free-rangev.
/ˌfriːˈreɪn(d)ʒ/, U.S. /ˌfriˈreɪndʒ/ 1. transitive. To allow (an animal) to roam freely, to give free range to; to rear (an animal) using free-range farming methods.
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1957 E. N. Wentworth in R. W. Howard This is West iv. 148 The Spanish free-ranged their cattle.
1974 Times 27 July 14/3 Traditionally our feathers come from turkeys which used to be free ranged where they could grow to 27 lbs.
1987 Resurgence Nov.–Dec. 18/3 Hens should either be free-ranged, or kept in buildings which allow them ample freedom of movement and access to grazing plots outside.
1994 Harrowsmith June 5/1 Ranchers who free-range cattle on the public lands of the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies.
2. intransitive. Of an animal (esp. a farm animal): to roam freely; to have free range. Cf. free range n.
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1959 Times 12 Nov. 14/7 Two house-cows, nearly free-ranging on the mountain, which were kept to supply milk.
1980 K. Thear in K. Thear & A. Fraser Small Farmer's Guide to Raising Livestock & Poultry (U.S. ed.) ii. 56/1 It is only fair to warn those who have never kept guinea fowl before, that they are flighty to the extreme and, if allowed to free range, may wander long distances and fall prey to foxes.
1988 Daily Tel. 20 Dec. 11/6 The grass where the hens free-ranged.
2006 Countryman Dec. 79/2 All parties agree that boars, whether residing on farms or free-ranging in our countryside, are back in Britain for good, and will not be eradicated for a second time.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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v.1957