Definition of "rank and file" []

• The enlisted troops, excluding noncommissioned officers, in an army. (noun)
• The people who form the major portion of a group, organization, or society, excluding the leaders and officers. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "But Philotas made a grave mistake when he responded to the charges in proper Greek rather than the Macedonian dialect of the rank and file soldiers."
• "His interaction with the rank and file was mostly limited to the weekly one-hour Monday meetings, and at those he had an irritating and morale-eroding habit of publicly rebuking us when we failed to win battles on shuttle issues at the various NASA review panels."
• "Those guys are the rank and file of the local Jeune Patriots, who you rightly labeled dangerous criminals."