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:
He thanked the president, but said there were "only three positions in the state - in addition to soldiers on the battlefield - which determine the course of the war: president, defence minister and commander-in-chief".
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
“Thunder is purpose-built for the new geometry of battlefield maneuver.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
In a video released Wednesday, Hegseth discovered spoke of how “the modern battlefield is brutal and unrelenting” and “demands maximum psychological and mental readiness.”
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
Other uses included using AI to study battlefield tactics that could lead to reduced casualties, an ex-ISWAP militant said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
At every position, anywhere on the Fry Town Square battlefield, the brigade Otto had assembled fought valiantly.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
"UK soldiers will be better prepared for modern warfare with a new training system that uses AI, advanced analytics and virtual environments to ready troops for rapidly evolving battlefields," it said.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
On 16th-century battlefields, once-unstoppable armored cavalrymen were overwhelmed by groups of foot soldiers armed with long-barreled guns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
A large garage in the center has a stockpile of various types of drones, including small combat drones that were downed on the battlefields in Ukraine and brought to the facility by visiting Ukrainians.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
The Army—and the nation—were fortunate to have both of them on the battlefields.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 5, 2026
This little girl who played make-believe, who wanted to serve her faith and walk through battlefields like Joan of Arc, had survived war, sickness, and separation.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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.
