to regroup forces, especially when this involves overlooking differences in order to face a challenge or adverse situation. Often implies making a show of unity, especially to the public.
Etymology:
- Derived from the military practice of closing the spacing between lines of troops, as they are deployed across a battlefield, thereby decreasing the depth of the formation as it faces the enemy side. This practice allowed for the second rank to fire their weapons without movement, sidestepping, and firing alongside, and slightly to the rear of the first rank. The opposite would be to open ranks. The columnar equivalent when not deployed for battle would be to close or extend the column.
- 18 Views
Submitted on July 07, 2010
Translation
Find a translation for the close ranks phrase in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Nearby phrases
Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to close ranks
How to pronounce this phrase?
Citation
Use the citation below to add this close ranks definition to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"close ranks." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 7 Oct. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/close-ranks_11722>.
Discuss this close ranks phrase with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In