行伍出身 hángwǔchūshēn to rise from the ranks Definitions Defs Origin Strokes Stroke Words Sentences Sents 行伍 hángwǔ the ranks (literary) the ranks of a military; the army; refers back to an ancient military organization where five people formed a 伍 wǔ and twenty-five people formed a 行 háng出身 chūshēn adjective previous experience an individual's previous occupation, credentials, or career track; historically refers to the rank of a civil service examination graduate
