free-ranging

adjective

free-rang·​ing ˈfrē-ˈrān-jiŋ 

1

: moving or able to move or range freely over a wide area without restriction

free-ranging animals

I began roaming the streets to observe how free-ranging cats—feral cats and strays, as well as house cats allowed to wander freely—make a living in a city.

—James E. Childs

2

: not limited or narrow in scope or extent : wide-ranging

a free-ranging discussion

Mr. Enright is comparatively free-ranging and various in writing about what engages him; his subjects range from professors of literature to computers to "correctness" to aging and, above all, to words.

—William H. Pritchard

Examples of free-ranging in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Today, hundreds of free-ranging dogs live in the area around the site of the disaster, known as the exclusion zone. —Emily Anthes, BostonGlobe.com, 4 Mar. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1841, in the meaning defined at sense 1