rank and file

noun

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

2. rank.

rank and file

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

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.

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of rank and file¹

First recorded in 1590–1600

Idioms and Phrases

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.

Example Sentences

“Some of that certainly derives from the remote leadership style in which the concerns of the rank and file seem to be routinely overturned,” Lurie said.

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Or a pressure valve for a leader that sometimes winds up the rank and file.

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The job-shedding will further shrink the industry’s rank and file after a yearslong diet of layoffs, attrition and corporate restructuring that has made Big Oil much leaner.

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That Rangers have four draws and a defeat to show for their other Premiership outings this term is what still rankles with the rank and file.

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At the top of the Labour Party it's common to find frustration that the rank and file don't all appreciate what they see as the cold facts.

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