Meaning of 'rank' (Webster Dictionary)
- Rankly; stoutly; violently.
- A row or line; a range; an order; a tier; as, a rank of
osiers.
- A line of soldiers ranged side by side; -- opposed to
file. See 1st File, 1 (a).
- Grade of official standing, as in the army, navy, or
nobility; as, the rank of general; the rank of admiral.
- 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.
- 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.
- Elevated grade or standing; high degree; high social
position; distinction; eminence; as, a man of rank.
- Luxuriant in growth; of vigorous growth; exuberant;
grown to immoderate height; as, rank grass; rank weeds.
- Raised to a high degree; violent; extreme; gross; utter;
as, rank heresy.
- Causing vigorous growth; producing luxuriantly; very
rich and fertile; as, rank land.
- Strong-scented; rancid; musty; as, oil of a rank smell;
rank-smelling rue.
- Strong to the taste.
- Inflamed with venereal appetite.
- To be ranged; to be set or disposed, as in a particular
degree, class, order, or division.
- 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.
- To place abreast, or in a line.
- To range in a particular class, order, or division; to
class; also, to dispose methodically; to place in suitable classes or
order; to classify.
- To take rank of; to outrank.
Meaning of 'rank' (Princeton's WordNet)
Meaning (1):
- the body of members of an organization or group
Example in sentence:- he joined the ranks of the unemployed;
- they found dissension in their own ranks;
- they polled their membership
Meaning (2):
- the ordinary members of an organization (such as the enlisted soldiers of an army)
Example in sentence:- he rose from the ranks to become a colonel;
- the strike was supported by the union rank and file
Meaning (3):
- relative status
Example in sentence:- his salary was determined by his rank and seniority
Meaning (4):
- position in a social hierarchy
Example in sentence:- the British are more aware of social status than Americans are
Meaning (5):
- a row or line of people (especially soldiers or police) standing abreast of one another
Example in sentence:- the entrance was guarded by ranks of policemen
Meaning (6):
- assign a rank or rating to
Example in sentence:- how would you rank these students?;
- The restaurant is rated highly in the food guide
Meaning (7):
- take or have a position relative to others
Example in sentence:- This painting ranks among the best in the Western World
Meaning (8):
- conspicuously and outrageously bad or reprehensible
Example in sentence:- a crying shame;
- a glaring error;
- an egregious lie;
- flagrant violation of human rights;
- gross ineptitude;
- gross injustice;
- rank treachery
Meaning (9):
- complete and without restriction or qualification; sometimes used informally as intensifiers
Example in sentence:- a downright lie;
- a rank outsider;
- absolute freedom;
- an absolute dimwit;
- an out-and-out lie;
- got the job through sheer persistence;
- many right-down vices;
- out-and-out mayhem;
- sheer stupidity
Meaning (10):
- very offensive in smell or taste
Meaning (11):
- very fertile; producing profuse growth
Meaning (12):
- growing profusely
Definition
[ adv.]