outrank

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *úd

Proto-Germanic *ūt

Proto-Germanic *ūt-

Old English ūt-

Middle English ut-

English out-

English rank

English outrank

From out- + rank.

Pronunciation

• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /aʊtˈɹæŋk/
  • (æ-raising) IPA^(key): /aʊtˈɹeɪ̯ŋk/
• Rhymes: -æŋk
• Hyphenation: out‧rank

Verb

outrank (third-person singular simple present outranks, present participle outranking, simple past and past participle outranked)

1. (transitive) To be of a higher rank than.
2. (transitive) To be more important than.
   • 1987 February 22, Ben Robbins, quoting Wanda Rickerby, “Conn. Mulls over Release of PWA Names”, in Gay Community News, volume 14, number 31, page 3:

     We've been acting on confidentiality, because we feel AIDS outranks the law.

   • 2019 October, Ian Walmsley, “Cleaning up”, in Modern Railways, page 44:

     More importantly, who could make a quick on-site risk assessment of regulations where the welfare of trapped passengers might out-rank the risk of, say, running a train through flood water over the rail head where it is obvious the track is still there?

Synonyms

• rank

Translations

Translations

• French: dépasser (fr)
• Spanish: ser de mayor rango que, ser de rango superior a, superar(lo) en rango (a)
• Turkish: üstü olmak

References

• “outrank”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.