Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A wanderer; a rover.
  • noun A member of an armed troop employed in patrolling a specific region.
  • noun A member of a group of US soldiers specially trained for making raids either on foot, in ground vehicles, or by airlift.
  • noun A warden employed to maintain and protect a natural area, such as a forest or park.
  • noun Chiefly British The keeper of a royal forest or park.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who ranges, or roams, or roves about; especially, one engaged in ranging or going about for some specific purpose, as search or ward.
  • noun Specifically In England, formerly, a sworn officer of a forest, appointed by the king's letters patent, whose business it was to walk through the forest, watch the deer, prevent trespasses, etc.; now, merely a government official connected with a royal forest or park.
  • noun One of a body of regular or irregular troops, or other armed men, employed in ranging over a region, either for its protection or as marauders: as, the Texan rangers.
  • noun One who roves for plunder; a robber.
  • noun A dog that beats the ground.
  • noun A sieve.
  • noun A kind of fish. See the quotation.
  • noun A kind of seal, probably the young bayseal.
  • noun In some parts of the United States, a county officer who takes charge of stray animals. See the extract.
  • noun A steer or horse raised on a cattlerange.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who ranges; a rover; sometimes, one who ranges for plunder; a roving robber.
  • noun obsolete That which separates or arranges; specifically, a sieve.
  • noun A dog that beats the ground in search of game.
  • noun One of a body of mounted troops, formerly armed with short muskets, who range over the country, and often fight on foot.
  • noun engraving 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.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun One who ranges; a rover.
  • noun A keeper, guardian, or soldier who ranges over a region (generally of wilderness) to protect the area or enforce the law.
  • noun obsolete That which separates or arranges; a sieve.
  • noun A dog that beats the ground in search of game.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an official who is responsible for managing and protecting an area of forest
  • noun a member of a military unit trained as shock troops for hit-and-run raids
  • noun a member of the Texas state highway patrol; formerly a mounted lawman who maintained order on the frontier

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the verb range +‎ -er.

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Examples

  • "When a man hires out to be a ranger," Ross went on, "he don't expect to be a carpenter, or a stone mason; he expects to be a _ranger_!"

    The Rules of the Game Stewart Edward White 1909

  • Within this publication, the term ranger force describes any size force consisting mainly of members of the ranger regiment and led by a member of the ranger regiment's chain of command.

    FM 7-85 Chapter 1 Introduction United States Army 1987

  • For example, the ranger is automatically trained in Dungeoneering or Nature (your choice), and then can choose four others at first level from their class skills list – acrobatics, athletics, dungeoneering, endurance, heal, nature, perception, and stealth.

    4e PHB Readthrough – Chapter 5: Skills « Geek Related 2008

  • � GRANT: We're in another suburb now, where a local park ranger is asking the newspaper delivery man about the dominant male in the neighborhood.

    Magpie Attacks Have Aussies Ducking 2010

  • Them one day I was reading a book about long range recon ranger from the 101st airmobile division and specifically the Lima company rangers.

    Loveletters from Vol 7 1967

  • Byler's patrol was walking slowly, carefully, in what is called "ranger style," with each man following in the footsteps of the man in front of him.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com The Huffington Post News Editors 2011

  • Phyllis breaks a glass when she calls the ranger station and is told that they saw a car heading up there a little while ago but no one has come back down from there yet.

    Blogger News Network 2009

  • Within the 4e structure, which I’m starting to understand now, I have to say ranger is a good class and paladin is a bad class.

    4e PHB Readthrough – Chapter 4: Classes « Geek Related 2008

  • Now I just have to figure out how my chaotic good tiefling ranger is going to be a decent male and I’m all right.

    Dungeons and dragons. « Love | Peace | Ohana 2007

  • Someone must have prank-called the ranger station.

    How to Flirt with A Naked Werewolf Molly Harper 2011

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