ranking

[ rang-king ]

/ ˈræŋ kɪŋ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ranking ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

senior or superior in rank, position, etc.: a ranking diplomat.

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

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

noun

an act or instance of indicating relative standing.

a list showing such standing.

Nearby words

rankin, rankin, jeanette, rankine, rankine cycle, rankine scale, ranking, ranking member, rankism, rankle, rankshift, ransack

Origin of ranking

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

Definition for ranking (2 of 2)

rank

[ rangk ]

/ ræŋk /

noun

a number of persons forming a separate class in a social hierarchy or in any graded body.

a social or official position or standing, as in the armed forces: the rank of captain.

high position or station in the social or some similar scale: a woman of rank.

a class in any scale of comparison.

relative position or standing: a writer of the first rank.

a row, line, or series of things or persons: orchestra players arranged in ranks.

ranks,

the members of an armed service apart from its officers; enlisted personnel.
military enlisted personnel as a group.

Usually ranks. the general body of any party, society, or organization apart from the officers or leaders.

orderly arrangement; array.

a line of persons, especially soldiers, standing abreast in close-order formation (distinguished from file).

British. a place or station occupied by vehicles available for hire; stand: a taxi rank.

Chess. one of the horizontal lines of squares on a chessboard.

a set of organ pipes of the same kind and tonal color.

Also called determinant rank. Mathematics. the order of the nonzero determinant of greatest order that can be selected from a given matrix by the elimination of rows and columns.

Mining. the classification of coal according to hardness, from lignite to anthracite.

verb (used with object)

to arrange in ranks or in regular formation: The men were ranked according to height. He ranked the chess pieces on the board.

to assign to a particular position, station, class, etc.: She was ranked among the most admired citizens.

to outrank: The colonel ranks all other officers in the squadron.

Slang. to insult; criticize.

verb (used without object)

to form a rank or ranks.

to take up or occupy a place in a particular rank, class, etc.: to rank well ahead of the other students.

to have rank or standing.

to be the senior in rank: The colonel ranks at this camp.

Slang. to complain.

Origin of rank

1560–70; < French ranc (noun, obsolete), Old French renc, ranc, rang row, line < Germanic, akin to ring¹

SYNONYMS FOR rank

3 distinction, eminence, dignity.

6 range, tier.

9 alignment.

16 align, range, array.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rank ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

rank·less, adjectiveun·ranked, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ranking

Despite its ranking at the bottom of most international development indexes, the conflict is shrouded by confusion.
The Year’s Most Forgotten Humanitarian Crisis|Nina Strochlic|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Delta is a Platinum Global Partner, ranking them among the highest-level contributors to the association.
How You Can Help Make a More LGBT-Friendly World||December 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In a ranking of gender-based economic disparity, Turkey is 126th out of 136 countries.
Allah, Mom, and Baklava: Turkish President Uses Mothers and Kids as Political Pawns|Xanthe Ackerman|November 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But his ranking Democratic member just told an amusing story about Issa.
Kissy-Face The Nation: Washington’s Power Elite Smooch Bob Schieffer|Lloyd Grove|November 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The most detailed and comprehensive briefings are often limited to the chairman and ranking members of the committees.
Congress Scouring Every U.S. Spy Program|Eli Lake|October 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Suddenly he swung around and gripped the cowering form of the second ranking priest, who stood near him.
Astounding Stories, July, 1931|Various
Christianity and Islam are at one in ranking Justice and Mercy as the greatest of the virtues.
Bonaparte in Egypt and the Egyptians of To-day|Haji A. Browne
Leland was called to account, and half apologises for ranking Shaftesbury among the Deists at all.
The English Church in the Eighteenth Century|Charles J. Abbey and John H. Overton
Among the minor deities, ranking hardly above demons, is the plague-god, whose name may provisionally be read Dibbarra.
The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria|Morris Jastrow
Next to the church in interest—with some visitors, probably, ranking before it—is the old Muscovite castle on the hill.
Wonderland; or Alaska and the Inside Passage|Lieut. Frederick Schwatka

British Dictionary definitions for ranking (1 of 4)

ranking

/ (ˈræŋkɪŋ) /

adjective

mainly US and Canadian prominent; high ranking

Caribbean slang possessed of style; fashionable; exciting

noun

a position on a scale; ratinga ranking in a tennis tournament

British Dictionary definitions for ranking (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 ranking (3 of 4)

rank

/ (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 ranking (4 of 4)

rank

/ (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

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 ranking

rank

In addition to the idiom beginning with rank

rank and file

also see:

break ranks
close ranks
pull rank
rise through the ranks