Meanings
nounrank-and-filer (plural rank-and-filers)
plural rank-and-filers
- A member of the rank and file.
My mother was an active rank-and-filer in the International Ladies Garment Workers Union in New York. She would go to the Union meetings, and she'd come back with this little song book called "The Little Red Song Book."
1989 December 3, Pam Mitchell, Ronnie Gilbert, “Carrying On The Honorable Tradition Of 'Protest Music'”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 21, page 8
Origin
Translations
Finnish rivimies, rivijäsen
- rivimiesmember of rank and file
- rivijäsenmember of rank and file
Spanish currante, currito
- currantemember of rank and file
- curritomember of rank and file
- laburantemember of rank and file
Cite this entry
APA
rank-and-filer. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rank-and-filer
MLA
“rank-and-filer.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rank-and-filer. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rank-and-filer,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rank-and-filer.
Source: rank-and-filer on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.