bushranger

[ boo sh-reyn-jer ]

/ ˈbʊʃˌreɪn dʒər /

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.

Nearby words

bushmaster, bushmeat, bushmen, bushnell, bushpig, bushranger, bushtit, bushveld, bushwa, bushwalking, bushwhack

Origin of bushranger

First recorded in 1810–20; bush¹ + ranger

Related forms

bush·rang·ing, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for bushranger

The bushranger had evidently started with Punch, and was still curiously absorbed in its contents.
Stingaree|E. W. (Ernest William) Hornung
A year later Hyland the bushranger was shot in a struggle with the mounted police sent to capture him.
Cumner & South Sea Folk, Complete|Gilbert Parker
Divil a bit, till I see a bushranger, and then I'll give him a taste of my spear.
The Gold Hunter's Adventures|William H. Thomes
It was not joy, but it was quite a new grimness, and in his own preoccupation the bushranger did not notice it at all.
Stingaree|E. W. (Ernest William) Hornung

The bushranger made a good deal of exciting history in Australia.
Peeps At Many Lands: Australia|Frank Fox

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