left field
noun
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left field
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left-field
left-fieldadjectiveregarded as being outside the mainstream; unconventional
left field
Americannoun
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Baseball.
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the area of the outfield to the left of center field, as viewed from home plate.
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the position of the player covering this area.
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Slang. a position or circumstance that is remote from an ordinary or general trend.
idioms
left-field
British
adjective
left field
More Idioms
Etymology
Origin of left field
An Americanism dating back to 1855–60
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:
“There are legitimate water quality threats that we need to attack and rectify in a regulatory manner. And then there are things that are out in the left field that just distract people,” Donley said.
From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026
The clear winner, out of left field, was Brazilian jiu-jitsu: a relatively new art accepted so rapidly that we already knew the basics from our Army combatives course.
From Slate ● Jun. 14, 2026
He also patrolled left field and snared a line drive to end the top of the fourth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026
Pinch-hitter Ramsey Suarez ignited the rally with a 270-foot home run to left field off Terry.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026
And two innings later, Jonathan smacked a triple into left field that scored the tying run.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
In a 1-1 count, Phillips threw a sinker on the inside edge of the strike zone, and Taylor lifted it into the left-field stands for a go-ahead three-run homer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
But it was a more left-field statement that caught Styles' attention.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
Madrigal would break the Angels’ hitless run in the fifth with a double off the left-field wall.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026
In the third, however, Diamondbacks star Corbin Carroll sent a cutter the other way, and it bounced off the top of the left-field wall into the home bullpen for Arizona’s first run of the night.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026
Occasionally, he’d split his mental gymnastics, leaving his imaginary board to swing a fantasy baseball bat and knock an invisible ball into the left-field stands of the Ebbets Field in his mind.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
