range

1. noun

1)

his range of vision

Syn:

span, scope, compass, sweep, extent, area, field, orbit, ambit, horizon, latitude; limits, bounds, confines, parameters

2)

a range of mountains

Syn:

row, chain, sierra, ridge, massif; line, string, series

3)

a range of quality foods

Syn:

assortment, variety, diversity, mixture, collection, array, selection, choice

4)

she put the dish into the range

Syn:

stove, oven

5)

cows grazed on the open range

Syn:

pasture, pasturage, pastureland, prairie, grass, grassland, grazing land, veld; literary greensward

2. verb

1)

interest charges range from 1% to 5%

Syn:

vary, fluctuate, differ; extend, stretch, reach, cover, go, run

2)

they ranged over the sprawling hills

Syn:

roam, rove, traverse, travel, journey, wander, drift, ramble, meander, stroll, traipse, walk, hike, trek

••

range, compass, gamut, latitude, reach, scope, sweep

To say that someone has a wide range of interests implies that these interests are not only extensive but varied. Another way of expressing the same idea would be to say that the person's interests run the gamut from TV quiz shows to nuclear physics, a word that suggests a graduated scale or series running from one extreme to another. Compass implies a range of knowledge or activity that falls within very definite limits reminiscent of a circumference (within the compass of her abilities), while sweep suggests more of an arc-shaped range of motion or activity (the sweep of the searchlight) or a continuous extent or stretch (a broad sweep of lawn). Latitude and scope both emphasize the idea of freedom, although scope implies great freedom within prescribed limits (the scope of the investigation), while latitude means freedom from such limits (she was granted more latitude than usual in interviewing the disaster victims). Even someone who has a wide range of interests and a broad scope of authority, however, will sooner or later come up against something that is beyond his or her reach, which suggests the furthest limit of effectiveness or influence.