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Rank and file   /ræŋk ənd faɪl/   Listen
noun
File  n.  
1.
An orderly succession; a line; a row; as:
(a)
(Mil.) A row of soldiers ranged one behind another; in contradistinction to rank, which designates a row of soldiers standing abreast; a number consisting the depth of a body of troops, which, in the ordinary modern formation, consists of two men, the battalion standing two deep, or in two ranks. Note: The number of files in a company describes its width, as the number of ranks does its depth; thus, 100 men in "fours deep" would be spoken of as 25 files in 4 ranks.
(b)
An orderly collection of papers, arranged in sequence or classified for preservation and reference; as, files of letters or of newspapers; this mail brings English files to the 15th instant.
(c)
The line, wire, or other contrivance, by which papers are put and kept in order. "It is upon a file with the duke's other letters."
(d)
A roll or list. "A file of all the gentry."
2.
Course of thought; thread of narration. (Obs.) "Let me resume the file of my narration."
3.
(computers) A collection of data on a digital recording medium treated as a unit for the purpose of recording, reading, storage, or indexing; such a file is typically accessible by computer programs by the use of a file name. The data may be of any type codable digitally, such as simple ASCII-coded text, complex binary-coded data, or an executable program, or may be itself a collection of other files.
File firing, the act of firing by file, or each file independently of others.
File leader, the soldier at the front of any file, who covers and leads those in rear of him.
File marching, the marching of a line two deep, when faced to the right or left, so that the front and rear rank march side by side.
Indian file, or Single file, a line of people marching one behind another; a single row. Also used adverbially; as, to march Indian file.
On file, preserved in an orderly collection; recorded in some database.
Rank and file.
(a)
The body of soldiers constituting the mass of an army, including corporals and privates.
(b)
Those who constitute the bulk or working members of a party, society, etc., in distinction from the leaders.


Rank  n.  
1.
A row or line; a range; an order; a tier; as, a rank of osiers. "Many a mountain nigh Rising in lofty ranks, and loftier still."
2.
(Mil.) A line of soldiers ranged side by side; opposed to file. See 1st File, 1 (a). "Fierce, fiery warriors fought upon the clouds, In ranks and squadrons and right form of war."
3.
Grade of official standing, as in the army, navy, or nobility; as, the rank of general; the rank of admiral.
4.
An aggregate of individuals classed together; a permanent social class; an order; a division; as, ranks and orders of men; the highest and the lowest ranks of men, or of other intelligent beings.
5.
Degree of dignity, eminence, or excellence; position in civil or social life; station; degree; grade; as, a writer of the first rank; a lawyer of high rank. "These all are virtues of a meaner rank."
6.
Elevated grade or standing; high degree; high social position; distinction; eminence; as, a man of rank.
Rank and file.
(a)
(Mil.) The whole body of common soldiers, including also corporals. In a more extended sense, it includes sergeants also, excepting the noncommissioned staff.
(b)
See under 1st File.
The ranks, the order or grade of common soldiers; as, to reduce a noncommissioned officer to the ranks.
To fill the ranks, to supply the whole number, or a competent number.
To take rank of, to have precedence over, or to have the right of taking a higher place than.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Rank and file" Quotes from Famous Books



... Gomorrah; Shinab, the father-hater, king of Admah; Shemeber, the voluptuary, king of Zeboiim; and the king of Bela, the city that devours its inhabitants. The five were routed in the fruitful Vale of Siddim, the canals of which later formed the Dead Sea. They that remained of the rank and file fled to the mountains, but the kings fell into the slime pits and stuck there. Only the king of Sodom was rescued, miraculously, for the purpose that he might convert those heathen to faith in God that had not believed in the wonderful deliverance of ...
— The Legends of the Jews Volume 1 • Louis Ginzberg
... In those days a sudden death—the most enviable of all deaths—was regarded as the most frightful calamity. It was classed with plague, pestilence, and famine, battle and murder, in our prayers. But belief in that hell is fast vanishing. All the leaders of thought have lost it; and even for the rank and file it has fled to those parts of Ireland and Scotland which are still in the XVII century. Even there, it is tacitly ...
— Preface to Androcles and the Lion - On the Prospects of Christianity • George Bernard Shaw
... heights on indefinite wings, and the tendency to over-resolve, becomes unsatisfying to the impatient, who want results to come as they walk. Probably this is a reason that it is occasionally said that Emerson has no vital message for the rank and file. He has no definite message perhaps for the literal, but messages are all vital, as much, by reason of his indefiniteness, as in ...
— Essays Before a Sonata • Charles Ives
... knee and elbow and wrist and ankle, had Sloppy, and he didn't know how to dispose of it to the best advantage, but was always investing it in wrong securities, and so getting himself into embarrassed circumstances. Full-Private Number One in the Awkward Squad of the rank and file of life, was Sloppy, and yet had his glimmering notions of standing ...
— Our Mutual Friend • Charles Dickens
... commanding appearance, always very smartly turned out, he set a fine example to all ranks and speedily infused the real military spirit into the rank and file. During training at home and on service in France he did splendid work, and to him is due in no small measure the high standard of efficiency and discipline maintained in the Battalion. In manner somewhat brusque, but of a tender heart withal, ...
— The Seventeenth Highland Light Infantry (Glasgow Chamber of Commerce Battalion) - Record of War Service, 1914-1918 • Various


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