Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

pull rank

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.29 in modern English

Syllables: pul-l rank
IPA

14

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To assert one's authority over a subordinate who disagrees.

Example Sentences

"Graduate schools teach students to use footnotes as authorities — barriers to anyone's questioning the author's conclusions. Professionalism then becomes a matter of pulling rank: the person who has the most footnotes has the last say."
"And don't try pulling rank again: your answer, not your age, will determine your fate!"
"You can definitely pull rank on me on this —"

Inflected Forms

pulls rank (present, singular) pulling rank (participle, present) pulled rank (participle, past) pulled rank (past)

Phrases

throw one's weight around

Frequently Paired Words

throw one's weight around

Questions

What does pull rank mean?: To assert one's authority over a subordinate who disagrees.

How to pronounce pull rank

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “pull rank”.
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