- present participle of rank.
ranking
Americanadjective
noun
-
rankings
plural
-
an act or instance of indicating relative standing.
-
a list showing such standing.
adjective
-
prominent; high ranking
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slang possessed of style; fashionable; exciting
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ranking
Explanation
Your spot on a scale is your ranking. If your football team has a #10 ranking and you’re playing #1, well good luck. Your class ranking is how you measure up. The student with the highest ranking is the valedictorian. All kinds of things have rankings, from the top 100 colleges in the US to a person's constantly updated list of favorite horror movies. Athletes and the teams they play for have rankings too. In the military, someone who has a higher rank, or position, than anyone else who's present might say, "As the ranking officer, I'll command the troops to retreat."
Vocabulary lists containing ranking
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Fitch is continuing to assess the situation before issuing any new ranking.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
“If that’s what we care about, I see why they would be interested in ranking schools based on labor-market outcomes.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
Despite their lowly ranking, it was understandable why Carrick would take no chances with his team selection as United returned to Europe's elite competition after a two-year absence.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
The NFL and helmet makers invested tens of millions of dollars into research, and independent labs began ranking helmets on their level of protection.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
A few of the lower- ranking warders ordered us to go back to work, but we paid them no attention.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
The change to the rankings to focus more on earnings comes after years of growing concern among parents and students about the value colleges are providing.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
All five members of the Czech team are ranked higher in the singles rankings than any of the British squad.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
England steamrollered Sri Lanka in the third T20 to complete a 3-0 series clean sweep and return to number one in the world rankings.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
The researchers caution that the rankings are not definitive.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026
The eighth victory in any tournament is therefore critical, the difference between promotion and demotion; it is roughly four times as valuable in the rankings as the typical victory.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
