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• rank
  rank

  noun

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

  noun

  Otto 1884–1939, Austrian psychoanalyst.

rank

¹ American  

[rangk] / ræŋk /

noun

• ranks
  plural

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

2. a social or official position or standing, as in the armed forces.

   the rank of captain.

3. high position or station in the social or some similar scale.

   a woman of rank.

   Synonyms:

   dignity, eminence, distinction

4. a class in any scale of comparison.

5. relative position or standing.

   a writer of the first rank.

6. a row, line, or series of things or persons.

   orchestra players arranged in ranks.

   Synonyms:

   tier, range

7. ranks,

   1. the members of an armed service apart from its officers; enlisted personnel.

   2. military enlisted personnel as a group.

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

9. orderly arrangement; array.

   Synonyms:

   series, disposition

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

11. British. a place or station occupied by vehicles available for hire; stand.

    a taxi rank.

12. Chess, Checkers. one of the horizontal lines of squares on a chessboard or checkerboard.

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

14. 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.

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

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verb (used with object)

• ranks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• ranked,
  past participle,  past
• ranking
  present participle

1. to arrange in ranks or in regular formation.

   The men were ranked according to height. He ranked the chess pieces on the board.

   Synonyms:

   array, range, align

2. to assign to a particular position, station, class, etc..

   She was ranked among the most admired citizens.

3. to outrank.

   The colonel ranks all other officers in the squadron.

4. Slang. to insult; criticize.

verb (used without object)

• ranks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• ranked,
  past participle,  past
• ranking
  present participle

1. to form a rank or ranks.

2. to take up or occupy a place in a particular rank, class, etc..

   to rank well ahead of the other students.

3. to have rank or standing.

4. to be the senior in rank.

   The colonel ranks at this camp.

5. Slang. to complain.

idioms

1. pull rank (on), to make use of one's superior rank to gain an advantage over (someone). Also pull one's rank (on).

2. break ranks,

   1. to leave an assigned position in a military formation.

   2. to disagree with, defect from, or refuse to support one's colleagues, party, or the like.

rank ² American  

[rangk] / ræŋk /

adjective

ranker, rankest

1. growing with excessive luxuriance; vigorous and tall of growth.

   tall rank weeds.

   Synonyms:

   exuberant, abundant

2. producing an excessive and coarse growth, as land.

3. having an offensively strong smell or taste.

   a rank cigar.

4. offensively strong, as a smell or taste.

5. utter; absolute.

   a rank amateur; rank treachery.

   Synonyms:

   entire, sheer, complete

6. highly offensive; disgusting.

   a rank sight of carnage.

   Synonyms:

   repellent, repulsive

7. grossly coarse, vulgar, or indecent.

   rank language.

   Synonyms:

   foul

8. Slang. inferior; contemptible.

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Rank ³ American  

[rahngk] / rɑŋk /

noun

1. Otto 1884–1939, Austrian psychoanalyst.

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rank ¹ British  

/ ræŋk /

noun

1. a position, esp an official one, within a social organization, esp the armed forces

   the rank of captain

2. high social or other standing; status

3. a line or row of people or things

4. the position of an item in any ordering or sequence

5. a place where taxis wait to be hired

6. a line of soldiers drawn up abreast of each other Compare file 1

7. any of the eight horizontal rows of squares on a chessboard

8. (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

9. music a set of organ pipes controlled by the same stop

10. 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

11. military to fall out of line, esp when under attack

12. to maintain discipline or solidarity, esp in anticipation of attack

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

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verb

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

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

3. (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

4. (intr) to be important; rate

   money ranks low in her order of priorities

5. to take precedence or surpass in rank

   the colonel ranks at this camp

rank ² British  

/ ræŋk /

adjective

1. showing vigorous and profuse growth

   rank weeds

2. highly offensive or disagreeable, esp in smell or taste

3. (prenominal) complete or absolute; utter

   a rank outsider

4. coarse or vulgar; gross

   his language was rank

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Rank ³ British  

noun

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

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

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rank More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing rank

• break ranks
• close ranks
• pull rank
• rise through the ranks

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Usage

What does rank mean? Rank most commonly refers to the position or status that has been assigned to someone or something to distinguish it from others in a group. In certain organizations, especially the military, rank refers to someone’s official position in a hierarchy—an organizational structure in which people have increasing levels of authority based on their rank. For example, in the military, the lowest rank may be private, and the highest rank may be general. The word can also be used to refer to less official positions or statuses (ones that have not been assigned but exist based on other factors), such as a person’s status within society. Rank can also be used collectively to refer to all of the people within a group with the same status. As a verb, rank most commonly means to assign something a status or position to distinguish it from others in a group, as in Please rank the top five candidates in order from best to worst. It can also mean to have a particular rank or position, as in She ranks above all the other executives. The verb rank is sometimes used in overlapping ways with the verb rate, but rate most commonly means to assign something a value or rating independently of other things, whereas rank typically means to determine the position of something compared to other things. Unrelatedly, rank can also be used as an adjective meaning offensively strong, especially in smell or taste, as in There’s a rank odor coming from the trash can. Rank is a very common word and has many other specific meanings as a noun, verb, and adjective.

Synonym Usage

See flagrant.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• rankness
  noun
• rankish
  adjective
• rankless
  adjective
• unranked
  adjective
• rankly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• ranks
  plural

Participles

• ranking
  present
• ranked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• rank
  simple
• ranks
  simple
• have ranked
  perfect
• has ranked
  perfect
• am ranking
  progressive
• are ranking
  progressive
• is ranking
  progressive
• have been ranking
  perfect progressive
• has been ranking
  perfect progressive

Past

• ranked
  simple
• had ranked
  perfect
• was ranking
  progressive
• were ranking
  progressive
• had been ranking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will rank
  simple
• will have ranked
  perfect
• will be ranking
  progressive
• will have been ranking
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of rank¹

First recorded in 1560–70; from French ranc (noun, obsolete), Old French renc, ranc, rang “row, line,” from Germanic, akin to ring ¹

Origin of rank²

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English ranc “bold, proud, mature, showy”; cognate with Old Norse rakkr “slender, straight, bold”; the original Germanic sense was probably “upright”; the development of the meanings in English is uncertain

Explanation

The word rank often deals with one's position or status in a group. In the military, an officer with a high rank will be in charge of soldiers of lower rank. The noun rank refers to a position within a hierarchy, and to rank something is to put it in order — for example, your high school might rank students in terms of their GPAs. You can also use rank to describe an especially foul smell, like the rank gym shoes in the back of your closet. Linguists see the Old English ranc as having roots prior to the 11th century, possibly from the Old Norse rakkr, meaning "straight."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rank Rank ranks ranker rankest ranked ranking

The clothing found with the remains, however, did not correspond to Peglar's rank, creating a mystery that persisted for generations.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026

The Rams’ most vulnerable position group last season could now rank as one of the NFL’s best after trading for McDuffie and signing Watson.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026

Both now rank among England's most deprived neighbourhoods.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

Jessica Hall explained the differences between this survey of retirement destinations and others that rank Florida lower.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 4, 2026

Suddenly, Sergeant Hicks broke toward the first rank and began screaming at a large, well built recruit who took a step backward in surprise, so sudden was the attack.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

Rank what matters most to you — things like climate, affordability, healthcare, walkability, culture, outdoor recreation, or proximity to family.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

For Mark Rank, the sociologist who's written about this, the Dream, even if more conditional than before, is still alive.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

Another potential beneficiary is Rank One Computing Corp., which saw its stock rise 1.6% on Friday.

From Barron's ● May 1, 2026

Rank held by Arkansas as the state with the highest percentage of relocations to it in 2025, according to Atlas Van Line’s most recent migration patterns study.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025

Ms. Rank continued, using the verb in a sentence.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

Group 1001, the parent company of Walter’s insurers, ranks among the 10 biggest sellers of fixed and fixed-indexed annuities, according to ratings firm AM Best.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

In disciplined, serried ranks, they wore paramilitary-style balaclavas as they blocked roads around the port.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

Shane, who also coaches the junior varsity girls’ soccer team, is enjoying a return to the coaching ranks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

It said it had "immediately removed him from the ranks of the security team and expelled him from the National Rally".

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

You got to choose the life and then you got to rise through the ranks.

From "How It Went Down" by Kekla Magoon

Nielsen, which releases a weekly ratings ranker for streaming content, also uses hours watched to rank programs.

From New York Times ● Nov. 16, 2021

News, the magazine that has already established itself as the most noticed ranker of the nation’s colleges and universities.

From Washington Times ● Oct. 13, 2017

“Because I intend on making one that’s a whole lot ranker than we’ve had before.”

From The New Yorker ● Dec. 1, 2014

Sakari Tuomioja, 53, Finnish ranker and U.N. diplomat who proved himself a savvy, soft-spoken trouble-hooter in Laos in 1959, was picked by U.N.

From Time Magazine Archive

One sees it down in the hollows where the little rivulets flow, and where they have left their trace in the deeper green and the ranker growth of the crops near by.

From Sidelights on Chinese Life by J. (John) Macgowan

"Every time we accelerated on the highway, whale juice would pour into the windows of the car, and it was the rankest thing on the planet," Ms Kennedy told the magazine.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2024

The feminist with a fundamentally optimistic vision, who believed that people, especially men, could be better, might be soon replaced by the rankest misogynist.

From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2020

The rankest compound of villainous smell that ever offended nostril.

From Washington Post ● May 10, 2018

For the F.A., claiming to be the world’s policeman while turning a blind eye to apparent offenses at home would have been the rankest hypocrisy.

From New York Times ● Sep. 27, 2016

Hedgerows and verges were at their rankest and thickest.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

Nordqvist's persistent faith in Woad and Hull, playing her two highest ranked players together in the four opening sessions seemed a folly.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

By the first millennium B.C.E., it ranked among the “five grains,” the staple crops recognized in early Chinese texts.

From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026

Rhoa has shown his skill level and leadership against a bevy of highly ranked opponents so far this season, but his toughest task may come against a player who has seen his best traits firsthand.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

Adobe tops a list of software companies ranked by cash generation, while sector heavyweights Microsoft and Oracle are at the bottom.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

Nationally ranked AAU basketball player at time of first arrest.

From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña

Afterwards, Sabalenka played down the significance of losing her ranking, joking she did not care about it.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

Though the U.S. population is projected to grow modestly through 2100, the country is projected to fall from third to sixth place in a ranking of the world’s most populous countries.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026

Coca-Cola’s revamped Mr. Pibb snagged No. 1 on Morning Consult’s annual Fastest Growing Brands ranking, which is based on purchase consideration in consumer surveys.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

Precipitation was below average, ranking in the driest third on record for both August and for the June-August period, and drought covered nearly 60 percent of the contiguous US by September 1.

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

Brother Quang’s report cards, each ranking him first in class, beginning in kindergarten.

From "Inside Out and Back Again" by Thanhha Lai

Related Words

• class
• division
• family
• grade
• hierarchy
• level
• position
• reputation
• slot
• stature
• status