rifle rangen.
/ˈrʌɪfl reɪn(d)ʒ/, U.S. /ˈraɪf(ə)l ˌreɪndʒ/ 1. The distance that may be covered by a ball or bullet when shot from a rifle.
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the world > space > distance > [noun] > limit of distance or reach > to which a thing may be shot > specific
bowshotc1300
bow-draughtc1400
buck-shot1447
flight-shot1455
gun-shot1532
bird bolt shot1570
cannon shot?1571
pistol shot1608
bolt's-shoot1677
rifle shot1803
gun-reach1825
rifle range1830
gun-range1852
1830 L. Lloyd Field Sports North of Europe II. xxiv. 306 If the snow should be at all loose, it is not easy to get within even rifle-range of the elk.
1863 Sat. Rev. 8 Aug. 187 Their skirmishers came within rifle-range of Fort Wagner.
1884 Cent. Mag. Nov. 84/2 He was to call at a certain house in a certain street in Washington within easy rifle-range of the White House, ask for the lady of the house, and present it only to her.
1943 B. DeVoto Year of Decision xvii. 471 When the Mexican cavalry got within rifle range, it halted.
1998 Bismarck (N. Dakota) Tribune (Nexis) 22 Nov. 1 c The deer gather themselves and meet up somewhere out of rifle range.
2. A place or piece of ground designed for practising rifle-shooting. Cf. range n.1 10.
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society > armed hostility > drill or training > [noun] > weapon-training > firing practice > place for firing practice
firing line1854
rifle range1857
range1873
shooting-range1908
firing range2004
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > competitive shooting > [noun] > shooting-range
shooting-gallery1836
range1840
rifle range1857
shooting-range1908
1857 Dublin Univ. Mag. Apr. 491/1 I wish that, as of old with Archery Butts, every county had its rifle-range.
1862 St. Andrews Gaz. 3 Oct. 3/4 At the rifle range, the corps was divided into two squads, the one party firing against the other.
1885 Act 48 & 49 Victoria c. 36 Title, Land held by..a Volunteer Corps for an Artillery or Rifle Range.
1954 J. Corbett Temple Tiger 46 The sergeant..informed me that the party that had just passed was on its way to the rifle range.
1978 J. Irving World according to Garp xii. 236 We would not allow an outdoor rifle range in the suburbs!
2002 Dartmoor Visitor Summer 24/2 One very obvious feature of this period is the rifle range near Rippon Tor, where the tall brick butts, the target mechanisms and firing platforms can still be seen.
3. British. An attraction at a fairground in which patrons fire rifles at targets in order to win prizes.
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1899 Era 30 Dec. 20/4 The annual Christmas fair was maintained by Harry Gess's menagerie; John Manders, the Kinémato king of the north,..S. Biddell's Winchester rifle range and bottle battery.
1923 Manch. Guardian 11 Sept. 14/6 A man named Louis Weeks was shot at the fairground... George Cooper, the rifle range attendant, said a man came into the range shortly before 10 30 and asked for one shot.
1942 E. Pargeter People of my Own v. 168 Never had he passed by the rifle range without taking a shot or two at the cigarettes arrayed there.
2006 H. Jacobson Kalooki Nights 178 Fairgrounds, he winning goldfish for her on the rifle range.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1830