dot file: [Unix] n. A file that is not visible by default to
normal directory-browsing tools (on Unix, files named with a leading
dot are, by convention, not normally presented in directory
listings). Many programs define one or more dot files in which
startup or configuration information may be optionally recorded; a
user can customize the program's behavior by creating the
appropriate file in the current or home directory. (Therefore, dot
files tend to creep -- with every nontrivial application program
defining at least one, a user's home directory can be filled with
scores of dot files, of course without the user's really being aware
of it.) See also profile (sense 1), rc file.
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