- range
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2 Range, gamut, reach, radius, compass, sweep, scope, orbit, horizon, ken, purview can denote the extent that lies within the powers of something to cover, grasp, control, or traverse.Range is the general term indicating the extent of one's perception or the extent of powers, capacities, or possibilities{
safe, well out of the range of the pursuers
}{a beautiful voice with a wide range between the high and the low tones— Ellis
}{a creative writer can do his best only with what lies within the range and character of his deepest sympathies— Gather
}{the whole range of Greek political life— Dickinson
}Gamut suggests a graduated series running from one possible extreme to another{types of light each occupying its particular place in that far-reaching roster or gamut which is called the spectrum— Darrow
}Reach suggests an extent of perception, knowledge, ability, or activity attained to or experienced by or as if by stretching out{moving step by step toward the widest generalizations within his reach —L. J. Henderson
}{out of reach of the first invading forces
}{anything like sustained reasoning was beyond his reach— Stephen
}Radius suggests a usually circular area (as of activity) implied by a known or determined center{the town's history has been the history of coal; within a radius of five miles are 12 large mines— Amer. Guide Series: Pa.
}Compass implies an extent, sometimes more limited than that suggested by range, of perception, knowledge, or activity; it is likely to connote a bounding circumference{the powers expressly granted to the government... are to be contracted . . . into the narrowest possible compass— John Marshall
}{here we get in very small compass ... as many different reminders of the continuity of the country ... as you will find anywhere— Mais
}Sweep suggests extent, often circular or arc-shaped, of motion or activity, which latter notion it more strongly suggests than the preceding terms{the boldness and sweep of Webster's original scheme appear plainly— Malone
}{in the sweep of their universal robbery, they showed at least no discrimination between native and foreign victims— Osbert Sitwell
}Scope is applicable to an area of activity, an area predetermined and limited, but an area of free choice within the set limits{its scope was widened by the legislature to include other departments— Amer. Guide Series: Texas
}{the infinite scope for personal initiative in business— Shaw
}Orbit suggests a range of activity or influence, often circumscribed and bounded, within which forces work toward accustoming, integrating, or absorbing Communities . . . outside the orbit of modernity— Lippmann{the war as a gigantic cosmic drama, embracing every quarter of the globe and the whole orbit of man's life— Buchan
}Horizon suggests an area, perhaps arc-shaped or semicircular, of knowledge, interest, perception; it may suggest the new or the potential or envisioned{science has provided a new frontier with unlimited horizons— Compton
}{possibilities he hadn't known were upon its horizon— Mary Austin
}Ken tends to apply to personal or individual range of perception or cognizance{they seemed trivial at the time they came into his ken— White
}{the bulk of his known reading, until the great Italians swam into his ken, was French— Lowes
}Purview may indicate either range of perception or knowledge or range of authority or competence{the inclusion of dependent areas within the purview of Point Four— Rupert Emerson
}{the problem of ethnic variation falls very definitely within the purview of the student of the social life of man— Ashley Montagu
}Analogous words: extent, area (see SIZE): *field, domain, province, sphere, territory: spread, stretch, *expanse, amplituderange vb 1 *line, line up, align, arrayAnalogous words: arrange, *order, marshal: *assort, sort, classify: *incline, dispose, predispose, bias2 *wander, rove, ramble, roam, stray, prowl, gad, gallivant, traipse, meander
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
