field day

noun

1. a day devoted to outdoor sports or athletic contests, as at a school.

2. an outdoor gathering; outing; picnic.

3. a day for military exercises and display.

4. an occasion or opportunity for unrestricted activity, amusement, etc..

   The children had a field day with their new skateboards.

field day

noun

1. a day spent in some special outdoor activity, such as nature study or sport

2. a day-long competition between amateur radio operators using battery or generator power, the aim being to make the most contacts with other operators around the world

3. military a day devoted to manoeuvres or exercises, esp before an audience

4. informal,  a day or time of exciting or successful activity

   the children had a field day with their new toys

5. 1. a day or series of days devoted to the demonstration of farm machinery in country centres

   2. a combined open day and sale on a stud property

Word History and Origins

Origin of field day¹

First recorded in 1740–50

Idioms and Phrases

A time of great pleasure, activity, or opportunity, as in The press had a field day with this sensational murder trial. This colloquial expression, dating from the 1700s, originally referred to a day set aside for military maneuvers and exercises, and later was extended to a similar day for sports and games. Since the early 1800s it has been used more loosely.

Example Sentences

Farmworkers had picked most of the watermelons in a field days earlier, but returned to harvest the remaining fruit once it was ripe.

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The stage has been having a field day satirizing the way we transform when we communicate impersonally through our devices.

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They’re making field days the centerpiece of birthday celebrations and bachelorette parties.

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Someone with a parasocial attachment to the pair would have a field day trying to decipher which of the album’s eight tracks are about the other.

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The production, directed by Teddy Bergman, has a field day with the woke-run-amok ethos of Eureka Day, where kids at the school cheer the other team’s goals at soccer games.

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Related Words

• anniversary 
• commemoration 
• competition 
• fair 
• feast 
• gala 
• holiday