bushranger

[ boosh-reyn-jer ]

/ ˈbʊʃˌreɪn dʒər /

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noun

a person who lives in the bush or woods.

Australian.

a person who lives by robbing travelers and isolated homesteads in the bush.
a person who drives a hard, and sometimes dishonest, bargain.

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Origin of bushranger

First recorded in 1810–20; bush¹ + ranger

OTHER WORDS FROM bushranger

bushranging, noun

Words nearby bushranger

bush oyster, bush parole, bush pig, bush pilot, bush poppy, bushranger, bush road, bush shirt, bush shrike, bush sickness, bush singlet

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bushranger in a sentence

It's bad enough being compelled to turn thief and bushranger, but it would be worse if I was caught.
Grif|B. L. (Benjamin Leopold) Farjeon
It was a dirty burgling business for a decent bushranger to lose his life in, now wasn't it?
The Boss of Taroomba|E. W. Hornung
With no groan or word he fell; and when I reached the side of Smith there was not another bushranger left to battle with.
The Gold Hunter's Adventures|William H. Thomes
I propped his back against some spare blankets, and heard the bushranger's story.
The Gold Hunter's Adventures|William H. Thomes

Becky, the servant, had utterly collapsed at the word bushranger; the other two faces looked as if carved in stone.
Fifty-Two Stories For Girls|Various

British Dictionary definitions for bushranger

bushranger

/ (ˈbʊʃˌreɪndʒə) /

noun

Australian history an escaped convict or robber living in the bush

US a person who lives away from civilization; backwoodsman

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012