What does "range" mean?
A line or series of mountains, buildings, etc.
Range
/ɹeɪnd͡ʒ/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A line or series of mountains, buildings, etc.
- Grammar: range is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: image, a wide range, adjust, aesthetic distance.
- Useful contrasts: domain, domains, function property.
- Usage evidence: Prices range from as low as $30 to as high as $50.
How to use "range"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "range" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "range" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "range" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "range" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "range" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "image" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "range", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A line or series of mountains, buildings, etc.
- 2 a place for shooting (firing or driving) projectiles of various kinds wordnet
- 3 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."
- 4 a kitchen appliance used for cooking food wordnet
- 5 Selection, array.
"We sell a wide range of cars."
Show 26 more definitions
- 6 an area in which something acts or operates or has power or control: wordnet
- 7 An area for practicing shooting at targets.
- 8 the limit of capability wordnet
- 9 An area for military training or equipment testing.
- 10 (mathematics) the set of values of the dependent variable for which a function is defined wordnet
- 11 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."
- 12 a variety of different things or activities wordnet
- 13 The maximum distance or reach of capability (of a weapon, radio, detector, etc.).
"This missile's range is 500 kilometres."
- 14 the limits within which something can be effective wordnet
- 15 The distance a vehicle (e.g., a car, bicycle, lorry, or aircraft) can travel without refueling.
"This aircraft's range is 15 000 kilometres."
- 16 a large tract of grassy open land on which livestock can graze wordnet
- 17 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 companions"
- 18 a series of hills or mountains wordnet
- 19 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 themſelves, and full age."
- 20 The set of values (points) which a function can obtain.
- 21 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.
- 22 The defensive area that a player can cover.
"Jones has good range for a big man."
- 23 The scale of all the tones a voice or an instrument can produce.
- 24 The geographical area or zone where a species is normally naturally found.
- 25 A sequential list of values specified by an iterator.
"std::for_each calls the given function on each value in the input range."
- 26 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."
- 27 The step of a ladder; a rung. obsolete
"the first range of that ladder"
- 28 A bolting sieve to sift meal. UK, dialectal, obsolete
- 29 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."
- 30 In the public land system, a row or line of townships lying between two succession meridian lines six miles apart. US, historical
- 31 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
- 1 To travel over (an area, etc); to roam, wander. intransitive
- 2 assign a rank or rating to wordnet
- 3 To rove over or through. transitive
"to range the fields"
- 4 let eat wordnet
- 5 To exercise the power of something over something else; to cause to submit to, over. intransitive, obsolete
"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."
Show 17 more definitions
- 6 lay out orderly or logically in a line or as if in a line wordnet
- 7 To bring (something) into a specified position or relationship (especially, of opposition) with something else. transitive
"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."
- 8 feed as in a meadow or pasture wordnet
- 9 Of a variable, to be able to take any of the values in a specified range. intransitive
"The variable x ranges over all real values from 0 to 10."
- 10 move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment wordnet
- 11 To classify. transitive
"to range plants and animals in genera and species"
- 12 range or extend over; occupy a certain area wordnet
- 13 To form a line or a row. intransitive
"The front of a house ranges with the street."
- 14 change or be different within limits wordnet
- 15 To be placed in order; to be ranked; to admit of arrangement or classification; to rank. intransitive
"And range with humble livers in content."
- 16 have a range; be capable of projecting over a certain distance, as of a gun wordnet
- 17 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. transitive
"Maccabeus ranged his army by hands."
- 18 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. transitive
"It would be absurd in me to range myself on the side of the Duke of Bedford and the corresponding society."
- 19 To be native to, or live in, a certain district or region.
"The peba ranges from Texas to Paraguay."
- 20 To determine the range to a target.
- 21 To sail or pass in a direction parallel to or near.
"to range the coast"
- 22 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."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
- 2 A place in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Conecuh County, Alabama.
- 3 A place in the United States:; A township and unincorporated community therein, in Madison County, Ohio.
- 4 A place in the United States:; An unincorporated community in the towns of Apple River and Beaver, Polk County, Wisconsin.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Prices range from as low as $30 to as high as $50."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "range"?
Common synonyms include: image, a wide range, adjust, aesthetic distance, agora, aim.
How do you use "range" in a sentence?
Prices range from as low as $30 to as high as $50.
How do you pronounce "range"?
Pronounced /ɹeɪnd͡ʒ/.
Etymology
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.