bushranger

[boosh-reyn-jer]

noun

1. a person who lives in the bush or woods.

2. Australian.

   1. a person who lives by robbing travelers and isolated homesteads in the bush.

   2. a person who drives a hard, and sometimes dishonest, bargain.

bushranger

/ ˈbʊʃˌreɪndʒə /

noun

1. history an escaped convict or robber living in the bush

2. a person who lives away from civilization; backwoodsman

Other Word Forms

• bushranging noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of bushranger¹

First recorded in 1810–20; bush ¹ + ranger

Example Sentences

An exploration of Australian bushranger Ned Kelly and his gang as they attempt to evade authorities during the 1870s.

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Adaptation of Peter Carey’s award-winning novel about the Australian folk hero, with George MacKay as the bushranger who is tracked down by the authorities.

Read more on The Guardian

Directed by Tony Richardson, the turgid biopic of the Australian bushranger and folk hero tried to do for its titular outlaw what Bonnie & Clyde had done for theirs three years prior, only to fail spectacularly.

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Especially surrounded as we were by young guys sporting lush bushranger beards.

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From war criminal Breaker Morant, to bushranger Ned Kelly, to hitman Chopper Read, the nation has a penchant for casting aside inconvenient historical facts and elevating its most notable killers and thieves into folk heroes a la Robin Hood.

Read more on Time