Per Merriam-Webster:
Definition of rank [( 1 )]
1: luxuriantly or excessively vigorous in growth
2: offensively gross or coarse : foul
3 obsolete : grown too large
4a : shockingly conspicuous <must lecture him on his rank disloyalty — David Walden>
b : outright —used as an intensive <rank beginners>
5 archaic : lustful, ruttish
6: offensive in odor or flavor; especially : rancid
7: putrid, festering
8: high in amount or degree : fraught
Definition of rank [( 2 )]
1 a : row, series
b : a row of people
c (1) : a line of soldiers ranged side by side in close order
c (2) : plural : armed forces
c (3) : plural : the body of enlisted personnel
d : any of the rows of squares that extend across a chessboard perpendicular to the files
e British : stand 6
2 a : relative standing or position
b : a degree or position of dignity, eminence, or excellence : distinction <soon took rank as a leading attorney — J. D. Hicks>
c : high social position <the privileges of rank>
d : a grade of official standing in a hierarchy
3 : an orderly arrangement : formation
4 : an aggregate of individuals classed together —usually used in plural
5 : the order according to some statistical characteristic (as the score on a test)
6 : any of a series of classes of coal based on increasing alteration of the parent vegetable matter, increasing carbon content, and increasing fuel value
7 : the number of linearly independent rows or columns in a matrix
Rank? take your pick... that's quite a list to the meaning of rank... as to which one is intended, I would presume definition of rank [( 2 )], 2 d... that is; a grade of official standing in a hierarchy... I certainly hope it is not by smell.
