Meaning & use
refiled or re-filed
Last updated
Meaning
verbtransitive
Past tense and past participle of 'refile': to put a document or record into a filing system again, often after updating or correcting it.
Grammar: Takes an object: refile the paperwork.
Patterns
- refile something
- refile a document
- refile a case
She refiled the report after adding the missing signatures.
The clerk re-filed the old letters in a new folder.
All the documents were refiled according to the new system.
Common combinations
- refile a document
- Please refile this document under the client's name.
- refile a case
- The lawyer decided to refile the case in a different court.
- refile paperwork
- I spent the afternoon refiling paperwork.
Synonyms and how they differ
- reorganize
- This is broader and means to arrange things in a new way, not necessarily putting them back into files.
- reclassify
- This means to change the category of something, often as part of refiling.
Word family
- refile verb
- Base form: to file again.
- refiling noun
- The act of filing something again.
Commonly confused: refiled or re-filed or recoiled?
refiled or re-filed vs recoiled
This means to have moved back suddenly in fear or disgust, not to have filed again.
Practice
Choose the correct form: The assistant _____ the invoices after correcting the totals.
Choose one answer.
The past tense 'refiled' is needed because the action happened in the past. 'Refile' is the base form, 'refiling' is the -ing form, and 'refiles' is third-person singular present.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “refiled or re-filed”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.