See also: file.
In card games this is one of the two terms used to describe a card's value. Each card has both a rank and a suit.
For example, the "queen of hearts" has a rank of "queen" and a suit of "hearts". In most games the cards are ranked from low to high in the following order: 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,jack,queen,king,ace.
Games where the ace is the lowest card: Rummy and Gin Rummy. The ace is always high in Hearts and Spades. In Poker it can be either high or low.
"All those people, all those lives, where are they now? Here was a woman who once lived and loved, full of the same passions, fears, jealousies, hates. And what remains of it now ... I want to cry." - The Man Who Came To Dinner
While The Smiths were only a band for a few brief years in the 1980s - they had already ceased to be when Strangeways, Here We Come was released - they were famously prolific, releasing a total of four studio LPs, three compliations, and seventeen singles. Whilst Morrissey has since continued as a solo artist, and Johnny Marr has worked with numerous bands such as The The, there was still in 1988 a desire for more releases from Manchester's finest.
The '88 release of Rank provides an opportunity for us to hear The Smiths at their peak, a live recording that, whilst incomplete, shows just why they are so well loved. Whilst bootlegs of their live shows are by no means unheardof, Rank is a well-produced recording of the quality you would expect from an official release, and is notable for being a recording of the group as a fivesome: Craig Gannon, who joined the group when Andy Rourke was unceremoniously ousted due to his problems with heroin. (Rourke was promptly reinstated and features here, too.)
Rank was recorded during the tours to promote The Queen Is Dead, and so naturally features plenty of songs from that 'era'. The track listing used on the album here is not the full set, however, instead being chosen by Morrissey (with Marr's approval).
Track listing
On initial inspection there's little to fault from this collection. Well worth the price for The Draize Train alone, the album features songs from each era of the band's existance bar Strangeways, Here We Come, though "Sheila Take A Bow" would be released only a few months before "Girlfriend in a Coma".
However, there are some glaring omissions. Having been substantially cut down from the original 21-track set, why do we have a merely unremarkable version of "Is It Really So Strange?" instead of the unparalleled quality of "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out"? While the transitions between tracks is for the most part smooth, there are times when it is glaringly obvious two tracks have been spliced together; likewise, it's clear where the two sides of the vinyl LP fell, due to the simple fade out/in of tracks 7 and 8.
For all these faults, however, nothing beats hearing the band playing live, and if you're not willing to go the bootleg route (or even own them all already), this makes a fine purchase indeed.
Rank (?), a. [Compar. Ranker (?); superl. Rankest.] [AS. ranc strong, proud; cf. D. rank slender, Dan. rank upright, erect, Prov. G. rank slender, Icel. rakkr slender, bold. The meaning seems to have been influenced by L. rancidus, E. rancid.]
1.
Luxuriant in growth; of vigorous growth; exuberant; grown to immoderate height; as, rank grass; rank weeds.
And, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good. Gen. xli. 5.
Gen. xli. 5.
2.
Raised to a high degree; violent; extreme; gross; utter; as, rank heresy.
"Rank nonsense." Hare.
"I do forgive thy rankest fault." Shak.
3.
Causing vigorous growth; producing luxuriantly; very rich and fertile; as, rank land.
Mortimer.
4.
Strong-scented; rancid; musty; as, oil of a rank smell;
Spenser.
5.
Strong to the taste.
"Divers sea fowls taste rank of the fish on which they feed."
Boyle.
6.
Inflamed with venereal appetite.
Shak.
Rank modus Law, an excessive and unreasonable modus. See Modus, 3. -- To set (the iron of a plane, etc.) rank, to set so as to take off a thick shaving. Moxon.
© Webster 1913.
Rank, adv.
Rankly; stoutly; violently.
That rides so rank and bends his lance so fell. Fairfax.
Rank, n. [OE. renk, reng, OF. renc, F. rang, fr. OHG. hring a circle, a circular row, G. ring. See Ring, and cf. Range, n. & v.]
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. Byron.
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. Shak.
Grade of official standing, as in the army, navy, or nobility; as, the rank of general; the rank of admiral.
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.
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. Addison.
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.
Rank, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ranked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Ranking,]
To place abreast, or in a line.
To range in a particular class, order, or division; to class; also, to dispose methodically; to place in suitable classes or order; to classify.
Ranking all things under general and special heads. I. Watts.
Poets were ranked in the class of philosophers. Broome.
Heresy is ranked with idolatry and witchcraft. Dr. H. More.
To take rank of; to outrank.
[U.S.]
Rank, v. i.
To be ranged; to be set or disposed, an in a particular degree, class, order, or division.
Let that one article rank with the rest. Shak.
To have a certain grade or degree of elevation in the orders of civil or military life; to have a certain degree of esteem or consideration; as, he ranks with the first class of poets; he ranks high in public estimation.
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