rank1

[rangk] /ræŋk/
noun
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.
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.
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.
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. one of the horizontal lines of squares on a chessboard.
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.
verb (used with object)
16.
to arrange in ranks or in regular formation:
The men were ranked according to height. He ranked the chess pieces on the board.
17.
to assign to a particular position, station, class, etc.:
She was ranked among the most admired citizens.
18.
to outrank:
The colonel ranks all other officers in the squadron.
19.
Slang. to insult; criticize.
verb (used without object)
20.
to form a rank or ranks.
21.
to take up or occupy a place in a particular rank, class, etc.:
to rank well ahead of the other students.
22.
to have rank or standing.
23.
to be the senior in rank:
The colonel ranks at this camp.
24.
Slang. to complain.
Idioms
25.
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.
26.
pull rank (on), to make use of one's superior rank to gain an advantage over (someone).
Also, pull one's rank (on)
Origin
1560-70; < French ranc (noun, obsolete), Old French renc, ranc, rang row, line < Germanic, akin to ring1
Related forms
rankless, adjective
unranked, adjective
Synonyms
3. distinction, eminence, dignity. 6. range, tier. 9. alignment. 16. align, range, array.

rank2

[rangk] /ræŋk/
adjective, ranker, rankest.
1.
growing with excessive luxuriance; vigorous and tall of growth:
tall rank weeds.
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.
6.
highly offensive; disgusting:
a rank sight of carnage.
7.
grossly coarse, vulgar, or indecent:
rank language.
8.
Slang. inferior; contemptible.
Origin
before 1000; Middle English; Old English ranc bold, proud; cognate with Old Norse rakkr straight, bold
Related forms
rankish, adjective
rankly, adverb
rankness, noun
Synonyms
1. abundant, exuberant. 5. complete, sheer, entire. 6. repulsive, repellent. See flagrant. 7. foul.

Rank

[rahngk] /rɑŋk/
noun
1.
Otto
[awt-oh] /ˈɔt oʊ/ (Show IPA), 1884–1939, Austrian psychoanalyst.
Examples from the web for rank
  • This is not a genuine rank, but an appointment of divisional general.
  • Starting hands with three or four cards of one rank are very bad.
  • Seals with such a design are thought to be a mark of high social rank.
  • rank rich family friend, who is secretly in love with nora.
  • rank and nora both suffer from the irresponsibility of their fathers dr.
  • Major is a military rank the use of which varies according to country.
  • The naval equivalent to a major is, in some nations, the rank of lieutenant commander.
  • Gil is either a noncommissioned officer or junior officer rank.
  • All of the knowledge required for rank advancement within the arma is covered in the ntp.
  • All arma members are considered to possess the rank of scholar.
British Dictionary definitions for rank

rank1

/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.
(Brit) a place where taxis wait to be hired
6.
a line of soldiers drawn up abreast of each other Compare file1 (sense 5)
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) break ranks, to fall out of line, esp when under attack
12.
close ranks, to maintain discipline or solidarity, esp in anticipation of attack
13.
pull rank, to get one's own way by virtue of one's superior position or rank
verb
14.
(transitive) to arrange (people or things) in rows or lines; range
15.
to accord or be accorded a specific position in an organization, society, or group
16.
(transitive) 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
17.
(intransitive) to be important; rate: money ranks low in her order of priorities
18.
(mainly US) to take precedence or surpass in rank: the colonel ranks at this camp
Word Origin
C16: from Old French ranc row, rank, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German hring circle

rank2

/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
Derived Forms
rankly, adverb
rankness, noun
Word Origin
Old English ranc straight, noble; related to Old Norse rakkr upright, Dutch, Swedish rank tall and thin, weak

Rank

noun
1.
(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
2.
(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
Word Origin and History for rank
n.

early 14c., "row, line series;" c.1400, a row of an army, from Old French renc, ranc "row, line" (Modern French rang), from Frankish *hring or some other Germanic source (cf. Old High German hring "circle, ring"), from Proto-Germanic *khrengaz "circle, ring" (see ring (n.1)).

Meaning "a social division, class of persons" is from early 15c. Meaning "high station in society" is from early 15c. Meaning "a relative position" is from c.1600.

adj.

Old English ranc "proud, overbearing, showy," from Proto-Germanic *rankaz (cf. Danish rank "right, upright," German rank "slender," Old Norse rakkr "straight, erect"), perhaps from PIE *reg- "to stretch, straighten" (see right (adj.)). In reference to plant growth, "vigorous, luxuriant, abundant, copious" it is recorded from c.1300. Related: Rankly; rankness.

Sense evolved in Middle English to "large and coarse" (c.1300), then, via notion of "excessive and unpleasant," to "corrupt, loathsome, foul" (mid-14c.), perhaps from influence of Middle French rance "rancid." In 17c. also "lewd, lustful."

Much used 16c. as a pejorative intensive (cf. rank folly). This is possibly the source of the verb meaning "to reveal another's guilt" (1929, underworld slang), and that of "to harass, abuse," 1934, U.S. black dialect, though this also may be from the role of the activity in establishing social hierarchy (from rank (n.)).

v.

1570s, "arrange in lines;" 1590s, "put in order, classify; assign a rank to," from rank (n.). Related: Ranked; ranking.

Slang definitions & phrases for rank

rank

adjective

Inferior; contemptible

verb
  1. To say or do something that reveals another's guilt: She ranked him by busting out with that new fur so soon after the robbery (1920s+ Underworld)
  2. To harass; annoy; kid, needle: the fine, foul art of ''ranking.'' Light insults were his way of making friends (1934+)
Related Terms

pull rank

[second sense used by 1960s teenagers in the preferred variant rank out, both as a verb phrase and a noun phrase]


Idioms and Phrases with rank

rank

In addition to the idiom beginning with
rank
also see: