DEFILE  , a military expression for a passage, to See also:

• MARCH
• MARCH (1) (from Fr. marcher, to walk; the earliest sense in French appears to be " to trample," and the origin has usually been found in the Lat. marcus, hammer; Low Lat. marcare, to hammer; hence to beat the road with the regular tread of a soldier: cf.
• MARCH, AUZIAS (c. "1395-1458)
• MARCH, EARLS OF
• MARCH, FRANCIS ANDREW (1825– )

march through which troops are compelled to " defile," or narrow their front (from the Fr. defiler, to march in a See also:

• LINE

line, or by" files ") . The word is usually applied to a See also:

• RAVINE

ravine or See also:

• GORGE

gorge in a range of hills, but a See also:

• CAUSEWAY

causeway over a See also:

• RIVER

river, a See also:

• BRIDGE

bridge and even a See also:

• VILLAGE

village may equally be called a defile . The See also:

• TERM

term is also used to See also:

• EXPRESS (through the French from the past participle of the Lat. exprimere, to press out, by transference used of representing objects in painting or sculpture, or of thoughts, &c. in words)

express, without any See also:

• SPECIAL

special reference to military operations, a gorge in mountains . The verb " to defile " is used of troops marching on a narrow front, or narrowing their front, under all circumstances, and in this sense is the contrary of " deploy." "Defile," in the sense of "pollute," is another See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form of " defoul "; though spelt alike, the two words are pronounced differently, the See also:

• ACCENT

accent being on the first syllable for the former and on the second for the latter .