Range , n. [From Range, v.: cf. F. rangée.]
1. A series
of things in a
line; a row;
a rank; as, a range of buildings; a range of mountains.
2. An aggregate of individuals in one rank or degree; an
order; a class.
The next range of beings above him are
the immaterial
intelligences.
Sir M. Hale.
3. The step of a ladder; a rung. Clarendon.
4. A kitchen grate. [Obs.]
He was bid at his first
coming to take off the
range, and let down the
cinders.
L'Estrange. 5. An extended cooking apparatus
of cast iron, set in brickwork, and affording
conveniences for various ways of cooking; also, a kind of cooking stove.
6. A bolting sieve to sift meal. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
7. A wandering or roving; a going to and
fro; an excursion; a ramble; an expedition.
He may take a range all the world
over.
South. 8. That which may be ranged over; place or room for excursion; especially,
a region of
country in which cattle or sheep may
wander and pasture.
9. Extent or space taken in by anything excursive; compass or extent of excursion; reach; scope; discursive power; as, the
range of one's voice, or authority.
Far as creation's ample range
extends.
Pope.
The range
and compass of Hammond's knowledge filled the whole circle of the arts.
Bp. Fell. A man has not enough range of thought.
Addison. 10. (Biol.) The region within which a plant or animal naturally lives.
11. (Gun.) (a) The horizontal distance to which a shot
or other projectile is carried.
(b) Sometimes, less properly, the trajectory of a shot or projectile. (c) A place where shooting, as with cannons or rifles, is practiced.
12. In the
public land system of the
United States, a row or line of townships lying between two successive meridian
lines six miles apart.
&fist; The meridians included in each great
survey are numbered in order east
and west from the "principal meridian" of that survey, and the townships in the range are
numbered north and south from the "base line," which runs east and west; as, township No. 6, N., range 7, W., from the fifth principal meridian.
13. (Naut.)
See Range of cable, below.
Range of accommodation (Optics), the distance between the near point and the
far point of distinct vision, -- usually measured
and designated by the strength of the lens which if added to the refracting media of the eye would cause the rays from the near point to appear as if
they came from the far
point. -- Range finder (Gunnery),
an instrument, or apparatus, variously constructed, for
ascertaining the distance of an inaccessible object, --
used to determine what elevation must be given
to a gun in order to hit the object; a position finder. --
Range of cable (Naut.), a certain length of slack cable ranged along the deck preparatory to letting go the anchor. -- Range work (Masonry),
masonry of squared stones
laid in courses each of which
is of even height throughout the length of
the wall; -- distinguished from broken range work, which consists of squared stones laid in courses not continuously of even height. -- To get the range of (an object) (Gun.), to find the angle at which the piece must be
raised to reach (the object) without carrying beyond.
Range , v. i. 1. To
rove at large; to wander without restraint or direction; to roam.
Like a ranging spaniel that barks at every bird
he sees.
Burton. 2. To have range; to change or differ within limits; to be capable
of projecting, or to admit of being projected, especially
as to horizontal distance; as, the temperature ranged through seventy degrees Fahrenheit; the gun ranges three miles; the shot ranged four miles.
3. To be placed in order; to be
ranked; to admit of arrangement or classification; to rank.
And range with humble livers in content.
Shak. 4. To have a certain direction; to correspond in direction; to be or keep in a corresponding line; to trend or run; -- often followed by with; as, the front
of a house
ranges with the street; to range along the coast.
Which way the forests range.
Dryden.
5. (Biol.) To be native to,
or live in,
a certain district or region; as, the peba ranges from Texas to
Paraguay.
Syn. -- To rove; roam;
ramble; wander; stroll.
Range (rānj), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ranged (rānjd); p. pr. & vb. n. Ranging (rān"j&ibreve;ng).]
[OE. rengen,
OF. rengier, F. ranger, OF. renc row, rank, F.
rang; of German origin. See Rank, n.] 1. 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; to rank; as, to
range soldiers in line.
Maccabeus ranged
his army by
bands.
2 Macc. xii. 20. 2.
To place (as a single individual) among others in a line, row, or order,
as in the
ranks of an army; -- usually, reflexively and
figuratively, (in the sense) 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.
Burke. 3. To separate into parts; to sift. [Obs.] Holland.
4. To dispose in
a classified or in systematic order; to arrange regularly; as, to range plants and animals in genera and
species.
5. To rove over
or through; as, to range the fields.
Teach him to range the ditch, and force the
brake.
Gay. 6. To sail or pass in a direction parallel to or near; as, to range the coast.
&fist; Compare the last two senses (5 and 6) with the French ranger une côte.
7. (Biol.) To be native to,
or to live in; to frequent.
Hear it pronounced