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Rank   /ræŋk/   Listen
noun
Rank  n.  
1.
A row or line; a range; an order; a tier; as, a rank of osiers. "Many a mountain nigh Rising in lofty ranks, and loftier still."
2.
(Mil.) A line of soldiers ranged side by side; opposed to file. See 1st File, 1 (a). "Fierce, fiery warriors fought upon the clouds, In ranks and squadrons and right form of war."
3.
Grade of official standing, as in the army, navy, or nobility; as, the rank of general; the rank of admiral.
4.
An aggregate of individuals classed together; a permanent social class; an order; a division; as, ranks and orders of men; the highest and the lowest ranks of men, or of other intelligent beings.
5.
Degree of dignity, eminence, or excellence; position in civil or social life; station; degree; grade; as, a writer of the first rank; a lawyer of high rank. "These all are virtues of a meaner rank."
6.
Elevated grade or standing; high degree; high social position; distinction; eminence; as, a man of rank.
Rank and file.
(a)
(Mil.) The whole body of common soldiers, including also corporals. In a more extended sense, it includes sergeants also, excepting the noncommissioned staff.
(b)
See under 1st File.
The ranks, the order or grade of common soldiers; as, to reduce a noncommissioned officer to the ranks.
To fill the ranks, to supply the whole number, or a competent number.
To take rank of, to have precedence over, or to have the right of taking a higher place than.


verb
Rank  v. t.  (past & past part. ranked; pres. part. ranking)  
1.
To place abreast, or in a line.
2.
To range in a particular class, order, or division; to class; also, to dispose methodically; to place in suitable classes or order; to classify. "Ranking all things under general and special heads." "Poets were ranked in the class of philosophers." "Heresy is ranked with idolatry and witchcraft."
3.
To take rank of; to outrank. (U.S.)


Rank  v. i.  
1.
To be ranged; to be set or disposed, as in a particular degree, class, order, or division. "Let that one article rank with the rest."
2.
To have a certain grade or degree of elevation in the orders of civil or military life; to have a certain degree of esteem or consideration; as, he ranks with the first class of poets; he ranks high in public estimation.


adjective
Rank  adj.  (compar. ranker; superl. rankest)  
1.
Luxuriant in growth; of vigorous growth; exuberant; grown to immoderate height; as, rank grass; rank weeds. "And, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good."
2.
Raised to a high degree; violent; extreme; gross; utter; as, rank heresy. "Rank nonsense." "I do forgive thy rankest fault."
3.
Causing vigorous growth; producing luxuriantly; very rich and fertile; as, rank land.
4.
Strong-scented; rancid; musty; as, oil of a rank smell; rank-smelling rue.
5.
Strong to the taste. "Divers sea fowls taste rank of the fish on which they feed."
6.
Inflamed with venereal appetite. (Obs.)
Rank modus (Law), an excessive and unreasonable modus. See Modus, 3.
To set (the iron of a plane, etc.) rank, to set so as to take off a thick shaving.


adverb
Rank  adv.  Rankly; stoutly; violently. (Obs.) "That rides so rank and bends his lance so fell."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Rank" Quotes from Famous Books



... was the attendant guard?—or pursuivants—or men at arms? They had been swept from human existence, like the leaves of the old limes and beech trees by which the lower part of the building was surrounded. The moat was dry; the rampart was a ruin:—the rank grass grew within the area... nor can I tell you how many relics of halls, banqueting rooms, and bed-rooms, with all the magnificent appurtenances of old castellated architecture, struck the eager eye with mixed melancholy and surprise! The singular half-circular, and ...
— A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, Volume One • Thomas Frognall Dibdin
... But the theory does not work out in practical application to the facts we have to deal with, for while we cannot find still left in the world any agglutinative languages representative of sufficient culture to bring into our present consideration, we do find a monosyllabic in the highest rank, and meeting the highest cultural requirements. In short, the latter may be theoretically the inferior tool, but the genius of thought behind is greater than the form. One man can draw a masterpiece with a burnt stick, another only paint a ...
— Commentary Upon the Maya-Tzental Perez Codex - with a Concluding Note Upon the Linguistic Problem of the Maya Glyphs • William E. Gates
... dreadful, and perhaps sinful, that I, his son, should put such a question as this, but an irresistible impulse urges me on. Be honest with me, Wohlfart." He rose in his bed, and, putting his arm round Anton's neck, said in his ear, "Does my father rank with men of your class ...
— Debit and Credit - Translated from the German of Gustav Freytag • Gustav Freytag
... precarious position by attaching it to his interest, and to that end he professed himself a convert to its tenets, and, taking the Church of Rome under his especial patronage, elevated her Bishop to the rank of a prince of the Empire and gave him one of his palaces ...
— Astral Worship • J. H. Hill
... common-sense! If you do get everything you will be well rewarded for your three months' penal servitude. You knew what you were about, though you do despise rank and riches." ...
— A Crooked Path - A Novel • Mrs. Alexander


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