noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of battlefield
Explanation
A place where fighting happens, especially during a war, can be called a battlefield. If you visit Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, you'll see a famous Civil War battlefield. There are many Civil War battlefields in the southern United States, and New England is the site of several Revolutionary War battlefields. While the physical land where a battle is fought is the most common kind of battlefield, there are also figurative battlefields, like a classroom in which competing ideas are angrily hashed out. The equivalent word in Old English is wælstow, or "slaughter-place."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
And earlier this week, Ukraine reported disruptions to a critical US satellite communications system that its army uses on the battlefield.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
Kyiv has adopted it as a vital battlefield communications tool and also uses it in drone warfare.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
Musk drew a distinction between the Starshield system, which Ukraine relies on for battlefield communications, and the parallel Starlink civilian satellite system, which Ukraine also deploys but is not allowed to use for offensive operations.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
In some of the moments meant to spotlight advanced technology on the battlefield, newly procured drones and developmental communication systems failed to perform as intended.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
During the Civil War, he served on the battlefield as surgeon for a New York infantry regiment.
From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow
Today the islands are home to fewer than 50,000 people and are best known for beaches, diving and some World War II battlefields.
From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2026
“Project Meridian” will be focused on achieving technological superiority for “developing and fielding weapons and systems” for battlefields in the decades ahead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Army leaders in Europe over recent years have taken advantage of having Ukrainian forces on hand to participate and impart their hard-won skills to U.S. and allied troops in practice, on simulated battlefields.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Its troops have also gained crucial experience on modern battlefields.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
Their souls are taken from the battlefields by Valkyries, the warrior-women charged by Odin with the task of bringing the souls of the noble dead, battle-slain, to their ultimate reward.
From "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
