Meanings
- not comparableBelonging or pertaining to the rank and file.
The morale of the rank-and-file Highland railwaymen has remained remarkably high, in view of the extent to which the London press and many an English M.P. have already discarded their railways.
1962 September, G. Freeman Allen, “The New Look in Scotland's Northern Division—1”, in Modern Railways, page 1641 more example
Rank-and-file progressives don’t usually think of the immigration policies they support—expanding refugee quotas, easing restrictions on some classes of immigrants, and ending family separation—as an endorsement of detention, deportation, and racialized terror.
2019 July 15, Greg Afinogenov, “The Jewish Case for Open Borders”, in Jewish Currents, number Summer 2019
- alternativeuncountableAlternative form of rank and file.
But Mr. Musk also has fans among Twitter’s rank-and-file, and some employees have welcomed his bid.
2022 April 25, Kate Conger, “Twitter Employees Search for Answers as Musk Deal Takes Shape”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
Cite this entry
rank-and-file. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rank-and-file
“rank-and-file.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rank-and-file. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rank-and-file,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rank-and-file.
Source: rank-and-file on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.