English

Alternative forms

• rank-and-file

Noun

rank and file ‎(uncountable)

1. Common soldiers, as would be arrayed in a grid pattern with ranks and files.
2. (idiomatic) Those lacking any particular title or status; those having no station.

   The executives attend meetings in exotic locations while the rank and file stays at headquarters doing the bulk of the work.

   • 2013 May 23, Sarah Lyall, "British Leader’s Liberal Turn Sets Off a Rebellion in His Party," New York Times (retrieved 29 May 2013):

     First, a prominent Tory called the party’s rank and file “swivel-eyed loons.” Then the populist politician Nigel Farage called Prime Minister David Cameron and his Tory-led government “a bunch of college kids.”

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