Word.ws English Dictionary

break ranks

break ranks verb: to march or charge out of the designated order in a military unit.

Verb

break ranks (third-person singular simple present breaks ranks, present participle breaking ranks, simple past broke ranks, past participle broken ranks)

  1. To march or charge out of the designated order in a military unit.
  2. (idiomatic) To publicly disagree with one's own group or organization.

break ranks meaning in Arabic

break ranks in Arabic

march out of the designated order
انْشَقَّ
publicly disagree with one's own group
انْشَقَّ

Forms of break ranks

third-person singular presentbreaks ranks
present participlebreaking ranks
pastbroke ranks
past participlebroken ranks
alternative formbreak rank

Questions about break ranks

What does break ranks mean?
Break ranks means to march or charge out of the designated order in a military unit.
What is break ranks in Arabic?
Break ranks in Arabic is انْشَقَّ. See Break ranks meaning in Arabic.
What part of speech is break ranks?
Break ranks is a verb.
What is the past tense of break ranks?
The past tense of break ranks is broke ranks.

Words near break ranks in the dictionary

  1. break one's word
  2. break open
  3. break out
  4. break point
  5. break points
  6. break ranks
  7. break reality
  8. break rigor
  9. break room
  10. break rooms
  11. break sheer

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: break ranks (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-break ranks.ogg.

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