Rank
[ræŋk]
Definition
(noun.) a row or line of people (especially soldiers or police) standing abreast of one another; 'the entrance was guarded by ranks of policemen'.
(noun.) relative status; 'his salary was determined by his rank and seniority'.
(verb.) take precedence or surpass others in rank.
(verb.) take or have a position relative to others; 'This painting ranks among the best in the Western World'.
(adj.) growing profusely; 'rank jungle vegetation' .
(adj.) very fertile; producing profuse growth; 'rank earth' .
(adj.) very offensive in smell or taste; 'a rank cigar' .
Typed by Ann--From WordNet
Definition
(superl.) Luxuriant in growth; of vigorous growth; exuberant; grown to immoderate height; as, rank grass; rank weeds.
(superl.) Raised to a high degree; violent; extreme; gross; utter; as, rank heresy.
(superl.) Causing vigorous growth; producing luxuriantly; very rich and fertile; as, rank land.
(superl.) Strong-scented; rancid; musty; as, oil of a rank smell; rank-smelling rue.
(superl.) Strong to the taste.
(superl.) Inflamed with venereal appetite.
(adv.) Rankly; stoutly; violently.
(n. & v.) A row or line; a range; an order; a tier; as, a rank of osiers.
(n. & v.) A line of soldiers ranged side by side; -- opposed to file. See 1st File, 1 (a).
(n. & v.) Grade of official standing, as in the army, navy, or nobility; as, the rank of general; the rank of admiral.
(n. & v.) 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.
(n. & v.) 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.
(n. & v.) Elevated grade or standing; high degree; high social position; distinction; eminence; as, a man of rank.
(v. t.) To place abreast, or in a line.
(v. t.) To range in a particular class, order, or division; to class; also, to dispose methodically; to place in suitable classes or order; to classify.
(v. t.) To take rank of; to outrank.
(v. i.) To be ranged; to be set or disposed, as in a particular degree, class, order, or division.
(v. i.) 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.
Typist: Marietta
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Luxuriant, vigorous, exuberant, over-abundant.[2]. Excessive, overmuch, extravagant, rampant, very great.[3]. Rancid, musty, fusty, fetid, offensive, FROWZY, strong-smelling, strong-scented.
n. [1]. Row (as of soldiers, reckoned from side to side), tier, range, FILE.[2]. Class, order, division, head, category.[3]. Degree, grade, quality, relative station.[4]. Dignity, nobility, noble class, aristocratic class.
v. a. [1]. Class, arrange, range.[2]. [Modern.] Outrank, take precedence of.
v. n. Be ranked, be classed, take rank, have rank.
Editor: Rufus
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Luxuriant, exuberant, extreme, excessive, rampant
SYN:Row, line, tier, order, degree, grade, dignity
ANT:Disconnection, disorder, incontinuity, solution, intermission, hiatus,plebeianism, meanness, commonalty
Editor: Lois
Definition
n. a row or line esp. of soldiers standing side by side: class or order: grade or degree: station: high social position or standing.—v.t. to place in a line: to range in a particular class: to place methodically: to take rank over.—v.i. to be placed in a rank or class: to have a certain degree of distinction: to be admitted as a claim against the property of a bankrupt.—n. Rank′er one who arranges or disposes in ranks: an officer who has risen from the ranks.—Rank and file the whole body of common soldiers.—Take rank of to have the right to take a higher place than; Take rank with to take the same rank as; The ranks the order of common soldiers.
adj. growing high and luxuriantly: coarse from excessive growth: raised to a high degree: excessive: very fertile: strong-scented: strong-tasted: rancid: utter as rank nonsense: coarse: indecent: (Shak.) ruttish: (slang) eager: (law) excessive: (mech.) cutting deeply.—adv. (Spens.) rankly fiercely.—v.i. Rank′le to be inflamed: to fester: to be a source of disquietude or excitement: to rage.—v.t. to irritate.—adv. Rank′ly offensively: to an inordinate degree.—n. Rank′ness exuberant growth: (Shak.) insolence.—adjs. Rank′-rī′ding hard-riding; Rank′-scent′ed (Shak.) strong-scented: rancid.
Edited by Cecilia
Unserious Contents or Definition
n. Relative elevation in the scale of human worth.
Edited by Josie
Examples
- If the guests chose to partake of what was served, he saw no objection; but it was served for the maintenance of his rank. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- I felt some hesitation in suggesting rank as high as the colonelcy of a regiment, feeling somewhat doubtful whether I would be equal to the position. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- A man of any rank may, without any reproach, abstain totally from tasting such liquors. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- By the rules of precedency, a captain in the navy ranks with a colonel in the army; but he does not rank with him in the common estimation. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- Devils gathered their legions in his sight; their dim, discrowned, and tarnished armies passed rank and file before him. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- The portly gentleman, looking round to see that nobody of rank observed him, sat down; he muttered--Ah, really, well now, God bless my soul. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Among nations of hunters, such as the native tribes of North America, age is the sole foundation of rank and precedency. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- While the frictional appliance is still employed in medicine, it ranks with the flint axe and the tinder-box in industrial obsolescence. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- A brilliant liter ary man of the present day considers that places in the first ranks of literature are reserved for the doctrinally heterodox. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- By the rules of precedency, a captain in the navy ranks with a colonel in the army; but he does not rank with him in the common estimation. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- Indeed throughout the Republic he allows the lower ranks to fade into the distance. Plato. The Republic.
- Millers were detailed from the ranks to run the mills along the line of the army. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- I am only a simple Norfolk squire, but there is not a man in England who ranks his family honour more highly than I do. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- The inferior ranks of people must, in that country, suffer patiently the usage which their superiors think proper to give them. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- Sherman ranked him as a brigadier-general. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Now look at the Galeopithecus or so-called flying lemur, which was formerly ranked among bats, but is now believed to belong to the Insectivora. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Even Ireland has a few animals, now generally regarded as varieties, but which have been ranked as species by some zoologists. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Hence the amount of difference is one very important criterion in settling whether two forms should be ranked as species or varieties. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- All of them ranked me in the old army, and Sherman and Buell did as brigadiers. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Then a soul which forgets cannot be ranked among genuine philosophic natures; we must insist that the philosopher should have a good memory? Plato. The Republic.
- The worst excuse a soldier can make for declining service is that he once ranked the commander he is ordered to report to. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Abelard, a man of splendid talents, and ranking as the first debater of his time, became timid, irresolute, and distrustful of his powers. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- To-day it stands a triumph of human ingenuity, ranking in importance with the rotary web-perfecting press, and is probably the most ingenious piece of practical mechanism in existence. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
Checker: Sondra