rank
1a 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, Checkers. one of the horizontal lines of squares on a chessboard or checkerboard.
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.
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.
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.
Idioms about rank
break ranks,
to leave an assigned position in a military formation.
to disagree with, defect from, or refuse to support one's colleagues, party, or the like.
pull rank (on), to make use of one's superior rank to gain an advantage over (someone).: Also pull one's rank (on).
Origin of rank
1Other words for rank
Other words from rank
- rankless, adjective
- un·ranked, adjective
Other definitions for rank (2 of 3)
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
2synonym study For rank
Other words for rank
Other words from rank
- rankish, adjective
- rankly, adverb
- rankness, noun
Other definitions for Rank (3 of 3)
Ot·to [awt-oh], /ˈɔt oʊ/, 1884–1939, Austrian psychoanalyst.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use rank in a sentence
They included the officers who had turned their backs on the Jumbotron, but there now was only reverence in their ranks.
Ava DuVernay, as New York magazine notes, has now joined their ranks.
Dr. King Goes to Hollywood: The Flawed History of ‘Selma’ | Gary May | January 2, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTYou expect soldiers of all ranks to understand the need to respect the chain of command, regardless of personal feelings.
The seemingly endless ranks snapped to attention on command and thousands of white gloves rose in salute.
Choking Back Tears, Thousands of Cops Honor Fallen Officer Ramos | Michael Daly | December 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTMore broadly, the media as a whole were afraid to break ranks.
The U.S. Will Torture Again—and We’re All to Blame | Michael Tomasky | December 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
General Houston had attacked them with three hundred of our people, but had not been able to break their ranks.
Dan inserted the primer, pulled the lanyard and sent the contents of the gun into the ranks of the enemy.
The Courier of the Ozarks | Byron A. DunnOh that their ranks could be kept filled and that a mould so unique was being used to its fullest in forming new regulars.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I | Ian HamiltonThese, too, are found in all ranks; I think the Military service exhibits some of the worst specimens.
Glances at Europe | Horace GreeleyThe pipes are of various shapes and sizes and are arranged in ranks or rows upon the wind-chest.
The Recent Revolution in Organ Building | George Laing Miller
British Dictionary definitions for rank (1 of 3)
/ (ræŋk) /
a position, esp an official one, within a social organization, esp the armed forces: the 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 other: Compare 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
(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 elements: to rank students by their test scores
(intr) to be important; rate: money ranks low in her order of priorities
mainly US to take precedence or surpass in rank: the colonel ranks at this camp
Origin of rank
1British Dictionary definitions for rank (2 of 3)
/ (ræŋk) /
showing vigorous and profuse growth: rank weeds
highly offensive or disagreeable, esp in smell or taste
(prenominal) complete or absolute; utter: a rank outsider
coarse or vulgar; gross: his language was rank
Origin of rank
2Derived forms of rank
- rankly, adverb
- rankness, noun
British Dictionary definitions for Rank (3 of 3)
(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
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with rank
In addition to the idiom beginning with rank
- rank and file
also see:
- break ranks
- close ranks
- pull rank
- rise through the ranks
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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