rank (ranks plural & 3rd person present) (ranking present participle) (ranked past tense & past participle) (ranker comparative) (rankest superlative )
1 n-var Someone's rank is the position or grade that they have in an organization.
with supp
He eventually rose to the rank of captain..., The former head of counter-intelligence had been stripped of his rank and privileges.
2 n-var Someone's rank is the social class, especially the high social class, that they belong to.
FORMAL usu with supp
He must be treated as a hostage of high rank, not as a common prisoner.
3 verb If an official organization ranks someone or something 1st, 5th, or 50th, for example, they calculate that the person or thing has that position on a scale. You can also say that someone or something ranks 1st, 5th, or 50th, for example.
The report ranks the UK 20th out of 22 advanced nations... V n ord in/out of n
...the only British woman to be ranked in the top 50 of the women's world rankings... be V-ed in n
Mr Short does not even rank in the world's top ten. V in/among n
4 verb If you say that someone or something ranks high or low on a scale or if you rank them high or low, you are saying how good or important you think they are.
His prices rank high among those of other contemporary photographers... V adj among n
Investors ranked South Korea high among Asian nations... V n adj among n
St Petersburg's night life ranks as more exciting than the capital's... V as adj
18 per cent of women ranked sex as very important in their lives... V n as adj
The Ritz-Carlton in Aspen has to rank as one of the most extraordinary hotels I have ever been to... V as n
5 n-plural The ranks of a group or organization are the people who belong to it.
with supp
There were some misgivings within the ranks of the media too...
6 n-plural The ranks are the ordinary members of an organization, especially of the armed forces.
the N, oft prep N
Most store managers have worked their way up through the ranks.
7 n-count A rankof people or things is a row of them.
usu N of n
Ranks of police in riot gear stood nervously by...
8 n-count A taxirank is a place on a city street where taxis park when they are available for hire.
(mainly BRIT)
The man led the way to the taxi rank...
in AM, use stand
9 adj You can use rank to emphasize a bad or undesirable quality that exists in an extreme form.
FORMAL ADJ n (emphasis)
(=sheer)
He called it `rank hypocrisy' that the government was now promoting equal rights.
10 adj You can describe something as rank when it has a strong and unpleasant smell.
OLD-FASHIONED, WRITTEN The kitchen was rank with the smell of drying uniforms., ...the rank smell of unwashed clothes.
11 If you say that a member of a group or organization breaks ranks, you mean that they disobey the instructions of their group or organization.
break ranks phrase V inflects
Britain appears unlikely to break ranks with other members of the European Union.
12 If you say that the members of a group close ranks, you mean that they are supporting each other only because their group is being criticized.
close ranks phrase V inflects
Institutions tend to close ranks when a member has been accused of misconduct.
13 If you experience something, usually something bad, that other people have experienced, you can say that you have joined their ranks.
join the ranks of X, join sb's ranks phrase V inflects
Last month, 370,000 Americans joined the ranks of the unemployed...
14 If you say that someone in authority pulls rank, you mean that they unfairly force other people to do what they want because of their higher rank or position.
pull rank phrase V inflects (disapproval)
The Captain pulled rank and made his sergeant row the entire way.
rank and file
Therank and file are the ordinary members of an organization or the ordinary workers in a company, as opposed to its leaders or managers. (JOURNALISM) n-sing usu the N
There was widespread support for him among the rank and file...
taxi rank (taxi ranks plural )A taxi rank is a place where taxis wait for passengers, for example at an airport or outside a station.
(BRIT) n-count
in AM, use taxi stand
