1. Relative status
   "his salary was determined by his rank and seniority"
    
2. A row or line of people (especially soldiers or police) standing abreast of one another
   "the entrance was guarded by ranks of policemen"
    
3. Position in a social hierarchy
   "the British are more aware of social rank than Americans are";
   - social station, social status, social rank
    
4. (military) the ordinary members of an organization (such as the enlisted soldiers of an army)
   "the strike was supported by the union rank and file"; "he rose from the ranks to become a colonel";
   - rank and file
    
5. The body of members of an organization or group
   "they found dissension in their own ranks"; "he joined the ranks of the unemployed";
   - membership
    
6. (computing) the dimensionality of an array
   "A 2D matrix has a rank of 2"
    
7. (chess) one of the horizontal lines of squares on a chessboard
   "The pawns occupy the second rank at the start of the game"
    
8. (mathematics) the number of linearly independent columns or rows of a matrix; related concepts in other specialized areas
   "The rank of the matrix determines its properties"

1. Take or have a position relative to others
   "This painting ranks among the best in the Western World"
    
2. Assign a rank or rating to
   "how would you rank these students?";
   - rate, range, grade, place
    
3. [N. Amer] Take precedence or surpass others in rank
   "The colonel ranks the lieutenant";
   - outrank

1. Complete and without restriction or qualification; sometimes used informally as an intensifier
   "a rank outsider";
   - absolute, downright, out-and-out, right-down, sheer, down-the-line [informal]
    
2. Conspicuously and outrageously bad or reprehensible
   "rank treachery";
   - crying, egregious, flagrant, glaring, gross
    
3. Very offensive in smell or taste
   "a rank cigar"
    
4. Very fertile; producing profuse growth
   "rank earth"
    
5. Growing profusely
   "rank jungle vegetation"

Derived forms: ranking, ranks, rankest, ranked, ranker

See also: abundant, complete, conspicuous, fertile, offensive

Type of: be, body, evaluate, excel, force, judge, line, pass judgment, personnel, position, rule, stand out, status, surpass

Part of: org [informal], organisation [Brit], organization

Encyclopedia: Rank, Michael