en·fi·lade
ˈen-fə-ˌlād 
-ˌläd
1
: an interconnected group of rooms arranged usually in a row with each room opening into the next
2
: gunfire directed from a flanking position along the length of an enemy battle line
enfiladed; enfilading
: to rake or be in a position to rake with gunfire in a lengthwise direction
Examples of enfilade in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Susan B. Glasser, New Yorker, 15 Aug. 2025
Based in the Palace of Justice’s former library, this suite is laid out as an enfilade with an entrance on each end and detailed touches like snow-white crown molding, colossal light features, and enough books to make Belle jealous.
—Nicole Trilivas, Travel + Leisure, 8 May 2025
The enfilade of upstairs rooms, in its colors and architecture, is also a tribute to the lagoon outside.
—Alice Newell-Hanson Stefan Ruiz, New York Times, 27 Feb. 2024
Accessed by elevator, the home is full of period details, starting with an entry gallery and enfilade surrounded by decorative molding and detailed skylights.
—Rachel Gallaher, Robb Report, 17 Dec. 2023
The beautiful enfilade rooms, those formal dining rooms and libraries and galleries, are lovely, but the lavish dinner parties and at-home entertaining that were so central to uptown social life have largely gone dormant.
—Curbed, 8 Nov. 2022
Rooms in different wings were linked by an enfilade that allowed the Georgian house and the Edwardian extension to communicate for the first time.
—Joshua Levine, WSJ, 18 Aug. 2022
Christian Datoc, The Washington Examiner, 12 June 2025
Tumbling forward under enfilading fire to ALEPPO Pte.
—Ishion Hutchinson, The New York Review of Books, 12 Oct. 2023
Bodies were disfigured by thundering artillery bombardments and the scythe-like enfilade fire from machine guns.
—David Kindy, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 June 2020
At regimental headquarters, the general received reports of bad sniping and enfilading machine gun fire from the forward units.
—Washington Post, 29 May 2018
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Noun
This triumphant greeting was followed by multiple friendly handshakes, a cordial pat or two on the arm, and a companionable stride past an enfilade of American F-22 fighter jets at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
—Susan B. Glasser, New Yorker, 15 Aug. 2025
Based in the Palace of Justice’s former library, this suite is laid out as an enfilade with an entrance on each end and detailed touches like snow-white crown molding, colossal light features, and enough books to make Belle jealous.
—Nicole Trilivas, Travel + Leisure, 8 May 2025
The enfilade of upstairs rooms, in its colors and architecture, is also a tribute to the lagoon outside.
—Alice Newell-Hanson Stefan Ruiz, New York Times, 27 Feb. 2024
Accessed by elevator, the home is full of period details, starting with an entry gallery and enfilade surrounded by decorative molding and detailed skylights.
—Rachel Gallaher, Robb Report, 17 Dec. 2023
The beautiful enfilade rooms, those formal dining rooms and libraries and galleries, are lovely, but the lavish dinner parties and at-home entertaining that were so central to uptown social life have largely gone dormant.
—Curbed, 8 Nov. 2022
Rooms in different wings were linked by an enfilade that allowed the Georgian house and the Edwardian extension to communicate for the first time.
—Joshua Levine, WSJ, 18 Aug. 2022
Verb
Hood directed artillery fire under enfilading machine-gun fire.
—Christian Datoc, The Washington Examiner, 12 June 2025
Tumbling forward under enfilading fire to ALEPPO Pte.
—Ishion Hutchinson, The New York Review of Books, 12 Oct. 2023
Bodies were disfigured by thundering artillery bombardments and the scythe-like enfilade fire from machine guns.
—David Kindy, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 June 2020
At regimental headquarters, the general received reports of bad sniping and enfilading machine gun fire from the forward units.
—Washington Post, 29 May 2018
Cite this Entry
“Enfilade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enfilade. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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