Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RAN-CID'I-TY, or RAN'CID-NESS, n.

The quality of being rancid; a strong sour scent, as of old oil. The rancidity of oils may be analogous to the oxydation of metals. – Ure.

RAN'CID-LY, adv.

With a strong scent; mustily.

RAN'COR, n. [L. from ranceo, to be rank.]

1. The deepest malignity or spite; deep seated and implacable malice; inveterate enmity. [This is the strongest term for enmity which the English language supplies.] It issues from the rancor of a villain. – Shak.
2. Virulence; corruption. – Shak.

RAN'COR-OUS, a.

Deeply malignant; implacably spiteful or malicious; intensely virulent. So flam'd his eyes with rage and rancr'ous ire. – Spenser Rancorous opposition to the Gospel of Christ. – West.

RAN'COR-OUS-LY, adv.

With deep malignity or spiteful malice.

RAND, n. [G. D. and Dan. rand, a border, edge, margin, brink; from shooting out, extending.]

A border; edge; margin; as, the rand of a shoe.

RAN'DOM, a.

1. Done at hazard or without settled aim or purpose; left to chance; as, a random blow.
2. Uttered or done without previous calculation; as, a random guess.

RAN'DOM, n. [Norm. randun; Sax. randun; Fr. randonnée, a rapid course of water; randon, a gushing.]

1. A roving motion or course without direction; hence, want of direction, rule or method; hazard chance; used in the phrase, at random, that is without a settled point of direction; at hazard.
2. Course; motion; progression; distance of a body thrown; as, the furthest random of a missile weapon. – Digby.

RAN'DOM-SHOT, n.

A shot not directed to a point, or a shot with the muzzle of the gun elevated above a horizontal line. – Mar. Dict.

RAN'DY, a.

Disorderly; riotous. [Not used or local.] – Grose.

RANE, or RANE-DEER, n. [Sax. hrana; Fr. renne; D. rendier; G. rennthier; Dan. rensdyr; Basque, oreña or orina; so named probably from running. The true spelling is rane.]

A species of deer, the Cervus Tarandus, a ruminant mammal, found in the northern parts of Europe, Asia and America. He has large branched palmated horns, and travels with great speed. Among die Laplanders he is a substitute for the horse, the cow, the goat and the sheep, as he furnishes food, clothing and the means of conveyance. This animal will draw a sled on the snow more than a hundred miles in a day. – Encyc.

RAN'FORCE, n.

The ring of a gun next to the vent. Bailey. [I do not find this word in modern books.]

RANG, v. [the old pret of Ring. Nearly obsolete.]

RANGE, n. [Fr. rangée. See Rank.]

1. A row; a rank; things in a line; as, a row of buildings; a range of mountains; ranges of colors. – Newton.
2. A class; an order. The next range of beings above him are the immaterial intelligences. – Hale.
3. A wandering or roving; excursion. He may take a range all the world over. – South.
4. Space or room for excursion. A man has not enough range of thought. – Addison.
5. Compass or extent of excursion; space taken in by any thing extended or ranked in order; as, the range of Newton's thought. No philosopher has embraced a wider range. Far as creation's ample range extends. – Pope.
6. The step of a ladder. – Clarendon. [Corrupted in popular language to rung.]
7. A kitchen grate. – Bacon. Wotton.
8. A bolting sieve to sift meal.
9. In gunnery, the path of a bullet or bomb, or the line it describes from the mouth of the piece to the point where it lodges; or the whole distance which it passes. When a cannon lies horizontally, it is called the right level, or point blank range; when the muzzle is elevated to 45 degrees, it is called the utmost range. To this may be added the ricochet, the rolling or bounding shot, with the piece elevated from three to six degrees. – Encyc. Mar. Dict.

RANGE, v.i.

1. To rove at large; to wander without restraint or direction. As a roaring lion and ranging bear. – Prov. xxviii.
2. To be placed in order; to be ranked. 'Tis better to be lowly born, / And range with humble livers in content. – Shak. [In this sense, rank is now used.]
3. To lie in a particular direction. Which way thy forests range. – Dryden. We say, the front of a house ranges with the line of the street.
4. To sail or pass near or in the direction of; as, to range along the coast.

RANGE, v.t. [Fr. ranger; Arm. rencqa, ranqein; W. rhenciaw, from rhenc, reng, rank, – which see.]

1. To set in a row or in rows; to place in a regular line, lines, or ranks; to dispose in the proper order; as, to range troops in a body; to range men or ships in the order of battle.
2. To dispose in proper classes, orders or divisions; as, to range plants and animals in genera and species.
3. To dispose in a proper manner; to place in regular method; in a general sense. Range and Arrange are used indifferently in the same sense.
4. To rove over; to pass over. Teach him to range the ditch and force the brake. – Gay. [This use is elliptical, over being omitted.]
5. To sail or pass in a direction parallel to or near; as, to range the coast, that is, along the coast.

RANG-ED, pp.

Disposed in a row or line; placed in order; passed in roving; placed in a particular direction.

RANG-ER, n.

1. One that ranges; a rover; a robber. [Now little used.] – Spenser.
2. A dog that beats the ground. – Gay.
3. In England, a sworn officer of a forest, appointed by the king's letters patent, whose business is to walk through the forest, watch the deer, present trespasses, &c. – Encyc.

RANG-ER-SHIP, n.

The office of the keeper of a forest or park.

RANG-ING, n.

The act of placing in lines or in order; a roving, &c.

RANG-ING, ppr.

Placing in a row or line; disposing in order, method or classes; raving; passing near and in the direction of.

RANK, a. [Sax. ranc, proud, haughty; Sp. and It. rancio; L. rancidus, from ranceo, to smell strong. The primary sense of the root is to advance, to shoot forward, to gene luxuriantly, whence the sense of strong, vigorous; W. rhac, rhag, before; rhacu, rhaciaw, to advance, to put forward. This word belongs probably to the same family as the preceding.]

1. Luxuriant in growth; being of vigorous growth; as, rank grass; rank weeds. Seven ears came up upon one stalk, rank and good. – Gen. xli.
2. Causing vigorous growth; producing luxuriantly; very rich and fertile; as, land is rank. – Mortimer.
3. Strong scented; as, rank smelling rue. – Spenser.
4. Rancid; musty; as, oil of a rank smell.
5. Inflamed with venereal appetite. – Shak.
6. Strong to the taste; high tasted. Divers sea fowls taste rank of the fish on which they feed. Boyle.
7. Rampant; high grown; raised to a high degree; excessive; as, rank pride; rank idolatry. I do forgive / Thy rankest faults. – Shak.
8. Gross; coarse. – Shak.
9. Strong; clinching. Take rank hold. Hence,
10. Excessive; exceeding the actual value; as, a rank modus in law. – Blackstone. To set rank, as the iron of a plane, to set it so as to take off a thick shaving. Moxon.

RANK, n. [Ir. ranc; W. rhenc; Arm. rencq; Fr. rang, a row or line; It. rango, rank, condition Port and Sp. rancho, a mess or set of persons; D. Dan. and G. rang. In these words, n is probably casual; Ar. رَكَا raka, to set in order; Heb. and Ch. ערך, id. Class Rg, No. 13, 47. See also No. 18, 20, 21, 27, 46. The primary sense is probably to reach, to stretch, or to pass, to stretch along. Hence rank and grade are often synonymous.]

1. A row or line, applied to troops; a line of men standing abreast or side by side, and as opposed to file, a line running the length of a company, battalion or regiment. Keep your ranks; dress your ranks. Fierce fiery warriors fight upon the clouds / In ranks and squadrons and right form of war. – Shak.
2. Ranks, in the plural, the order of common soldiers; as, to reduce an officer to the ranks.
3. A row; a line of things, or things in a line; as, a rank of osiers. – Shak.
4. Degree; grade; in military affairs; as, the rank of captain, colonel or general; the rank of vice-admiral.
5. Degree of elevation in civil life or station; the order of elevation or of subordination. We say, all ranks and orders of men; every man's dress and behavior should correspond with his rank; the highest and the lowest ranks of men or of other intelligent beings.
6. Class; order; division; any portion or number of things to which place, degree or order is assigned. Profligate men, by their vices, sometimes degrade themselves to the rank of brutes.
7. Degree of dignity, eminence or excellence; as, a writer of the first rank; a lawyer of high rank. These are all virtues of a theater rank. – Addison.
8. Dignity; high place or degree in the orders of men; as a man of rank. Rank and file, the order of common soldiers. Ten officers and three hundred rank and file fell in the action. To fill the ranks, to supply the whole number, or a competent number. To take rank, to enjoy precedence, or to have the right of taking a higher place. In Great Britain, the king's soul take rank of all the other nobles.

RANK, v.i.

1. To be ranged; to be set or disposed; as in a particular degree, class, order or division. Let that one article rank with the vest. – Shak.
2. To be placed in a rank or ranks. Go, rank in tribes, and quit the savage wood. – Tate.
3. To have a certain grade or degree of elevation in the orders of civil or military life. He ranks with a major. He ranks with the first class of poets. He ranks high in public estimation.

RANK, v.t.

1. To place abreast or in a line. – Milton.
2. To place in a particular class, order or division. Poets were ranked in the class of philosophers. – Broome. Heresy is ranked with idolatry and witchcraft. – Decay of Piety.
3. To dispose methodically; to place in suitable order. Who now shall rear you to the sun, or rank your tribes? – Milton. Ranking all things under general and special heads. Watts.