Defile
King James Dictionary [1]
DEFILE,
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, &c.
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 .
4. To pollute to make ceremonially unclean.
That which dieth of itself, he shall not eat, to defile himself therewith. Leviticus 22 .
5. To corrupt chastity to debauch to violate to tarnish the purity of character by lewdness.
Schechem defiled Dinah. Genesis 34 .
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 .
He hath defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. Numbers 19.
Defile, L. A thread. To march off in a line, or file by file to file off.
DEFILE, n. 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, &c.
Webster's Dictionary [2]
(1): ( v. t.) To soil or sully; to tarnish, as reputation; to taint.
(2): ( v. t.) To make ceremonially unclean; to pollute.
(3): ( v. t.) To corrupt the chastity of; to debauch; to violate.
(4): ( v. t.) To injure in purity of character; to corrupt.
(5): ( v. t.) To make foul or impure; to make filthy; to dirty; to befoul; to pollute.
(6): ( n.) The act of defilading a fortress, or of raising the exterior works in order to protect the interior. See Defilade.
(7): ( n.) Any narrow passage or gorge in which troops can march only in a file, or with a narrow front; a long, narrow pass between hills, rocks, etc.
(8): ( v. t.) Same as Defilade.
(9): ( v. i.) To march off in a line, file by file; to file off.
Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology [3]
See Unclean Clean
Holman Bible Dictionary [4]
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [5]
(denoted by several Heb. and Gr. words, especially טָמֵא , Tame' , Μιαίνω , denoting filthiness, but spoken chiefly in a figurative or ceremonial sense). Many were the blemishes of person and conduct which, under the Mosaic law, were esteemed defilements; some were voluntary, others involuntary; some originated with the party, others were received by him; some were inevitable and the effect of nature, others the consequences of personal transgression. Under the Gospel, defilements are those of the heart, of the mind, the temper, and the conduct. Moral defilements are as numerous, and as thoroughly prohibited under the Gospel as ever; but ceremonial defilements are superseded as requiring any religious rites, though many of them claim attention as usages of health, decency, and civility ( Matthew 15:18; Genesis 49:4; Romans 1, 24; James 3:6; Ezekiel 43:8). (See Pollution).
