Meaning

(linguistics) To inflect into a form that cannot be used in independent declarative clauses..

Definitions by Sense

1. (linguistics) To inflect into a form that cannot be used in independent declarative clauses.
2. (military) To strip of rank; demote.
3. (more generally) To demote; to give a lower position within a hierarchy.
4. (video games) To lower or remove achievements and skill level.
5. To lower or remove an official ranking or accreditation.
6. To lower the status or importance of

Example Sentences

In normal English speech one usually deranks "he should go" to "to go", as in "I told him where to go."

In this language, syntactic sequences with identical subjects derank the second predicate into a subjunctive form, which is characterized by the presenece of a specific particle a and special rules for the placement of pronouns.

In this case, then, the infinitival morpheme functions more locally to simply derank the verb in the purpose clause.

These verbs – together with their NRM equivalents – are characterized by a construal which deranks the perceiver to a degree that it cannot even be imagined in the same clause.

This is not unexpected in subordinate clauses and might be considered a marginal means to derank a clause; the clause loses the freedom to contain any possible (pragmatically marked) structural configuration and gets restricted to pragmatically neutral content (cf. also Lehmann 1988: 195).

"I remember one time," he said, brushing my boots aside, "when I had trouble like this with an M.O. He was going to have me arrested and deranked and marched out and so on and so on. Nothin' came of it."

The uproarious laughter coming from the back of our truck provided small consolation although one kind hearted signaller did point out that it was an honour to be deranked by such a famous General.

The common theme of the different pieces of Müller's Wolokolamsk Highway is a certain form of heroic stoicism which enables the protagonists to overcome their inhibition against hurting their own men in the name of socialism: The Russian commanders sentence and derank their comrades despite the fact that they are members of their party, and the East German functionaries respectively criticize and denounce their protege and adoptive son.

Word Forms

• deranks
• deranking
• deranked
• de-rank

Related Words

When Should You Use Derank?

Use derank when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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