rat-tail file
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of rat-tail file
First recorded in 1840–50
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
You can bend a rat-tail file or ice pick in a vise to fashion a tool.
From Time Magazine Archive
A rat-tail file or de-burring tool can be used�as long as you smooth all roughness around the hole.
From Time Magazine Archive
The satisfactory cutting of this groove is not a very easy matter, but if its position is first carefully marked, a long rat-tail file may be made to plough it out neatly and regularly.
From Butterflies and Moths (British) by Furneaux, William S.
First drill a smaller hole, and then with a 1/4-inch rat-tail file slowly open it out, at the same time rubbing a groove down the stern-post.
From Boys' Book of Model Boats by Yates, Raymond F. (Raymond Francis)
The following is a list of "oilers" which the author has seen used:—Peg wood, broom straw, quill, toothpick, match-stick, screw driver, tweezers, rat-tail file, piece of copper wire, horse-shoe nail, steel pen.
From Friction, Lubrication and the Lubricants in Horology by Lewis, William T.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
