v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Ranged p. pr. & vb. n. Ranging ] [ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Maccabeus ranged his army by bands. 2 Macc. xii. 20. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

It would be absurd in me to range myself on the side of the Duke of Bedford and the corresponding society. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To separate into parts; to sift. [ Obs. ] Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To dispose in a classified or in systematic order; to arrange regularly; as, to range plants and animals in genera and species. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To rove over or through; as, to range the fields. [ 1913 Webster ]

Teach him to range the ditch, and force the brake. Gay. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To sail or pass in a direction parallel to or near; as, to range the coast. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Compare the last two senses (5 and 6) with the French ranger une côte. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Biol.) To be native to, or to live in; to frequent. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To rove at large; to wander without restraint or direction; to roam. [ 1913 Webster ]

Like a ranging spaniel that barks at every bird he sees. Burton. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To be placed in order; to be ranked; to admit of arrangement or classification; to rank. [ 1913 Webster ]

And range with humble livers in content. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Which way the forests range. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Biol.) To be native to, or live in, a certain district or region; as, the peba ranges from Texas to Paraguay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To rove; roam; ramble; wander; stroll. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An aggregate of individuals in one rank or degree; an order; a class. [ 1913 Webster ]

The next range of beings above him are the immaterial intelligences. Sir M. Hale. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The step of a ladder; a rung. Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A kitchen grate. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He was bid at his first coming to take off the range, and let down the cinders. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A bolting sieve to sift meal. [ Obs. or Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

7. A wandering or roving; a going to and fro; an excursion; a ramble; an expedition. [ 1913 Webster ]

He may take a range all the world over. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Far as creation's ample range extends. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

The range and compass of Hammond's knowledge filled the whole circle of the arts. Bp. Fell. [ 1913 Webster ]

A man has not enough range of thought. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. (Biol.) The region within which a plant or animal naturally lives. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

13. (Naut.) See Range of cable, below. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. rangement. ] Arrangement. [ Obs. ] Waterland. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who ranges; a rover; sometimes, one who ranges for plunder; a roving robber. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which separates or arranges; specifically, a sieve. [ Obs. ] “The tamis ranger.” Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A dog that beats the ground in search of game. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. One of a body of mounted troops, formerly armed with short muskets, who range over the country, and often fight on foot. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The keeper of a public park or forest; formerly, a sworn officer of a forest, appointed by the king's letters patent, whose business was to walk through the forest, recover beasts that had strayed beyond its limits, watch the deer, present trespasses to the next court held for the forest, etc. [ Eng. ] Rangers in U.S. national parks and national monuments perform a similar function. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. The office of the keeper of a forest or park. [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]