ranker

[ rang-ker ]

/ ˈræŋ kər /

noun

a person who ranks.

British. a soldier in the ranks or a commissioned officer promoted from the ranks.

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Commas mark divisions in sentences. Periods end declarative sentences. Apostrophes show possession. Easy, right? Well, punctuation can get pretty tricky—fast. Think you got what it takes to be a punctuation expert? Take our quiz to prove it!

Question 1 of 10

Which of the options below is the best punctuation for the sentence? It__s your turn to pick the movie __ but your sister gets to pick the board game we _ re going to play.

Its your turn to pick the movie but your sister gets to pick the board game we’re going to play.

It’s your turn to pick the movie but your sister gets to pick the board game were going to play.

It’s your turn to pick the movie, but your sister gets to pick the board game we’re going to play.

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Origin of ranker

First recorded in 1825–35; rank¹ + -er¹

Words nearby ranker

rank, rank and file, rank scale, rank-and-filer, ranke, ranker, ranket, rankin, rankin, jeanette, rankine, rankine cycle

Definition for ranker (2 of 2)

rank²

[ rangk ]

/ ræŋk /

adjective, rank·er, rank·est.

growing with excessive luxuriance; vigorous and tall of growth: tall rank weeds.

producing an excessive and coarse growth, as land.

having an offensively strong smell or taste: a rank cigar.

offensively strong, as a smell or taste.

utter; absolute: a rank amateur; rank treachery.

highly offensive; disgusting: a rank sight of carnage.

grossly coarse, vulgar, or indecent: rank language.

Slang. inferior; contemptible.

Origin of rank

before 1000; Middle English; Old English ranc bold, proud; cognate with Old Norse rakkr straight, bold

SYNONYMS FOR rank

1 abundant, exuberant.

5 complete, sheer, entire.

6 repulsive, repellent. See flagrant.

7 foul.

OTHER WORDS FROM rank

rank·ish, adjectiverank·ly, adverbrank·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for ranker

As you all know, I am a ranker, and I received my commission for that business.
Through Three Campaigns|G. A. Henty
Green hellebore and monkshood are also classed in the list of the ranker poisons.
The Naturalist on the Thames|C. J. Cornish
The fragrance attracts moths and flies; not mosquitoes, who prefer a ranker atmosphere.
The English in the West Indies|James Anthony Froude
But ranker than violets, harsher than kisses, lurked the blunt, unmistakable odor of ashes.
The Sick-a-Bed Lady|Eleanor Hallowell Abbott

"There was at least one who was not a ranker," said Dick, and there was something akin to awe in his voice.
The Master of Appleby|Francis Lynde

British Dictionary definitions for ranker (1 of 4)

ranker

/ (ˈræŋkə) /

noun

a soldier in the ranks

a commissioned officer who entered service as a recruit, esp in the army

British Dictionary definitions for ranker (2 of 4)

Rank

noun

(ræŋk) J (oseph) Arthur, 1st Baron. 1888–1972, British industrialist and film executive, whose companies dominated the British film industry in the 1940s and 1950s

(German raŋk) Otto (ˈɔto). 1884–1939, Austrian psychoanalyst, noted for his theory that the trauma of birth may be reflected in certain forms of mental illness

British Dictionary definitions for ranker (3 of 4)

rank¹

/ (ræŋk) /

noun

a position, esp an official one, within a social organization, esp the armed forcesthe rank of captain

high social or other standing; status

a line or row of people or things

the position of an item in any ordering or sequence

British a place where taxis wait to be hired

a line of soldiers drawn up abreast of each otherCompare file 1 (def. 5)

any of the eight horizontal rows of squares on a chessboard

(in systemic grammar) one of the units of description of which a grammar is composed. Ranks of English grammar are sentence, clause, group, word, and morpheme

music a set of organ pipes controlled by the same stop

maths (of a matrix) the largest number of linearly independent rows or columns; the number of rows (or columns) of the nonzero determinant of greatest order that can be extracted from the matrix

break ranks military to fall out of line, esp when under attack

close ranks to maintain discipline or solidarity, esp in anticipation of attack

pull rank to get one's own way by virtue of one's superior position or rank

verb

(tr) to arrange (people or things) in rows or lines; range

to accord or be accorded a specific position in an organization, society, or group

(tr) to array (a set of objects) as a sequence, esp in terms of the natural arithmetic ordering of some measure of the elementsto rank students by their test scores

(intr) to be important; ratemoney ranks low in her order of priorities

mainly US to take precedence or surpass in rankthe colonel ranks at this camp

Word Origin for rank

C16: from Old French ranc row, rank, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German hring circle

British Dictionary definitions for ranker (4 of 4)

rank²

/ (ræŋk) /

adjective

showing vigorous and profuse growthrank weeds

highly offensive or disagreeable, esp in smell or taste

(prenominal) complete or absolute; uttera rank outsider

coarse or vulgar; grosshis language was rank

Derived forms of rank

rankly, adverbrankness, noun

Word Origin for rank

Old English ranc straight, noble; related to Old Norse rakkr upright, Dutch, Swedish rank tall and thin, weak

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

Idioms and Phrases with ranker

rank

In addition to the idiom beginning with rank

rank and file

also see:

break ranks
close ranks
pull rank
rise through the ranks

ranker

noun

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Origin of ranker

Words nearby ranker

Definition for ranker (2 of 2)

adjective, rank·er, rank·est.

Origin of rank

SYNONYMS FOR rank

OTHER WORDS FROM rank

Words related to ranker

Example sentences from the Web for ranker

British Dictionary definitions for ranker (1 of 4)

noun

British Dictionary definitions for ranker (2 of 4)

noun

British Dictionary definitions for ranker (3 of 4)

noun

verb

Word Origin for rank

British Dictionary definitions for ranker (4 of 4)

adjective

Derived forms of rank

Word Origin for rank

Idioms and Phrases with ranker