
      (a) A purplish red earth or pigment composed of a silicate
          of iron and alumina, with magnesia. It comes from the
          Persian Gulf. Called also {Persian red}.
      (b) See {Almagra}.

   {Indian rice} (Bot.), a reedlike water grass. See {Rice}.

   {Indian shot} (Bot.), a plant of the genus {Canna} ({Canna
      Indica}). The hard black seeds are as large as swan shot.
      See {Canna}.

   {Indian summer}, in the United States, a period of warm and
      pleasant weather occurring late in autumn. See under
      {Summer}.

   {Indian tobacco} (Bot.), a species of {Lobelia}. See
      {Lobelia}.

   {Indian turnip} (Bot.), an American plant of the genus
      {Aris[ae]ma}. {Aris[ae]ma triphyllum} has a wrinkled
      farinaceous root resembling a small turnip, but with a
      very acrid juice. See {Jack in the Pulpit}, and
      {Wake-robin}.

   {Indian wheat}, maize or Indian corn.

   {Indian yellow}.
      (a) An intense rich yellow color, deeper than gamboge but
          less pure than cadmium.
      (b) See {Euxanthin}.
          [1913 Webster]
    
from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
File \File\ (f[imac]l), n. [F. file row (cf. Pr., Sp., Pg., &
   It. fila), LL. fila, fr. L. filum a thread. Cf. {Enfilade},
   {Filament}, {Fillet}.]
   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.
             [1913 Webster]

   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.
         --Farrow.
      (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.
          [1913 Webster]

                It is upon a file with the duke's other letters.
                                                  --Shak.
      (d) A roll or list. "A file of all the gentry." --Shak.

   2. Course of thought; thread of narration. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

            Let me resume the file of my narration. --Sir H.
                                                  Wotton.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [PJC]

   {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. --Brande & C. 

   {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. --Wilhelm.
      (b) Those who constitute the bulk or working members of a
          party, society, etc., in distinction from the leaders.
          [1913 Webster]
    
from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
55 Moby Thesaurus words for "Indian file":
      array, articulation, bank, buzz, catena, catenation, chain,
      chain reaction, chaining, concatenation, connection, consecution,
      continuum, course, cycle, descent, drone, endless belt,
      endless round, file, filiation, gamut, gradation, hum, line,
      lineage, monotone, nexus, pendulum, periodicity, plenum,
      powder train, progression, queue, range, rank, recurrence,
      reticulation, rotation, round, routine, row, run, scale, sequence,
      series, single file, spectrum, string, succession, swath, thread,
      tier, train, windrow

    

[email protected]