From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishthe ranksthe ranksa) SSOPPGthe people who belong to a particular organization or groupin/within ... ranks There were splits in the party ranks on this issue. The Democrats now face opposition from within their own ranks.the ranks of Most are recruited from the ranks of people who studied Latin and Greek at university. That summer I left school and joined the ranks of (=became one of) the unemployed. b) PMall the members of the army, navy etc who are not officers He rose from the ranks to become a Field Marshal (=he became an officer after starting as an ordinary soldier). → rank
Examples from the Corpus
the ranks• With the onset of World War 11, the ranks were severely depleted, and the forest work camps were closed.• Bugs Bunny and other Warner cartoon characters wait to greet you, alongside the ranks of popcorn dispensers.• After the war, Gilroy rose quickly in the ranks.• The layoffs cut deep into the ranks of the city's health workers.• She had not sunk so low as to join the ranks of that sisterhood!• Both received top scores on their university examinations and joined the ranks of scholars.• You found out that we're monitoring the ranks of the military, Academicians and priests.• The ships rode at anchor, their crews merely swelling the ranks of the spectators.• At that time a new dance director had risen through the ranks.• In addition to this, the bureaucratic leaderships do not facilitate bringing revolutionary Marxist educational mate rial to the ranks. 