rank 
In my juvenile days, :ind even long since, there was, 
hereabouts, a hackney-coach rank that had endurtil linn- 
out of mind, but was in latter years called a cab-stand. 
2f. and Q., 6th ser., X. 398. 
Specifically (a) One of the rows of a body of troops, or 
of any persons similarly ranged in a right-and-left line ; a 
line of soldiers or other persons standing abreast in a 
formation : distinguished from Jile'*, 5. See rank and fie, 
under Jtte' A . 
And Merlin that rode fro oo renge to a-nother ascride 
hem often "ore auaunt." Merlin (E. E. T. S.), HI. 588. 
Olotocara, which had not learned to keepe his ranke, or 
rather moued with rage, lept on the platformc, and thrust 
him through the bodie with his pike and slew him. 
Bakluyt's Voyages, III. 368. 
Meanwhile the Tuscan army, 
Right glorious to behold, 
Came flashing back the noonday light, 
Rank behind rank, like surges bright 
Of a broad sea of gold. Macaulay, Horatius. 
Hence (6) pi. The lines or divisions of an army or any 
armed force ; organized soldiery ; the body or class of 
common soldiers : as, the ranks are full ; to rise from the 
ranks ; to reduce an officer to the ranks. 
The Knight of Rokehy led his ranks 
To aid the valiant northern Earls 
Who drew the sword for royal Charles. 
Scott, Rokeby, i. 28. 
In 1887 the number was flfty-one ; and in 1888, up to the 
1st September, forty-nve commissions were given to men 
from the ranks. Harper's May., LXXX. 340. 
(c) In organ-building, a row or set of pipes, one for each 
digital of the keyboard. A mixture-stop is said to be of 
two, three, four, or five ranks, according to the numbers 
of pipes sounded at once by a single digital, (a) One of 
the lines of squares on a chess-board running from side to 
side, in distinction from the flies, which run from player 
to player, (e) A row, as of leaves on a stem. 
2f. A continuous line or course ; a stretch. 
Presently after he was baptized, hee went to fast in the 
desert, xl. dayes & xL nights on a raneke. 
Guevara, Letters (tr. by Hellowes, 1577), p. 360. 
3. A class, order, or grade of persons; any 
aggregate of individuals classed together for 
some common reason, as social station, occu- 
pation, character, or creed : as, the Prohibition 
ranks; the ranks of the Anarchists. 
Thou wert honest, 
Ever among the rank of good men counted. 
Fletcher, Wife for a Month, v. 1. 
All ranks and orders of men, being equally concerned 
in public blessings, equally join in spreading the infec- 
tion. Bp. Atterbury. 
Then from his Lordship I shall learn 
Henceforth to meet with unconcern 
One rank as weel 's another. 
Burns, On Meeting Basil, Lord Daer. 
The nearest practical approach to the theological esti- 
mate of a sin may be found in the ranks of the ascetics. 
Lecky, Europ. Morals, I. 117. 
4. Grade in a scale of comparison; class or 
classification ; natural or acquired status ; rel- 
ative position; standing. 
Not i' the worst rank of manhood. 
Shak., Macbeth, iii. 1. 103. 
These are all virtues of a meaner rank. Addison. 
Specifically, of persons (a) Titular distinction or dig- 
nity ; gradation by hereditary, official, or other title : as, 
civil, judicial, or military rank; the rank of baron or 
marquis ; the rank of general or admiral ; the rank of 
ambassador or governor. The relative rank of officers of 
the United States army and navy is as follows : General 
ranks with admiral ; lieutenant-general with vice-admiral; 
major-general with rear-admiral ; brigadier-general with 
commodore ; colonel with captain ; lieutenant-colonel 
with commander; major with lieutenant-commander; 
captain with lieutenant(senior grade); first lieutenant with 
lieutenant (junior grade) ; second lieutenant with ensign. 
The rank of an ambassador has nothing to do with the 
transaction of affaire. 
Woolsey, Introd. to Inter. Law, 94. 
(b) Eminent standing or dignity ; especially, aristocratic 
station or hereditary distinction, as in European mon- 
archies ; inherited or conferred social eminence. 
Respect for Hank, fifty years ago universal and profound, 
is rapidly decaying. There are still many left who believe 
in some kind of superiority by Divine Right and the Sov- 
ereign's gift of Rank, even though that Rank be but ten 
years old, and the grandfather's shop is still remembered. 
W. Besant, Fifty Years Ago, p. 118. 
5f. A ranging or roving; hence, discursive 
wandering; divagation; aberration. 
Instead of a manly and sober form of devotion, all the 
extravagant ranks and silly freaks of enthusiasm ! 
Bp. Atterbury, Sermons, I. ii. 
6. In geom., the degree of a locus of lines, (a) 
The number of lines of a singly infinite system which cut 
any given line in tridimensional space. (6) The number 
of lines of a triply infinite system which lie in one plane 
and pass through one point in that plane. A split in the 
ranks, dissension and division in a party, sect, society, 
or the like. [Colloq.] 
They must submit to the humiliation of acknowledging 
a split in their own ranks. 
ffineteejith Century, XXVI. 749. 
Rank and file. See file*. Rank of a complex, the 
number of its rays lying in an arbitrary plane and passing 
through an arbitrary point in that plane. Rank Of a 
curve, the rank of the system of its tangents, or the num- 
ber of tangents which cut any arbitrarily taken line in 
4957 
rankness 
space. Rank of a surface, the number of tangent lines rank-axis (rangk'ak sis), n. A line considered 
to the surf ace whichlie in a Kivrri phuieaml pass through :i ;ls j| lo envelop of planes. 
given point in that plane. -To break ranks. Beeftrmfc ' i.. hrai-nertl frMiK'k'hriiidl n Wronir hp-id- 
-To nil the ranks, to make up the whole number, ..r ranK-Drain !(!),. 1 
a competent number. To keep rankt, to be in keeping ; edj c r;t<- k-brained. 
be consistent. rank-curve (rangk'kerv), n. A curve consid- 
Some strange effect which will not well keep ranck ered as the envelop of its tangents. 
With the rare temperance which is admired ranker (rang'ker), H. [< rnwfc 2 + -'l.] 1. 
" er ja. and Fl., Knight of Malta, iii. 3. U who ra l' ks . or arranges ; one who disposes 
i have rank or consideration ; be classed 
, A .. , 
in ranks. 2. Amilitary officer who has risen or 
7ne been promoted from ranks. [Collo,,., Eng.] 
takes rank as a very original poet. To take rank 01, to 
have the right of taking a higher place than ; outrank : 
as, in Great Britain the sovereign's sons take rank of all 
other nobles. Compare ranlft, v. t., 3. To take rank . . 
with, to have the same or coordinate rank with ; be en- ranking (rang king), 
titled to like official or social consideration : as, a captain 
in the navy takes rank with a colonel in the army. 
rank 2 (raugk), . [Early mod. E. also ranck; < 
rank'l, n., q. v.] I. trans. 1. To arrange in a 
rank or ranks ; place in a rank or line. 
And every sort is in a sondry bed 
Sett by it selfe, anAranckt in comely rew. 
Spenser, . Q., III. vi. 35. 
A many thousand warlike French 
That were embattailed and rank'd in Kent. 
Shak., K. John, iv. 2. 200. 
The new coast battalion, most of whose officers are 
rankers. 
SL James's Gazette, June 2, 1886, p. 12. (Encyc. Diet.) 
[Verbal n. of rank?, 
.] The act of one who ranks Ranking and 
sale, or ranking of creditors, in Scots law, the process 
whereby the heritable property of an insolvent person is 
his ci " 
d pi 
This is the most complex and comprehensive process 
redi- 
references. 
judicially sold and the price divided among 
tors according to their several rights and 
This is the most complex and comprehen 
known in the law of Scotland, but is now practically ob- 
solete. It corresponds to the English process of mar- 
shaling securities in an action for redemption or fore- 
closure. 
rankle (rang'kl), . ; pret. and pp. rankled, 
ppr. ranklimj^ [Early mod. E. also rankill, 
These as enemies tooke their stands a musket shot one runkyll ; < ME. randen, freq. of rank 1 , .] I. 
from another ; ranked themselues 15 a breast, and each intrans. 1 . To operate rankly or with painful 
ranke from another 4 or 5 yards. effect; cause inflammation or irritation; pro- 
Capt. John SmM, Works, I. 135. du(je & > fegter ; wound . use( j , eithel . pfcy&al 
Horse and chariots rank'd in loose array. _ mpll f a i influences 
Hilton, P. L., ii. 887. 
Look, when he fawns, he bites ; and when he bites, 
His venom tooth will rankle to the death. 
Shak., Rich. III., i. 3. 291. 
[He] looked the rage that rankled in his heart. 
Crabbe, Works, I. 78. 
2. To assign to a particular class, order, or 
division ; fix the rank of ; class. 
Thou hor'st the face once of a noble gentleman, 
Rank'd in the first file of the virtuous. 
Fletcher, Double Marriage, ii. 2. 
I will not rank myself in the number of the first. 
/. Walton, Complete Angler, p. 40. 
How shall we rank thce upon glory's page? 
Thou more than soldier and just less than sage ! 
Moore, To Thomas Hume. 
3. To take rank of or over; outrank: as, in 
the United States army, an officer commis- 
sioned simply as general ranks all other gen- 
erals. [U. S.] 4. To dispose in suitable or- 
der; arrange; classify. 
Antiently the people [of Magnesia] were ranked accord- 
ing to their different tribes. 
Pococke, Description of the East, II. ii. 55. 
By ranking all things under general and special heads, 
it [Logic) renders the nature or any of the properties, 
powers, and uses of a thing more easy to be found out 
when we seek in what rank of beings it lies. 
Watts, Logic, I. vi. 13. 
5f. To fix as to state or estimation; settle; es- 
tablish. 
We cannot rank you in a nobler friendship 
Than your great service to the state deserves. 
Beau, and VI., Laws of Candy, 1. 2. 
I, that before was ranked in such content. 
B. Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, iii. 3. 
6f. To range; give the range to, as a gun in 
firing. 
Their shot replies, hut they were rank'd too high 
To touch the pinnace. 
Leyend of Captain Jones (1659). (HalliweU, under range.) 
II. intrans. 1. To move in ranks or rows. 
[Rare.] 
Your cattle, too; Allah made them; serviceable dumb rankly (rangk'li), adv. 
Or jealousy, with rankling tooth, 
That inly gnaws the secret heart. 
Gray, On a Distant Prospect of Eton College. 
Say, shall I wound with satire's rankling spear 
The pure warm hearts that bid me welcome here? 
0. W. Holmes, A Rhymed Lesson. 
Resentment long rankled in the minds of some whom 
Endicott had perhaps too passionately punished. 
Bancroft, Hist. U. S.,I. 322. 
2. To continue or grow rank or strong; con- 
tinue to be painful or irritating ; remain in an 
inflamed or ulcerous condition ; fester, as a 
physical or mental wound or sore. 
My words might cast rank poison to his pores, 
And make his swoln and rankling sinews crack. 
Peele, David and Bethsahe. 
A leper shut up in a pesthouse rankleth to himself, in- 
fects not others. Rev. T. Adams, Works, III. 19. 
A wound i' the flesh, no doubt, wants prompt redress ; . . . 
But a wound to the soul? That rankles worse and worse. 
Browning, Ring and Book, 1. 197. 
II. trans. 1. To irritate; inflame; cause to 
fester. 
Then shall the Britons, late dismayd and weake, 
From their long vassalage gin to respire, 
And on their Paynim foes avenge their ranckled ire. 
Spenser, Y. Q., III. iii. 38. 
2f. To corrode. 
creatures ; ... they come ranking home at evening time. 
Carlyle. 
2. To be ranged or disposed, as in a particular 
order, class, or division ; hold rank or station ; 
occupy a certain position as compared with 
others: as, to rank above, below, or with some 
other man. 
Here, because his mouth waters at the money, his [Ju- 
das's] teeth rankle the woman's credit, for so I find ma- 
lignant reprovers styled; corrodunt, non corrigunt; cor- 
reptores, immo corruptorcs they do not mend, but make 
worse ; they bite, they gnaw. 
Rev. T. Adams, Works (Sermon on John xii. 6), II. 224. 
[< ME. rankly, rnnkly; 
+ -fy2.] ' If. With great strength or 
force; fiercely; rampantly. 
Herk rcnk ! is this ryjt, so ronkly to wrath 
For any dede that I haf don other denied the set? 
Alliterative Poems (ed. Morris), iii. 431. 
2. In an excessive manner or degree; inordi- 
nately; intensely; profusely; exuberantly: as, 
There is reason to believe that he [William of Orange] rankly poisonous; rankly treasonable; weeds 
was by no means equal as a general in the field to some that grow rankly. 3. Offensively; noisomely; 
who ranked far below him in intellectual powers. 
Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vii. 
Gorizia ranks as an ecclesiastical metropolis. 
E. A. Freeman, Venice, p. 50. 
3f. To range ; go or move about ; hence, to 
bear one's self ; behave. 
His men were a' clad in the grene ; 
The knight was armed capapie, 
With a bended bow, on a milk-white steed ; 
And I wot they rank'd right bonnilie. 
Sang of the Outlaw Murray (Child's Ballads, VI. 25). 
Harke ! they are at hande ; ranke handsomly. 
Marslon, Dutch Courtezan, iv. 1. 
4. In British law : (a) To have rank or standing 
as a claim in bankruptcy or probate proceed- 
ings 
iy- 
The smoking of incense or perfumes, and the like, smells 
rankly enough, ill all conscience, of idolatry. 
Dr. H. More, Antidote against Idolatry, viii. (Latham.) 
4. Grossly; foully. 
The whole ear of Denmark 
Is by a forged process of my death 
Rankly abused. Shak., Hamlet, I. 5. 38. 
rankness (rangk'nes), n. [< ME. ranknesse; 
< rank 1 + -ness.'] If. Physical strength; ef- 
fective force ; potency. 
The crane's pride is in the rankness of her wing. 
Sir It. L'Estrange, Fables. 
2. Strength of kind, quality, or degree, in a 
disparaging sense; hence, extravagance; ex- 
19,534 is expected to ran* against assets estimated at cess ; grossness ; repulsiveness : as, rankness of 
18,120 15s. M. 
Daily Telegraph, April 8, 1886. 
(b) To put in a claim against the property of a 
bankrupt person or a deceased debtor : as, he 
ranked upon the estate. 
growth; the ranknessot H poison, or of one's 
(Encyc. Diet.) p r i(j e or pretensions. 3f. Insolence; presump- 
tion. 
I will physic your rankness, and yet give no thousand 
crowns neither. Shak., As you Like it, L 1. 91. 
