ranking

UK/ˈɹæn.kɪŋ//ˈɹæŋ.kɪŋ/

ranking is the present participle and gerund of rank.

Adjective

ranking (comparative more ranking, superlative most ranking)

(in-compounds) Having a specified rank.
Superior in rank.
- Eldred Pottinger was now the ranking political officer and had negotiated—at the insistence of the army's officers—an unmolested passage to Jalalabad.2002, Stephen Tanner, Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the War against the Taliban, page 176
Prominent or outstanding.
- In a region as large and sparsely populated as this, it is not surprising that there are few cities. Hu-ho-hao-t’e and Pao-t’ou are the two ranking cities of Inner Mongolia. Hu-ho-hao-t’e, the capital of the region, is one of China's famous ancient cities; it was once a trade center to which the...1973, Chiao-min Hsieh, “Inner Mongolia”, in Christopher L. Salter, editor, Atlas of China, McGraw-Hill, Inc., →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 188, column 1
- But neither leader nor followers give up the rhythms or reasons of a ranking MC, and I'm grieved to report that only “Kick Out the Jams” overcomes the formlessness of personality his detractors have always charged him with — […]1990, Robert Christgau, Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s, page 48

ranking (countable and uncountable, plural rankings)

The placing of something in a list, for comparison with others.
(countable) One’s relative placement in a list, especially to indicate relative quality, size, success etc.
- Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB) CEO Warren Buffett and Facebook's (FB) Mark Zuckerberg rank third and fourth in the world's richest rankings.2018 February 6, Paul R. La Monica, “Amazon worth more than Microsoft for first time”, in CNN Business, archived from the original on 16 Mar 2025

rank (third-person singular simple present ranks, present participle ranking, simple past and past participle ranked)

(transitive) To place abreast or in a line.
- She [Diana] hath ſent (to plague vs) a huge ſauadge Boare, / Of an vn-meaſured height and magnitude. / […] / His briſtles poynted like a range of pikes / Ranck't on his backe: his foame ſnovves vvhere he feeds / His tuskes are like the Indian Oliphants.1613, Thomas Heywood, The Brazen Age, […], London: […] Nicholas Okes, […], →OCLC, Act II, signature [C4], verso
(intransitive) To have a ranking.
- Their defense ranked third in the league.
(transitive) To assign a suitable place in a class or order; to classify.
- Ranking all things under general and special heads.1725, Isaac Watts, Logick: Or, The Right Use of Reason in the Enquiry after Truth, […], 2nd edition, London: […] John Clark and Richard Hett, […], Emanuel Matthews, […], and Richard Ford, […]...
Synonyms:

place
(US, transitive) To take the rank of; to outrank.

What does ranking mean?: Ranking means having a specified rank.
What is ranking the present participle and gerund of?: Ranking is the present participle and gerund of rank.
What part of speech is ranking?: Ranking can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce ranking?: Ranking is pronounced /ˈɹæn.kɪŋ/ (UK).

Adapted from Wiktionary: ranking (page history and authors); rank (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-ranking.wav.

Cite this entry: “ranking.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ranking. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.