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break ranks
Idioms and Phrases
Fall out of line or into disorder; also, fail to conform, deviate. For example, The recruits were warned that they must not break ranks , or Harry was told to adhere to the party platform and not break ranks . This idiom uses rank in the sense of “soldiers drawn up in line,†and the term originally referred to their falling into disarray. The figurative usage dates from the mid-1800s.Example Sentences
Yoon’s party holds 108 seats, meaning impeachment will require eight or more of them to break ranks.
A vote study by CQ Roll Call found her the second-most likely House Democrat to break ranks.
If those numbers turn out to be understated - if Cheney is right and there are shy Republicans who will ultimately break ranks and vote Democratic - Harris’s path to the White House would become much easier.
Duarte, a Central Valley native and fourth-generation farmer, casts himself as a moderate Republican who will break ranks with his party to represent the interests of his constituents.
A council that was first to break ranks over the council tax freeze may fall into line after an offer of extra cash.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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