range vs sphere

range

noun
  • The geographical area or zone where a species is normally naturally found. 

  • A fireplace; a fire or other cooking apparatus; now specifically, a large cooking stove with many hotplates. 

  • An area for practicing shooting at targets. 

  • The extent or space taken in by anything excursive; compass or extent of excursion; reach; scope. 

  • An area of open, often unfenced, grazing land. 

  • The scale of all the tones a voice or an instrument can produce. 

  • The distance from a person or sensor to an object, target, emanation, or event. 

  • The length of the smallest interval which contains all the data in a sample; the difference between the largest and smallest observations in the sample. 

  • A sequential list of values specified by an iterator. 

  • The maximum distance or reach of capability (of a weapon, radio, detector, etc.). 

  • The set of values (points) which a function can obtain. 

  • An area for military training or equipment testing. 

  • A wandering or roving; a going to and fro; an excursion; a ramble; an expedition. 

  • A line or series of mountains, buildings, etc. 

  • In the public land system, a row or line of townships lying between two succession meridian lines six miles apart. 

  • The distance a vehicle (e.g., a car, bicycle, lorry, or aircraft) can travel without refueling. 

  • Selection, array. 

  • The defensive area that a player can cover. 

  • An aggregate of individuals in one rank or degree; an order; a class. 

  • The variety of roles that an actor can play in a satisfactory way. 

verb
  • To bring (something) into a specified position or relationship (especially, of opposition) with something else. 

  • To classify. 

  • Of a variable, to be able to take any of the values in a specified range. 

  • To be native to, or live in, a certain district or region. 

  • To form a line or a row. 

  • To place among others in a line, row, or order, as in the ranks of an army; usually, reflexively and figuratively, to espouse a cause, to join a party, etc. 

  • To sail or pass in a direction parallel to or near. 

  • Of a player, to travel a significant distance for a defensive play. 

  • To rove over or through. 

  • To determine the range to a target. 

  • To travel over (an area, etc); to roam, wander. 

  • To set in a row, or in rows; to place in a regular line or lines, or in ranks; to dispose in the proper order. 

  • To be placed in order; to be ranked; to admit of arrangement or classification; to rank. 

sphere

noun
  • The region in which something or someone is active; one's province, domain. 

  • A regular three-dimensional object in which every cross-section is a circle; the figure described by the revolution of a circle about its diameter . 

  • The set of all points in three-dimensional Euclidean space (or n-dimensional space, in topology) that are a fixed distance from a fixed point . 

  • A spherical physical object; a globe or ball. 

  • Any of the concentric hollow transparent globes formerly believed to rotate around the Earth, and which carried the heavenly bodies; there were originally believed to be eight, and later nine and ten; friction between them was thought to cause a harmonious sound (the music of the spheres). 

  • The extension of a general conception, or the totality of the individuals or species to which it may be applied. 

  • An area of activity for a planet; or by extension, an area of influence for a god, hero etc. 

verb
  • To place in a sphere, or among the spheres; to ensphere. 

  • To make round or spherical; to perfect. 

How often have the words range and sphere occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )