ranking

[ rang-king ]
See synonyms for ranking on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. senior or superior in rank, position, etc.: a ranking diplomat.

  2. prominent or highly regarded: a ranking authority on Soviet affairs.

  1. occupying a specific rank, position, etc. (often used in combination): a low-ranking executive.

noun
  1. an act or instance of indicating relative standing.

  2. a list showing such standing.

Origin of ranking

1
First recorded in 1860–65; rank1 + -ing2, -ing1

Words Nearby ranking

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use ranking in a sentence

  • In this city he encountered his former ranking officer, shorn of all his possessions, and just emerging from an insane asylum.

    Repertory Of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A -- Z | Anatole Cerfberr and Jules Franois Christophe
  • We must preserve their original names, and instead of ranking them with the apes, we should begin by comparing them together.

    Buffon's Natural History. Volume IX (of 10) | Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
  • "ranking sergeants of each platoon report here," called Captain Foster quietly, as he halted.

  • Michael Strogoff belonged to the special corps of the Czar's couriers, ranking as an officer among those picked men.

    Michael Strogoff | Jules Verne
  • It was safe enough for a high-ranking labman to gripe about Security—in fact, it was more or less expected.

    Security | Poul William Anderson

British Dictionary definitions for ranking

ranking

/ (ˈræŋkɪŋ) /


adjective
  1. mainly US and Canadian prominent; high ranking

  2. Caribbean slang possessed of style; fashionable; exciting

noun
  1. a position on a scale; rating: a ranking in a tennis tournament

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012