Home › Glossary › Letter F

file

Craft Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

File means to smooth, shape, or reduce a surface by rubbing with a tool; in poetry, it can suggest refinement, correction, or careful finishing.

Detailed Definition
In literal craft, filing removes roughness and brings material into a neater form. In poetry, the term may be used metaphorically for revision, where language is pared down and sharpened. It is a useful craft term because poetry often depends on patient refinement.
Example
Example in poetry:
A poet revising a draft may file down rough lines the way a craftsman files metal smooth; A poem about labor might describe filing metal in a workshop to explore themes of repetitive toil; Filing a document appears in bureaucratic-themed poems critiquing modern institutional life; A poet might use the image of filing nails as a small domestic gesture that opens into larger reflection; Filing away old letters can serve as a metaphor for suppressing rather than confronting memory; A poem about identity might describe filing down sharp edges of the self to fit into society.
Additional Notes
File suggests a slow, repetitive process of smoothing or reducing a surface, making it a useful metaphor for poetic revision, where a poet gradually refines rough language into a more polished final form; the term differs from cut in its connotation of gradual, careful reduction rather than decisive removal, and instructors might use it to discuss the iterative nature of the revision process, where a poem is shaped not through a single decisive act but through repeated small adjustments over time.
Other Meanings of “file”
Also Known As
smooth rasp abrade refine
Skip to main content