From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishrankrank1 /ræŋk/ ●●● W3 noun 1 position in army/organization [countable, uncountable]SCPPM the position or level that someone holds in an organization, especially in the police or the army, navy etcrank of officers below the rank of Colonel He held (=had) the rank of Chief Inspector.rise to/be promoted to/attain the rank of something During the war Harold had risen to the rank of major.high/senior/low/junior rank an officer of junior rank He was sentenced to prison and stripped of his rank (=had his rank taken from him).2 → the ranks3 → break ranks4 line [countable] a rank of people or things is a line or row of themrank of Silently, ranks of police edged closer to the crowds. Everyone lines up in ranks, all facing the instructor.rank after rank/rank upon rank (=a lot of things or people in a row) On the shelves were rank after rank of liquor bottles.5 → pull rank (on somebody)6 POSITION/RANKquality [singular] the degree to which something or someone is of high quality While none of these pictures is of the first rank (=of the highest quality), some are of interest.7 social class [countable, uncountable]SSPOSITION/RANK someone’s position in society people of all ranks in society He came from a family of rank (=one from a high social class).8 taxi [countable] (also taxi rank)TTCBBT a place where taxis wait in a line to be hired I called a taxi from the rank outside. → close ranks at close1(17)COLLOCATIONSverbshold a rankFrom 1 Dec 1914 to 31 Oct 1915 he held the rank of captain.rise to/achieve/reach a rank (also attain a rank formal)He rose to the rank of colonel.be promoted to a rankHe was promoted to the rank of Captain.be stripped of your rank (=have it taken from you as a punishment)The officer was stripped of his rank for his part in affair.adjectiveshigh/low/middle rankHer father had been an army officer of fairly high rank.senior/junior rankHe held a junior rank in the infantry.cabinet/ministerial rankAs promised, a minister of cabinet rank has now been appointed to supervise its operation
Examples from the Corpus
rank• Applying the usual procedure to obtain this in another frame we obtain so that transforms as a rank 2 tensor.• So I goes to the cab rank, and gets up on the box.• The position of Secretary of State holds Cabinet rank.• This hot work, however, had left the Confederate ranks badly fragmented.• If anything, the past few days demonstrated even more turmoil in Democratic ranks.• She always wore rich fabrics and jewels, as befitted one of her rank.• Her rank, though high, did not meet the level protocol demanded of future empress.• They were all standing in ranks next to each other.• State your name, rank, and serial number.• He was obviously destined for the professional ranks and as I watched him I could see why.• But we have not been able to attract them into the professorial ranks in anywhere near the percentage they are getting degrees.• Gang members wear clothes or decorations that show the member's rank.• Four of the boys in Boy Scout Troop 611 reached the rank of Eagle Scout.• He joined the Los Angeles police department and was eventually promoted to the rank of lieutenant.• Now there is talk of recruiting blacks and Latinos, traditionally absent from the higher union ranks, to more prominent positions.held ... rank• His father had held army rank and won a medal in the last war.• Kimmel held four-star rank and Short wore three stars on the day of the attack.• He also wore uniform but explained that he only held an honorary rank.of the first rank• Washington has emerged as an actor of the first rank.• For Stewart, the Athens dispatches were a journalistic coup of the first rank.• John was a substantial magnate but, in terms of land held in hereditary right, not one of the first rank. family of rank• You see, you said the girl would have to come from a family of rank.rankrank2 ●●● W3 verb 1 a) [intransitive always + adverb/preposition, not in progressive]POSITION/RANK to have a particular position in a list of people or things that have been put in order of quality or importancerank as/among Today’s match ranks as one of the most exciting games that these two have ever played. We rank among the safest countries in the world.rank with/alongside (=be of the same importance or quality) Cuvier wanted to turn natural history into a science that would rank with physics and chemistry.rank high/low He ranked high among the pioneers of 20th century chemical technology. b) [transitive]POSITION/RANK to decide the position of someone or something on a list based on quality or importancebe ranked fourth/number one etc Agassi was at that time ranked sixth in the world. It is not always easy to rank the students in order of ability.2 [transitive] American EnglishHIGH POSITION OR RANK to have a higher rank than someone else SYN outrank A general ranks a captain.3 [transitive]ARRANGE A GROUP OF THINGS OR PEOPLE to arrange objects in a line or row There were several pairs of riding boots ranked neatly in the hall.→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
rank• Connell, a Canadian ranked 73rd in the world, won the third set.• The following table shows some more recent Utopias, ranked according to date of publication.• Nevertheless, as the table shows, we rank among the safest countries in the world.• Sandoz ranks as one of the 10 largest drug companies in the world.• He ranks as one of the most gifted artists of all time.• The name Michael always ranks high on the list of the most popular boys' names.• The Rams have ranked near the bottom of the NFL for two seasons.• She was beaten by someone who was ranked only 200th in the world.• But Aetna ranked only satisfactory, as did CareAmerica.• What factors correlate with people who rank structure highly?• Volleyball Monthly ranked the team third in the nation.• The run-time application of syntactic information uses the transition matrices and the lexicon to rank the words in the lattice.rank as/among• There were other people there, he had been demoted to the same rank as her many friends.• This ranks as one of the few occasions in the past 20 years when I have forked out for a little bottle.• It places Scott in the front rank as one of the world's most innovative Himalayan climbers.• The deal ranks as the biggest drug industry merger on record.• He is a Gentleman of fortune, and takes rank among the first in South Carolina.• Today, hour-long local news shows are the rule not the exception and rank among the stations' biggest revenue producers.• Five Pac-10 schools ranked among the top ten in the nation during the 1993-94 season.rankrank3 adjective 1 CTif something is rank, it has a very strong unpleasant smellrank smell/odour the rank odour of sweat and urine2 [only before noun]COMPLETE used to emphasize a bad or undesirable quality SYN total an example of this government’s rank stupidity They make us look like rank amateurs (=not at all good or professional).3 HBPDLGrank plants are too thick and have spread everywhere rank grass and weedsExamples from the Corpus
rank• The jute had an acrid smell that scooped up the rank aroma of moist earth as it leapt from the ground.• Her students range from rank beginners to professionals.• rank cheese• He also had a rank contempt for Desmond Morton.• Of course the rank darkness was different at sunrise or dusk.• rank hypocrisyrank smell/odour• Everywhere was the rank smell of copra drying.• The rank odour of sweat and urine made him wince.• The strange, rank smell was stronger than ever and after a few moments they all heard a heavy movement close by.From Longman Business Dictionaryrankrank1 /ræŋk/ noun [countable]1a particular level of job in an organization, especially a government organization or the armyHis father retired with the rank of major.Knight-Ridder named Maxwell King, 46, to succeed Mr. Roberts, but at a lower rank.The companies have been trying to reduce the number of management ranks in a bid to be more cost-efficient.2a particular position in a list that has been put in order of quality or importanceNo US airline broke the top 10 rank (=no US airline was higher than 10th) in an airline survey released yesterday.rankrank2 verb1[intransitive] to have a particular position in a list that has been put in order of quality or importanceIt ranks in the top 3% of all mutual funds.2[transitive] to decide the position of something or someone in a list in order of quality or importanceThe firm was ranked the number five underwriter of US bond and stock issues.rank something as somethingThe real estate executives ranked the Northeast as the least attractive area for development.→ See Verb tableOrigin rank1 (1300-1400) Old French renc, reng “line, place, row” rank3 Old English ranc 