1 N‑VAR Someone's rank is the position or grade that they have in an organization. □ [+ of ] 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 ] □ 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. □ [V n ord + in/out of ] The report ranks the U.K. 20th out of 22 advanced nations. □ [be V -ed + in ] She was ranked in the top 50 of the women's world rankings. □ [V + in/among ] Mr Short does not even rank in the world's top ten.
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. □ [V adj + among ] His prices rank high among those of other contemporary photographers. □ [V n adj + among ] Investors ranked South Korea high among Asian nations. □ [V as adj] St Petersburg's night life ranks as more exciting than the capital's. □ [V n as adj] 18 per cent of women ranked sex as very important in their lives. □ [V + as ] The Ritz-Carlton in Aspen has to rank as one of the most extraordinary hotels I have ever been to. [Also V n among n, V among n, V n as n]
5 N‑PLURAL The ranks of a group or organization are the people who belong to it. □ [+ of ] There were some misgivings within the ranks of the media too.
6 N‑PLURAL [oft prep N ] The ranks are the ordinary members of an organization, especially of the armed forces. □ Most store managers have worked their way up through the ranks.
7 N‑COUNT A rank of people or things is a row of them. □ [+ of ] Ranks of police in riot gear stood nervously by.
8 N‑COUNT A taxi rank 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 [ADJ n] You can use rank to emphasize a bad or undesirable quality that exists in an extreme form. [FORMAL , EMPHASIS ] □ 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 PHRASE 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. □ She broke ranks with her father's old party when she stood as an independent.
12 PHRASE 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. □ Institutions tend to close ranks when a member has been accused of misconduct.
13 PHRASE If you experience something, usually something bad, that other people have experienced, you can say that you have joined their ranks . □ Last month, 370,000 Americans joined the ranks of the unemployed.
14 PHRASE 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. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ The Captain pulled rank and made his sergeant row the entire way.
ra nk and fi le N‑SING The rank and file are the ordinary members of an organization or the ordinary workers in a company, as opposed to its leaders or managers. [JOURNALISM ] □ There was widespread support for him among the rank and file.
-ranked /-ræŋkt/ COMB [ADJ n] -ranked is added to words, usually numbers like 'first', 'second', and 'third', to form adjectives which indicate what position someone or something has in a list or scale. □ She is Canada's second-ranked sprinter. □ …the world's ten highest-ranked players.
rank|ing ◆◇◇ /ræ ŋk I ŋ/ (rankings )
1 N‑PLURAL In many sports, the list of the best players made by an official organization is called the rankings . □ …the 25 leading teams in the world rankings.
2 N‑COUNT [usu with poss] Someone's ranking is their position in an official list of the best players of a sport. □ [+ of ] Agassi was playing well above his world ranking of 12.
3 ADJ [ADJ n] The ranking member of a group, usually a political group, is the most senior person in it. [AM ] □ …the ranking Republican on the senate intelligence committee.
-ranking /-ræŋk I ŋ/ COMB [ADJ n] -ranking is used to form adjectives which indicate what rank someone has in an organization. □ …a colonel on trial with three lower-ranking officers.
ran|kle /ræ ŋk ə l/ (rankles , rankling , rankled ) VERB If an event or situation rankles , it makes you feel angry or bitter afterwards, because you think it was unfair or wrong. □ [V ] They paid him only £10 for it and it really rankled. □ [V + with ] Britain's refusal to sell Portugal arms in 1937 still rankled with him. □ [V n] The only thing that rankles me is what she says about Ireland.
ran|sack /ræ nsæk/ (ransacks , ransacking , ransacked ) VERB If people ransack a building, they damage things in it or make it very untidy, often because they are looking for something in a quick and careless way. □ [V n] Demonstrators ransacked and burned the house where he was staying. ● ran|sack|ing N‑SING □ [+ of ] …the ransacking of the opposition party's offices.