MEANING
1. To soil or contaminate something that was clean.
2. To treat a sacred or highly respected place or object in a way regarded as desecrating.
3. A narrow passage or gorge between hills, mountains, or other high ground.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- defile water
- defile a surface
On the page
The runoff defiled the water stored below the house.
Black residue defiled the pale cloth around the basin.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- defile
- Past tense
- defiled
- Past participle
- defiled
- Present participle
- defiling
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- defile
- Present continuous
- am/is/are defiling
- Present perfect
- have/has defiled
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been defiling
- Past
- defiled
- Past continuous
- was/were defiling
- Past perfect
- had defiled
- Past perfect continuous
- had been defiling
- Future
- will defile
- Future continuous
- will be defiling
- Future perfect
- will have defiled
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been defiling
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: horror. Forms: defile; defiles; defiled; defiled; defiling Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: defiles.
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