(~s, ~ing, ~ed, ~er ~est)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
Someone’s ~ is the position or grade that they have in an organization.
He eventually rose to the ~ of captain...
The former head of counter-intelligence had been stripped of his ~ and privileges.
N-VAR: with supp
2.
Someone’s ~ is the social class, especially the high social class, that they belong to. (FORMAL)
He must be treated as a hostage of high ~, not as a common prisoner.
N-VAR: usu with supp
3.
If an official organization ~s someone or something 1st, 5th, or 50th, for example, they calculate that the person or thing has that position on a scale. You can also say that someone or something ~s 1st, 5th, or 50th, for example.
The report ~s the UK 20th out of 22 advanced nations...
...the only British woman to be ~ed in the top 50 of the women’s world ~ings...
Mr Short does not even ~ in the world’s top ten.
VERB: V n ord in/out of n, be V-ed in n, V in/among n
4.
If you say that someone or something ~s high or low on a scale or if you ~ them high or low, you are saying how good or important you think they are.
His prices ~ high among those of other contemporary photographers...
Investors ~ed South Korea high among Asian nations...
St Petersburg’s night life ~s as more exciting than the capital’s...
18 per cent of women ~ed sex as very important in their lives...
The Ritz-Carlton in Aspen has to ~ as one of the most extraordinary hotels I have ever been to...
VERB: V adj among n, V n adj among n, V as adj, V n as adj, V as n
5.
The ~s of a group or organization are the people who belong to it.
There were some misgivings within the ~s of the media too...
N-PLURAL: with supp
6.
The ~s are the ordinary members of an organization, especially of the armed forces.
Most store managers have worked their way up through the ~s.
N-PLURAL: the N, oft prep N
7.
A ~ of people or things is a row of them.
Ranks of police in riot gear stood nervously by...
N-COUNT: usu N of n
8.
A taxi ~ is a place on a city street where taxis park when they are available for hire. (mainly BRIT; in AM, use stand )
The man led the way to the taxi ~...
N-COUNT
9.
You can use ~ to emphasize a bad or undesirable quality that exists in an extreme form. (FORMAL)
He called it ‘~ hypocrisy’ that the government was now promoting equal rights.
= sheer
ADJ: ADJ n emphasis
10.
You can describe something as ~ when it has a strong and unpleasant smell. (OLD-FASHIONED, WRITTEN)
The kitchen was ~ with the smell of drying uniforms.
...the ~ smell of unwashed clothes.
ADJ
11.
If you say that a member of a group or organization breaks ~s, you mean that they disobey the instructions of their group or organization.
Britain appears unlikely to break ~s with other members of the European Union.
PHRASE: V inflects
12.
If you say that the members of a group close ~s, you mean that they are supporting each other only because their group is being criticized.
Institutions tend to close ~s when a member has been accused of misconduct.
PHRASE: V inflects
13.
If you experience something, usually something bad, that other people have experienced, you can say that you have joined their ~s.
Last month, 370,000 Americans joined the ~s of the unemployed...
PHRASE: V inflects
14.
If you say that someone in authority pulls ~, you mean that they unfairly force other people to do what they want because of their higher ~ or position.
The Captain pulled ~ and made his sergeant row the entire way.
PHRASE: V inflects disapproval