rank and file

American  

noun

1. the members of a group or organization apart from its leaders or officers.

2. rank.

---

rank and file British  

noun

1. the ordinary soldiers of an army, excluding the officers

2. the great mass or majority of any group or organization, as opposed to the leadership

3. (modifier) of, relating to, or characteristic of the rank and file

   rank-and-file opinion

   rank-and-file support

---

rank and file Cultural  

1. The people who form the major portion of any group or organization, excluding the leaders: “The rumors of corruption at the top disturbed the party's rank and file.” This phrase comes from military usage, where enlisted men march in ranks (close abreast) and files (one behind another), whereas officers march outside these formations.

---

rank and file Idioms  

1. Followers, the general membership, as in This new senator really appeals to the rank and file in the labor unions. This expression comes from the military, where a rank denotes soldiers standing side by side in a row, and file refers to soldiers standing behind one another. The first recorded figurative use of this term was in 1860.

---

Other Word Forms

• rank and filer noun
• rank-and-file adjective

Etymology

Origin of rank and file

First recorded in 1590–1600

Example Sentences

Regrown forests, especially with monoculture commercial saplings planted rank and file, may never achieve the splendid complexity of virgin forests.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

Doyle said part of the secretary’s job is to set the tone for the agency so the rank and file know what is expected of them.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026

But the rank and file, the “MAHA moms,” can be divided into two broad categories, which we’ll call the individualists and the structuralists.

From Slate • Feb. 21, 2026

Downing Street has already shown it is willing to ditch plans that could save lots of money if the rank and file kick off vigorously enough.

From BBC • Nov. 22, 2025

At the very bottom of J. T.’s organization were as many as two hundred members known as the rank and file.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt