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   rank

   /raŋk/

   noun

   • 1. a position in the hierarchy of the armed forces: "an army officer of high rank"
   • ▪ a position within the hierarchy of an organization or society: "only two cabinet members had held ministerial rank before" Similar positiongradelevelechelongradationpoint on the scalerung on the ladderclassstratumstatusstationstanding
   • ▪ high social position: "persons of rank and breeding" Similar high standingnobilityaristocracyblue bloodhigh birtheminencedistinctionprestigeprominenceinfluenceimportanceconsequencepower
   • ▪ a number specifying position in a numerically ordered series.
   • ▪ (in systemic grammar) the level of a linguistic unit or set of linguistic units in relation to other sets in the hierarchy.
   • 2. a single line of soldiers or police officers drawn up abreast: "they were drawn up outside their barracks in long ranks" Similar rowlinefilecolumnseriessuccessionstringtrainprocessionqueue
   • ▪ a regular row or line of things or people: "conifer plantations growing in serried ranks"
   • ▪ each of the eight rows of eight squares running from side to side across a chessboard.
   • ▪ short for taxi rank British
   • 3. the people belonging to or constituting a group or class: "the ranks of Britain's unemployed"
   • ▪ (in the armed forces) those who are not commissioned officers: "he was fined and reduced to the ranks"
   • 4. the value or the order of the largest non-zero determinant of a given matrix.
   • ▪ an analogous quantity in other kinds of group.

   verb

   • 1. give (someone or something) a rank or place within a grading system: "students ranked the samples in order of preference" Similar classifyclasscategorizerategradetypeordersortbracketgrouppigeonholedesignatecodifycataloguefilelisttabulatetriage
   • ▪ have a specified rank or place within a grading system: "he now ranks third in America" Similar have a rankbe gradedbe placedbe positionedhave a statusbe classedbe classifiedbe categorizedbelong
   • ▪ take precedence over (someone) in respect of rank; outrank: US "the Secretary of State ranks all the other members of the cabinet"
   • 2. arrange in a row or rows: "the tents were ranked in orderly rows" Similar line upaligndraw upput/set in orderorderplacepositionarrangedisposeset outarrayrange

   Word Origin Middle English (in the sense ‘row of things’): from Old French ranc, of Germanic origin; related to ring1.

   Scrabble Points: 8

   • R

     1

   • A

     1

   • N

     1

   • K

     5

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