front rank
First line position
Front rank originally refers to the foremost line of soldiers in a formation—those facing the enemy first.
The phrase now typically describes the highest level of achievement or status in any field: a front-rank economist, among the front rank of American novelists.
To be in the front rank is to be among the best or most important.
- vanguardForemost position or group
- forefrontMost prominent position
- advanceMove or progress forward
- eliteSuperior select group
- first stringStarting squad members
first line · spearhead · leading edge · pioneers · trailblazers · cutting edge · avant-garde · frontline · forward · charge · battlefield · infantry · soldiers · regiment · formation · phalanx · prestige · prominence
- chess termsking, queen, rook, bishop, knight
- phalanxhoplite, formation, phalanges, battle line, Macedonian
- hoplite warfarehoplite, phalanx, dory, greaves, cuirass
- shield formationsshield wall, testudo, phalanx, defensive formation
front rankback bench
Legislative seating for non-ministers
second string · minor league · bottom rung · also-rans · second-rate
front, rank, fronts, fronted, fronting, frontal, frontage, frontward, frontwards