Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - rank

 I. adjective  Etymology: Middle English, from Old English ranc overbearing, strong; akin to Old Norse rakkr erect and perhaps to Old English riht right — more at right  Date: 13th century  1. luxuriantly or excessively vigorous in growth  2. offensively gross or coarse ; foul  3. obsolete grown too large  4.  a. shockingly conspicuous must lecture him on his ~ disloyalty — David Walden  b. outright — used as an intensive ~ beginners  5. archaic lustful, ruttish  6. offensive in odor or flavor; especially rancid  7. putrid, festering  8. high in amount or degree ; fraught  Synonyms: see malodorous, flagrant  • ~ly adverb  • ~ness noun  II. noun  Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French renc, reng, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German hring ring — more at ring  Date: 14th century  1.  a. row, series  b. a row of people  c.  (1) a line of soldiers ranged side by side in close order  (2) plural armed forces  (3) plural the body of enlisted personnel  d. any of the rows of squares that extend across a chessboard perpendicular to the files  e. British stand 6  2.  a. relative standing or position  b. a degree or position of dignity, eminence, or excellence ; distinction soon took ~ as a leading attorney — J. D. Hicks  c. high social position the privileges of ~  d. a grade of official standing in a hierarchy  3. an orderly arrangement ; formation  4. an aggregate of individuals classed together — usually used in plural  5. the order according to some statistical characteristic (as the score on a test)  6. any of a series of classes of coal based on increasing alteration of the parent vegetable matter, increasing carbon content, and increasing fuel value  7. the number of linearly independent rows or columns in a matrix  III. verb  Date: 1573  transitive verb  1. to arrange in lines or in a regular formation  2. to determine the relative position of ; rate a highly ~ed prospect  3. to take precedence of  intransitive verb  1. to form or move in ~s  2. to take or have a position in relation to others ~s first in her class