ˈhigh-ranking, a. orig. U.S.
[ranking ppl. a. s.v. rank v.1]
Of an officer: of high rank. Also more widely: senior, important.
| 1922 S. Lewis Babbitt xviii. 232 He ought to have been a high-ranking officer, he had that natural ability to command. 1924 Amer. Mercury II. 173/1 Wary Wade, a high ranking student at Ohio State, has the right angle on boxing. 1936 Time 13 Jan. 26 To this dinner come high ranking members of both political parties in the Senate and House of Representatives. 1946 G. H. Seward Sex & Social Order x. 127 Such women relieved the ennui of wealthy high-ranking men. 1953 Times 6 Mar. 7/7 She left him..a son, Vassili, now a high ranking officer in the Soviet Air Force. 1957 H. Roosenberg Walls came tumbling Down 19 We were intended as exchanges against some high-ranking Nazis. 1960 P. H. Reaney Orig. Eng. Place-Names vii. 163 Holderness (ERY), ‘headland of the hold’, a high-ranking officer in the Danelaw. 1961 New Eng. Bible Acts xxv. 23 Accompanied by high-ranking officers and prominent citizens. 1964 Observer 16 Aug. 1/3 Six sets of the master-key..in a prison..would be available..to a limited number of high-ranking officers. |