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American Dictionary of the English Language

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Defile


DEFILE, verb transitive

1. To make unclean; to render foul or dirty; in a general sense.

2. To make impure; to render turbid; as, the water or liquor is defiled.

3. To soil or sully; to tarnish; as reputation, etc.

He is among the greatest prelates of the age, however his character may be defiled by dirty hands.

They shall defile thy brightness. Ezekiel 28:7.

4. To pollute; to make ceremonially unclean.

That which dieth of itself, he shall not eat, to defile himself therewith. Leviticus 22:8.

5. To corrupt chastity; to debauch; to violate; to tarnish the purity of character by lewdness.

Schechem defiled Dinah. Genesis 34:2.

6. To taint, in a moral sense; to corrupt; to vitiate; to render impure with sin.

DEFILE not yourselves with the idols of Egypt. Ezekiel 20:7.

He hath defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. Numbers 19:20.

DEFILE, verb intransitive [Latin A thread.] To march off in a line, or file by file; to file off.

DEFILE, noun A narrow passage or way, in which troops may march only in a file, or with a narrow front; a long narrow pass, as between hills, etc.