field

[ feeld ]

/ fild /

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See synonyms for field on Thesaurus.com

noun

an expanse of open or cleared ground, especially a piece of land suitable or used for pasture or tillage.

Sports.

a piece of ground devoted to sports or contests; playing field.
(in betting) all the contestants or numbers that are grouped together as one: to bet on the field in a horse race.
(in football) the players on the playing ground.
the area in which field events are held.

Baseball.

the team in the field, as opposed to the one at bat.
the outfield.

a sphere of activity, interest, etc., especially within a particular business or profession: the field of teaching;the field of Shakespearean scholarship.

the area or region drawn on or serviced by a business or profession; outlying areas where business activities or operations are carried on, as opposed to a home or branch office: our representatives in the field.

a job location remote from regular workshop facilities, offices, or the like.

Military.

the scene or area of active military operations.
a battleground.
a battle.
Informal. an area located away from the headquarters of a commander.

an expanse of anything: a field of ice.

any region characterized by a particular feature, resource, activity, etc.: a gold field.

the surface of a canvas, shield, etc., on which something is portrayed: a gold star on a field of blue.

(in a flag) the ground of each division.

Physics. the influence of some agent, as electricity or gravitation, considered as existing at all points in space and defined by the force it would exert on an object placed at any point in space.Compare electric field, gravitational field, magnetic field.

Also called field of view. Optics. the entire angular expanse visible through an optical instrument, such as the lens of a camera, microscope, or telescope, at a given time.

Photography. the area of a subject that is taken in by a lens at a particular diaphragm opening.

Electricity. the structure in a generator or motor that produces a magnetic field around a rotating armature.

Mathematics. a number system that has the same properties relative to the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division as the number system of all real numbers; a commutative division ring. Abbreviation: F

Psychology. the total complex of interdependent factors within which a psychological event occurs and is perceived as occurring.

Computers.

one or more related characters treated as a unit and constituting part of a record, for purposes of input, processing, output, or storage by a computer: If the hours-worked field is blank or zero, the program does not write a check for that employee.
(in a punch card) any number of columns regularly used for recording the same information.

Television. one half of the scanning lines required to form a complete television frame. In the United States, two fields are displayed in 1/30 second: all the odd-numbered lines in one field and all the even lines in the next field.Compare frame (def. 8).

Numismatics. the blank area of a coin, other than that of the exergue.

Fox Hunting. the group of participants in a hunt, exclusive of the master of foxhounds and his staff.

Heraldry. the whole area or background of an escutcheon.

verb (used with object)

Baseball, Cricket.

to catch or pick up (the ball) in play: The shortstop fielded the grounder and threw to first for the out.
to place (a player, group of players, or a team) in the field to play.

to place in competition: to field a candidate for governor.

to answer or reply skillfully: to field a difficult question.

to put into action or on duty: to field police cars to patrol an area.

Informal. field-test.

verb (used without object) Baseball, Cricket.

to act as a fielder; field the ball.

to take to the field.

adjective

Sports.

of, taking place, or competed for on the field and not on the track, as the discus throw or shot put.
of or relating to field events.

Military. of or relating to campaign and active combat service as distinguished from service in rear areas or at headquarters: a field soldier.

of or relating to a field.

grown or cultivated in a field.

working in the fields of a farm: field laborers.

working as a salesperson, engineer, representative, etc., in the field: an insurance company's field agents.

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Idioms about field

in the field,

in actual use or in a situation simulating actual use or application; away from a laboratory, workshop, or the like: The machine was tested for six months in the field.
in contact with a prime source of basic data: The anthropologist is working in the field in Nigeria.
within a given profession: The public knows little of him, but in the field he's known as a fine mathematician.

keep the field, to remain in competition or in battle; continue to contend: The troops kept the field under heavy fire.

out in left field. left field (def. 3).

play the field, Informal.

to date a number of persons rather than only one: He wanted to play the field for a few years before settling down.
to vary one's activities.

take the field,

to begin to play, as in football or baseball; go into action.
to go into battle:They took the field at dawn.

Origin of field

First recorded before 1000; Middle English, Old English feld; cognate with German Feld, Dutch, Afrikaans velt

OTHER WORDS FROM field

mis·field, verbun·field·ed, adjective

Words nearby field

fidus Achates, fie, Fiedler, fief, fiefdom, field, field ambulance, field army, field artillery, field battery, field bed

Other definitions for field (2 of 2)

Field

[ feeld ]

/ fild /

noun

Cyrus West, 1819–92, U.S. financier: projector of the first Atlantic cable.

David Dudley, Jr., 1805–94, U.S. jurist (brother of Cyrus West and Stephen Johnson Field).

Erastus Salisbury, 1805–1900, U.S. painter.

Eugene, 1850–95, U.S. poet and journalist.

John, 1782–1837, Irish pianist and composer.

Marshall, 1834–1906, U.S. merchant and philanthropist.

Stephen Johnson, 1816–99, U.S. jurist: associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court 1863–97 (brother of Cyrus West and David Dudley Field, Jr.).

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use field in a sentence

Options that are shown in yellow text will indicate which fields can be customized — like specifying which smart light you want to turn off or on, for instance.
Amazon makes Alexa Routines shareable|Sarah Perez|September 17, 2020|TechCrunch
If you need to take work to and from the office, or out in the field to clients, this is a great option to keep files clean, organized, and safe.
Great filing cabinets for your home office|PopSci Commerce Team|September 17, 2020|Popular-Science
It was amazing to hear directly from the top leaders in the field.
Tower 28 Announces Winner Of The Clean Beauty Summer School Program|Hope Wright|September 17, 2020|Essence.com
One ripple in a field would be an electron, another a photon, and interactions between them seemed to explain all electromagnetic events.
How Mathematical ‘Hocus-Pocus’ Saved Particle Physics|Charlie Wood|September 17, 2020|Quanta Magazine

The scientists initially noticed that this species, called Regimbartia attenuata, had a habit of hanging out rather nonchalantly with frogs on paddy fields in Japan.
This scientist thought he’d found the source of all sexual energy|PopSci Staff|September 17, 2020|Popular-Science
The eating disorder field remains divided over the potential efficacy of such measures.
How Skinny Is Too Skinny? Israel Bans ‘Underweight’ Models|Carrie Arnold|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“He was a brave field commander and an expert in intelligence, and in organizing popular and tribal forces,” said the eulogist.
What an Iranian Funeral Tells Us About the Wars in Iraq|IranWire|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
If anything, officer training and in-field policing methodologies reinforce those beliefs.
What Would Happen if I Got in White Cop’s Face?|Goldie Taylor|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Then the commercial weight loss behemoths Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig joined this crowded field.
Why Your New Year’s Diet Will Fail|Carrie Arnold|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It was, we have to have a team, all the right balls, a big field, and everything has to look right and be right.
Tim Howard’s Wall of Intensity|William O’Connor|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He distinguished himself in several campaigns, especially in the Peninsular war, and was raised to the rank of field marshal.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
We had six field-pieces, but we only took four, harnessed wit twice the usual number of horses.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
There were two battalions, together about a thousand men; and they brought a field-piece with them.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
The reveillée of the sleeping Mexicans was the discharge of our two field-pieces loaded with canister.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
Then the enemy's howitzers and field guns had it all their own way, forcing attack to yield a lot of ground.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton

British Dictionary definitions for field (1 of 2)

field

/ (fiːld) /

noun

an open tract of uncultivated grassland; meadowRelated adjective: campestral

a piece of land cleared of trees and undergrowth, usually enclosed with a fence or hedge and used for pasture or growing cropsa field of barley

a limited or marked off area, usually of mown grass, on which any of various sports, athletic competitions, etc, are helda soccer field

an area that is rich in minerals or other natural resourcesa coalfield

short for battlefield, airfield

the mounted followers that hunt with a pack of hounds

all the runners in a particular race or competitors in a competition
the runners in a race or competitors in a competition excluding the favourite

cricket the fielders collectively, esp with regard to their positions

a wide or open expansea field of snow

an area of human activitythe field of human knowledge
a sphere or division of knowledge, interest, etchis field is physics

a place away from the laboratory, office, library, etc, usually out of doors, where practical work is done or original material or data collected
(as modifier)a field course

the surface or background, as of a flag, coin, or heraldic shield, on which a design is displayed

Also called: field of view the area within which an object may be observed with a telescope, microscope, etc

physics

See field of force
a region of space that is a vector field
a region of space under the influence of some scalar quantity, such as temperature

maths a set of entities subject to two binary operations, addition and multiplication, such that the set is a commutative group under addition and the set, minus the zero, is a commutative group under multiplication and multiplication is distributive over addition

maths logic the set of elements that are either arguments or values of a function; the union of its domain and range

computing

a set of one or more characters comprising a unit of information
a predetermined section of a record

television one of two or more sets of scanning lines which when interlaced form the complete picture

obsolete the open countrybeasts of the field

hold the field or keep the field to maintain one's position in the face of opposition

in the field

military in an area in which operations are in progress
actively or closely involved with or working on something (rather than being in a more remote or administrative position)

lead the field to be in the leading or most pre-eminent position

leave the field informal to back out of a competition, contest, etc

take the field to begin or carry on activity, esp in sport or military operations

play the field informal to disperse one's interests or attentions among a number of activities, people, or objects

(modifier) military of or relating to equipment, personnel, etc, specifically designed or trained for operations in the fielda field gun; a field army

verb

(tr) sport to stop, catch, or return (the ball) as a fielder

(tr) sport to send (a player or team) onto the field to play

(intr) sport (of a player or team) to act or take turn as a fielder or fielders

(tr) military to put (an army, a unit, etc) in the field

(tr) to enter (a person) in a competitioneach party fielded a candidate

(tr) informal to deal with or handle, esp adequately and by making a reciprocal gestureto field a question

Word Origin for field

Old English feld; related to Old Saxon, Old High German feld, Old English fold earth, Greek platus broad

British Dictionary definitions for field (2 of 2)

Field

/ (fiːld) /

noun

John . 1782–1837, Irish composer and pianist, lived in Russia from 1803: invented the nocturne

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

Scientific definitions for field

field

[ fēld ]

A distribution in a region of space of the strength and direction of a force, such as the electrostatic force near an electrically charged object, that would act on a body at any given point in that region. See also electric field magnetic field.

The region whose image is visible to the eye or accessible to an optical instrument.

A set of elements having two operations, designated addition and multiplication, satisfying the conditions that multiplication is distributive over addition, that the set is a group under addition, and that the elements with the exception of the additive identity (0) form a group under multiplication. The set of all rational numbers is a field.

In a database, a space for a single item of information contained in a record.
An interface element in a graphical user interface that accepts the input of text.

Other Idioms and Phrases with field

field

In addition to the idiom beginning with field

field day

also see:

cover the field
far afield
out in left field
play the field
take the field

field

Idioms about field

Origin of field

OTHER WORDS FROM field

Words nearby field

Other definitions for field (2 of 2)

Words related to field

How to use field in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for field (1 of 2)

Word Origin for field

British Dictionary definitions for field (2 of 2)

Scientific definitions for field

Other Idioms and Phrases with field