ranging Meaning, Definition & Usage

1. verb change or be different within limits
   range; run.
   
   • Estimates for the losses in the earthquake range as high as $2 billion
   • Interest rates run from 5 to 10 percent
   • The instruments ranged from tuba to cymbals
   • My students range from very bright to dull
2. verb move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment
   ramble; stray; cast; swan; drift; wander; tramp; range; rove; roam; vagabond; roll.
   
   • The gypsies roamed the woods
   • roving vagabonds
   • the wandering Jew
   • The cattle roam across the prairie
   • the laborers drift from one town to the next
   • They rolled from town to town
3. verb have a range; be capable of projecting over a certain distance, as of a gun
   range.
   
   • This gun ranges over two miles
4. verb range or extend over; occupy a certain area
   range; straddle.
   
   • The plants straddle the entire state
5. verb lay out orderly or logically in a line or as if in a line
   range; lay out; array; set out.
   
   • lay out the clothes
   • lay out the arguments
6. verb feed as in a meadow or pasture
   browse; pasture; graze; range; crop.
   
   • the herd was grazing
7. verb let eat
   range.
   
   • range the animals in the prairie
8. verb assign a rank or rating to
   grade; range; rank; rate; place; order.
   
   • how would you rank these students?
   • The restaurant is rated highly in the food guide
9. adjective wandering freely
   
   • at night in bed...his slowly ranging thoughts...encountered her

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