rank

[ rangk ]

/ ræŋk /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR rank ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

Idioms for 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

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 SYNONYMS FOR rank ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM rank

rank·less, adjective un·ranked, adjective

Words nearby rank

ranikhet disease, ranine, ranine artery, ranitidine, ranjit singh, rank, rank and file, rank scale, rank-and-filer, ranke, ranker

Definition for rank (2 of 3)

rank ²

[ 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.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR rank ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM rank

rank·ish, adjective rank·ly, adverb rank·ness, noun

Definition for rank (3 of 3)

Rank

[ rahngk ]

/ rɑŋk /

noun

Ot·to

[awt-oh] /ˈɔt oʊ/,1884–1939, Austrian psychoanalyst.

Example sentences from the Web for rank

Neary had held the rank of lieutenant since 1983 and received multiple commendations during nearly four decades on the job.

The Mystery Death Of A Female Firefighter |Christopher Moraff |December 13, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Only five African-American females hold a rank higher than GS-14 within the Secret Service.

It’s Not Just the Cops—Racism Is a Problem for the Secret Service, Too |Bill Conroy |December 6, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
She worked with SEAL Team Six and retired with the rank of senior chief.

Yes to LGB, No to T: The Pentagon Still Has a Transgender Ban |Tim Mak |October 21, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
The Bay Area does not rank among the 20 top global cities in most studies, such as the 2014 A.T. Kearney listings.

Battle of the Upstarts: Houston vs. San Francisco Bay |Joel Kotkin |October 5, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

To be sure, there is often a stark dichotomy between so-called opinion leaders and rank and file believers.

Christians Enraged With Cruz Over Pro-Israel Comments |Tim Mak |September 12, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
But a certain sweetness of the aroma of rank was beginning to permeate her republican senses.

The Duke's Children |Anthony Trollope
It has justly been remarked that a nations civilization may be estimated by the rank which females hold in society.

Embassy to the Eastern Courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat |Edmund Roberts
The water is rank, putrid, evil-smelling; but the fierce, mad craving for drink is not to be denied.

Norman Ten Hundred |A. Stanley Blicq
While you are looking, what was your rank when you were discharged?

Warren Commission (5 of 26): Hearings Vol. V (of 15) |The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy
The church of St. Stephen is another ecclesiastical treasure of Constance with a rank high among religious shrines.

The Cathedrals and Churches of the Rhine |Francis Miltoun

British Dictionary definitions for rank (1 of 3)

rank ¹

/ (ræŋk) /

noun

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

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 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

Word Origin for rank

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

British Dictionary definitions for rank (2 of 3)

rank ²

/ (ræŋk) /

adjective

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

Derived forms of rank

rankly, adverb rankness, noun

Word Origin for rank

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

British Dictionary definitions for rank (3 of 3)

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

Idioms and Phrases with rank

rank

In addition to the idiom beginning with rank

rank and file

also see:

break ranks
close ranks
pull rank
rise through the ranks

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

rank