- rank
- [[t]ræ̱ŋk[/t]]
♦♦♦ranks, ranking, ranked1) N-VAR: with supp Someone's rank is the position or grade that they have in an organization.
He eventually rose to the rank of captain...
The former head of counter-intelligence had been stripped of his rank and privileges.
...officers of equivalent rank in the other branches.
2) N-VAR: usu with supp Someone's rank is the social class, especially the high social class, that they belong to. [FORMAL]Each rank of the peerage was represented...
He must be treated as a hostage of high rank, not as a common prisoner.
3) V-ERG 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.[V n ord in/out of n] The report ranks the UK 20th out of 22 advanced nations...
[V n ord in/out of n] He was at the time ranked 10th in the world and had a regular place in the Swedish Davis Cup team...
[V ord in/out of n] The United States ranks 20th in its infant mortality rate.
[be V-ed in n] ...the only British woman to be ranked in the top 50 of the women's world rankings...
[V in/among n] Mr Short does not even rank in the world's top ten.
4) V-ERG If you say that someone or something ranks high or low on a scale, you are saying how good or important you think they are.[V adj among n] His prices rank high among those of other contemporary photographers...
[V n adj among n] 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 n] The Ritz-Carlton in Aspen has to rank as one of the most extraordinary hotels I have ever been to...
[be V-ed as n] Since the 1930s, cancer has always been ranked as the disease people are most concerned about. [Also V n among n, V among n, V n as n]
5) VERB If you say that someone or something ranks with a group of famous people or things, you mean that they are extremely good and should be included in that group.[V with n] ...a performance of heroic calibre that must rank with the most memorable in international rugby...
[V with n] As a novel, Nineteen Eighty-four hardly ranks with the greats.
6) N-PLURAL: with supp The ranks of a group or organization are the people who belong to it.There were some misgivings within the ranks of the media too...
The General Assembly welcomed five new members to its ranks.
...the growing ranks of companies building personal computers.
7) N-PLURAL: the N, oft prep N The ranks are the ordinary members of an organization, especially of the armed forces.Top military leaders say there have been reports of demoralization in the ranks...
Most store managers have worked their way up through the ranks.
Ranks of police in riot gear stood nervously by...
She continued to smile at the ranks of cameras on their doorstep.
Syn:9) 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)He walked towards the first taxi on the rank.
10) ADJ: ADJ n (emphasis) You can use rank to emphasize a bad or undesirable quality that exists in an extreme form. [FORMAL]He called it `rank hypocrisy' that the government was now promoting equal rights.
Syn:11) 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.
12) PHRASE: V inflects 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.`Even the President's staunchest supporters have some issues where they simply must break ranks,' says Senator Lott...
Britain appears unlikely to break ranks with other members of the European Union.
13) PHRASE: V inflects 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.Conservative MPs intend to put aside their differences over Europe and close ranks behind the Prime Minister...
Institutions tend to close ranks when a member has been accused of misconduct.
14) PHRASE: V inflects 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...
Many have now joined Amnesty's growing ranks of prisoners of conscience.
15) PHRASE: N inflects (emphasis) If one of the people in a competition is described as a rank outsider, they are considered to have very little chance of winning.The rank outsiders, Cameroon, beat the defending champions, Argentina, by one goal to nil.
16) PHRASE: V inflects (disapproval) 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.The Captain pulled rank and made his sergeant row the entire way.
English dictionary. 2008.
