Word.ws English Dictionary

range

/ˈɹeɪnd͡ʒ/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ˈɹɛjnd͡ʒ/

range noun: a line or series of mountains, buildings, etc.

Noun

range (plural ranges)

  1. A line or series of mountains, buildings, etc.
  2. A fireplace; a fire or other cooking apparatus; now specifically, a large cooking stove with many burners (hotplates).
    • Therein an hundred raunges weren pight, / And hundred fournaces all burning bright; / By euery fournace many feendes did byde, / Deformed creatures, horrible in ſight, / And euery feend his buſie paines applyde, / To melt the golden metall, ready to be tryde.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 281
    • There was juſt ſuch another Innocent as this, in my Fathers Family : He did the Courſe Work in the Kitchin, and was bid at his firſt Coming to take off the Range, and let down the Cynders before he went to Bed.1692, Roger L’Estrange, “[A Supplement of Fables […].] Fab[le] CCCCXXXVIII. A Fool and a Hot Iron.”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC...
  3. Selection, array.
    • We sell a wide range of cars.
    • But through the oligopoly, charcoal fuel proliferated throughout London's trades and industries. By the 1200s, brewers and bakers, tilemakers, glassblowers, pottery producers, and a range of other craftsmen all became hour-to-hour consumers of charcoal.2006, Edwin Black, chapter 2, in Internal Combustion
  4. An area for practicing shooting at targets.
  5. An area for military training or equipment testing.
  6. The distance from a person or sensor to an object, target, emanation, or event.
    • We could see the ship at a range of five miles.
    • One can use the speed of sound to estimate the range of a lightning flash.
    Synonyms:
    distance, radius
  7. The maximum distance or reach of capability (of a weapon, radio, detector, etc.).
    • This missile's range is 500 kilometres.
  8. The distance a vehicle (e.g., a car, bicycle, lorry, or aircraft) can travel without refueling.
    • This aircraft's range is 15 000 kilometres.
  9. An area of open, often unfenced, grazing land.
    • There is a young cowboy, he lives on the range / His horse and his cattle are his only companions1970, James Taylor, “Sweet Baby James”, in Sweet Baby James, →OCLC
  10. The extent or space taken in by anything excursive; compass or extent of excursion; reach; scope.
    • As to acquir’d habits and abilities in Learning, his Writings having given the World ſufficient account of them, there remains onely to obſerve, that the range and compaſs of his knowledge fill’d the whole Circle of the Arts, and reach’d thoſe ſeverals which ſingle do exact an entire man unto...1661, John Fell, The Life of The most Learned, Reverend and Pious Dʳ H. Hammond, 2nd edition, London: J. Flesher, published 1662, page 99
    • For we may further obſerve that men of the greateſt abilities are moſt fired with ambition : and that, on the contrary, mean and narrow minds are the leaſt actuated by it ; whether it be that a man’s ſenſe of his own incapacities makes him deſpair of coming at fame, or that he has not enough range...1711 December 22, Joseph Addison, “The Spectator”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, volume III, London: Jacob Tonson, published 1721, page 255
  11. The set of values (points) which a function can obtain.
    Antonyms:
    domain
  12. The length of the smallest interval which contains all the data in a sample; the difference between the largest and smallest observations in the sample.
Show 10 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. The defensive area that a player can cover.
    • Jones has good range for a big man.
  2. The scale of all the tones a voice or an instrument can produce.
    Synonyms:
    compass
  3. The geographical area or zone where a species is normally naturally found.
  4. A sequential list of values specified by an iterator.
    • std::for_each calls the given function on each value in the input range.
  5. An aggregate of individuals in one rank or degree; an order; a class.
    • The next Range of Beings above him are the pure and immaterial Intelligences , the next below him is the sensible Nature.a. 1677 (date written), Matthew Hale, The Primitive Origination of Mankind, Considered and Examined According to the Light of Nature, London: […] William Godbid, for William Shrowsbery, […]...
  6. (obsolete) The step of a ladder; a rung.
    • the first range of that ladder1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, (please specify |book=I to XVI), in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed...
  7. (UK, dialectal, obsolete) A bolting sieve to sift meal.
  8. A wandering or roving; a going to and fro; an excursion; a ramble; an expedition.
    • , "Taking Pleasure in Other Men's Sins"
      He may take a range all the world over.
  9. (US, historical) In the public land system, a row or line of townships lying between two succession meridian lines six miles apart.
  10. The variety of roles that an actor can play in a satisfactory way.
    • By playing in comedies as well as in dramas he has proved his range as an actor.

Verb

range (third-person singular simple present ranges, present participle ranging, simple past and past participle ranged)

  1. (intransitive) To travel over (an area, etc); to roam, wander.
  2. (transitive) To rove over or through.
    • to range the fields
    • Novv to the copſe thy leſſer ſpaniel take, / Teach him to range the ditch, and force the brake; […]1713, John Gay, “Rural Sports. A Georgic. Inscribed to Mr. [Alexander] Pope.”, in Poems on Several Occasions, volume I, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], and Bernard Lintot, […], published 1720, →OCLC...
  3. (intransitive, obsolete) To exercise the power of something over something else; to cause to submit to, over.
    • The soule is variable in all manner of formes, and rangeth to her selfe, and to her estate, whatsoever it be, the senses of the body, and all other accidents.1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 40, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
  4. (transitive) To bring (something) into a specified position or relationship (especially, of opposition) with something else.
    • At last we gained such an offing, that the two pilots were needed no longer. The stout sail-boat that had accompanied us began ranging alongside.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 22”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC
    • In ranging herself as a partisan on the side of Major Pallaby Mrs. Hoopington had been largely influenced by the fact that she had made up her mind to marry him at an early date.1910, Saki [pseudonym; Hector Hugh Munro], “The Bag”, in Reginald in Russia and Other Sketches, London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC, page 76
  5. (intransitive) Of a variable, to be able to take any of the values in a specified range.
    • The variable x ranges over all real values from 0 to 10.
    • The police seized 12,000 files containing information on a wide range of organisations and individuals. The ADL claimed to be only monitoring ‘hate groups’, and denied passing information to Israel or South Africa. But the files ranged over Arab-American community organisations, trade unions, the...2002, Charlie Pottins, “How ADL got caught in Apartheid spy case”, in Jewish Socialist, number 46
    Synonyms:
    run
  6. (transitive) To classify.
    • to range plants and animals in genera and species
    • The coins are ranged into nine classes.1785, William Coxe, Travels Into Poland, Russia, Sweden, and Denmark, page 129
  7. (intransitive) To form a line or a row.
    • The front of a house ranges with the street.
    • The street-lamps burn amid the baleful glooms, / Amidst the soundless solitudes immense / Of ranged mansions dark and still as tombs.1873, James Thomson (B.V.), The City of Dreadful Night
  8. (intransitive) To be placed in order; to be ranked; to admit of arrangement or classification; to rank.
    • And range with humble livers in content.1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio)...
  9. (transitive) To set in a row, or in rows; to place in a regular line or lines, or in ranks; to dispose in the proper order.
    • Maccabeus ranged his army by hands.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Bible Maccabees/#12 2 Maccabees:12–20
    • Were this dependence of the body and mind more studied, and its effects collected and ranged into proper order; no doubt, we would be able to form a better judgment of it, and see further into the good purposes to which it serves;1740, George Turnbull, The Principles of Moral Philosophy, page 77
  10. (transitive) To place among others in a line, row, or order, as in the ranks of an army; usually, reflexively and figuratively, to espouse a cause, to join a party, etc.
    • It would be absurd in me to range myself on the side of the Duke of Bedford and the corresponding society.1796, Edmund Burke, A Letter from the Right Honourable Edmund Burke to a Noble Lord, on the Attacks Made upon Him and His Pension, […], London: […] J. Owen, […], and F[rancis] and C[harles]...
  11. To be native to, or live in, a certain district or region.
    • The peba ranges from Texas to Paraguay.
  12. To determine the range to a target.
  13. To sail or pass in a direction parallel to or near.
    • to range the coast
  14. Of a player, to travel a significant distance for a defensive play.
    • Willie, playing in left-center, raced toward a ball no human had any business getting a glove to. Mays ranged to his left, searching, digging in, pouring on the speed, as the crowd screamed its anticipation of a triple.2009, Jason Aronoff, Going, Going ... Caught!: Baseball's Great Outfield Catches as Described by Those Who Saw Them, 1887-1964, →ISBN, page 250

Proper noun capitalized: Range

Range

  1. A surname.
  2. An unincorporated community in Conecuh County, Alabama.
  3. A township and unincorporated community therein, in Madison County, Ohio.
  4. An unincorporated community in the towns of Apple River and Beaver, Polk County, Wisconsin.

range meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

range in Hindi

range
परिसर parisar
range, row
श्रेणी śreṇī

range in Tamil

சரகம், மலைத்தொடர், வீச்சு எல்லை, வீச்செல்லை, நெடுக்கம், எல்லை

range in Marathi

line of mountains, buildings etc.
रांग rāṅga

range in Urdu

پہنچ, پلا, قطار, سلسلہ, زد, قطار باندھنا
More languagesFewer languages
range in Bengali
পরিসর, ব্যাপ্তি, চাঁদমারি, সারি
range in Telugu
పంక్తి paṅkti, వరస varasa, పథము pathamu
range in Malayalam
നിര nira, പരാസം parāsaṁ, പരിധി paridhi
range in Kannada
ಸಾಲು, ವರಸೆ, ಗುಂಡು ಹೊಡೆಯುವೆಡೆ, ಹುಲ್ಲುಗಾವಲು
range in Punjabi
ਸਿਲਸਿਲਾ silsilā
range in Sanskrit
पन्था pánthā, मर्यादा maryā́dā, विषय viṣaya
range in Tagalog
taway, abot
range in Arabic
مدى madaa, قدرة qudra, مَدَى madā
range in Indonesian
kisaran
range in Thai
ทิวเขา tiu-kǎo, แนวเขา nɛɛo-kǎo, สนามยิงปืน sà-nǎam-ying-bpʉʉn, ระยะ rá-yá
range in Vietnamese
dãy, chuỗi, loạt

Examples of range in a sentence

  • The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements.2013 July 19, Timothy Garton Ash, “Where Dr Pangloss meets Machiavelli”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 18:
  • Far as Creation’s ample range extends, / The ſcale of Senſual, Mental pow’rs aſcends : / Mark how it mounts, to Man’s imperial race, / From the green myriads in the peopled graſs !1733–34, Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man, London: J. and P. Knapton, published 1748, epistle I, lines 207–210, page 29:
  • The police seized 12,000 files containing information on a wide range of organisations and individuals.2002, Charlie Pottins, “How ADL got caught in Apartheid spy case”, in Jewish Socialist, number 46:
  • Their densities range from that of styrofoam to iron.2013 May-June, Kevin Heng, “Why Does Nature Form Exoplanets Easily?”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 184:

All 40 example sentences with range

Synonyms of range

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of range

Forms of range

Noun
pluralranges
Verb
third-person singular presentranges
present participleranging
past participleranged
pastranged

Past tense of range: ranged

Plural of range: ranges

Origin of range

From Middle English rengen, from Old French rengier (“to range, to rank, to order”), from the noun renc, reng, ranc, rang (“a rank, row”), from Frankish *hring, from Proto-Germanic *hringaz (“ring, circle, curve”). Doublet of ring.

Words formed from range

Phrases with range

48 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with range

2 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about range

What does range mean?
Range means a line or series of mountains, buildings, etc.
What is range in Hindi?
Range in Hindi is परिसर (parisar), श्रेणी (śreṇī). See Range meaning in Hindi.
How do you use range in a sentence?
The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements.
What part of speech is range?
Range can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce range?
Range is pronounced /ˈɹeɪnd͡ʒ/ (UK).
What is the plural of range?
The plural of range is ranges.

Words near range in the dictionary

  1. Rangari
  2. rangas
  3. rangatira
  4. rangatiras
  5. rangatiratanga
  6. range
  7. range anxiety
  8. range extender
  9. range extenders
  10. range finder
  11. range finders

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: range (page history and authors); Range (page history and authors); परिसर (Hindi) (page history and authors); range (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); range (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); range (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); పంక్తి (Telugu) (page history and authors); range (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਸਿਲਸਿਲਾ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); पन्था (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “range.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/range. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.