Oxford Business English Dictionary for Learners of English

the .rank and 'file noun [sing, with sing./pl. verb] the ordinary members of an organization, especially a trade union: The rank and file have approved the union's proposals, о the rank and file of the workforce о rank-and-file members ►,rank-and- 'filer noun [c]

1 [C] a measurement of how good, popular, important, etc. sb/sth is, especially in relation to other people or things: The publishers claim that the new magazine had an approval rating of 85% of all readers questioned, о The directors were told how their skills were rated and how it compared to the average rating of all the other directors.

О a high/low/poor/top rating ♦ to achieve/get/have/ receive a rating ♦ to give sth a rating ♦ a rating climbs/falls/improves/rises

2 (Finance) [c,U] = credit rating

4ratings [pi.] a set of figures that show how many people watch or listen to a particular television or radio programme, used to show how popular a programme is: The station is trying to improve

1 (HR) [u] the act or the process of finding new people to join a company or an organization: the

1 (abbr ref.) a set of letters or numbers that identifies a person, letter, etc: Please quote reference ZK42. о Put the reference number in the subject line of your email.

О to give/quote a reference number

2 a letter written by sb who knows you, giving information about your character and abilities, especially to a new employer: We will take up references after the interview, о They always carry out in-depth reference checks.

О to ask for/follow up/take up references * to give (sb)/provide (sb with)/write (sb) a reference

see also: block release, day news ~

• noun

Л [sing ] the remaining amount of sth such as money, people, time, etc: Two-thirds of the job cuts were in the US and the remainder in Europe, о We expect order levels to improve for the remainder of the year.

2 (Commerce) [C] a book, CD, etc. that is sold at a reduced price: a bookstore for remainders and secondhand books

verb [+ obj]

[Commerce) (usually be remaindered) to sell books, CDs, etc. at a reduced price, for example because there are too many left: remaindered books and DVDs

an amount of money that you pay regularly so that you can use a property, etc: Office rents in London fell by 15%. о The landlord has put the rent up again, о Her company has saved at least 240 000 in rent. hire noun

о fair/high/low rent ♦ to charge/pay rent ♦ to fall behind with/owe rent

(especially AmE) = rental (1)

H3S1 for rent (especially AmE) (especially on printed signs) available to rent: offices and warehouses for rent

• verb

[+ obj or no obj] to regularly pay money to sb so that you can use sth that they own, such as a property, a machine, etc: rented accommodation о She rents office space from a letting agency.

[+ obj] rent sth (out) (to sb) to allow sb to use sth that you own in exchange for payment: They rent office space to an IT company, о She wants to rent out the top floor of the building.

[+ obj] (especially AmE) to pay money to sb so that you can use sth for a short period of time: We rented a car at the airport, о Consumers spent $3.7 billion on renting DVDs.