rank

I UK [ræŋk] / US noun
Word forms "rank":
singular rank plural ranks
**

1) [countable/uncountable] someone's official position in the armed forces, police, fire service etc

Her rank when she retired was captain.

rank of:

He joined in 1998, and quickly rose to the rank of inspector.

senior/junior rank:

Let me speak to an officer of more senior rank.

a) someone's position or job in an organization

rank of:

She had reached the rank of junior minister by the time she was 30.

b) someone's status in society compared to the status of other people

In the past, dress, speech, and table manners indicated social rank.

people of high rank

2) [countable] a line of people, especially soldiers

They marched in ranks of five.

a) a number of things arranged in a line

rows of women seated at tidy ranks of computers

b) British a place where taxis wait in a line for customers

3)

a) ranks

[plural] all the people within a group, organization etc

This reversal of policy touched off a violent dispute within the party ranks.

join the ranks (of something):

Another Republican senator joins the ranks of the presidential hopefuls.

swell the ranks (= make a group bigger):

The organization is looking for young people to swell their ranks.

b) the ranks all the members of a military organization who are not officers

be reduced to the ranks (= have your officer rank taken away as a punishment):

At the court-martial Captain Bomford was reduced to the ranks.

•

- rise through the ranks

See:

break I, close I, pull I

II UK [ræŋk] / US verb
Word forms "rank":
present tense I/you/we/they rank he/she/it ranks present participle ranking past tense ranked past participle ranked
*

1) [intransitive] to be good, bad, important, unimportant etc compared with other similar people or things

rank high/low etc:

We live in a society in which comfort ranks very high.

rank as:

This must rank as one of the most violent films ever made.

rank among:

Flying still ranks among the safest forms of travel.

2) [transitive] to put someone or something into a position according to their success, importance, size etc

Nomura is now ranked third among the world's information services companies.

3) [transitive] formal to arrange objects tidily in lines

III UK [ræŋk] / US adjective
Word forms "rank":
adjective rank comparative ranker superlative rankest

1) complete: used for emphasizing how bad or obvious something is

He is a rank amateur.

2) with a strong unpleasant smell or taste

3) mainly literary growing and spreading too much

rank vegetation

•

- rank outsider