| 1. | the members of a group or organization apart from its leaders or officers. |
| 2. | rank 1 (def. 7a). |

| rank and file n.
|
rank and file
Followers, the general membership, as in This new senator really appeals to the rank and file in the labor unions. This expression comes from the military, where a rank denotes soldiers standing side by side in a row, and file refers to soldiers standing behind one another. The first recorded figurative use of this term was in 1860.