field

field [fēld]

n.

[ME feld < OE, akin to Ger feld, Du veld < IE * pelt- < base * pele-, * pla-, flat and broad > L planus, plane, Gr palamē, flat hand]

1. a wide stretch of open land; plain

2. a piece of cleared land, set off or enclosed, for raising crops or pasturing livestock

3. a piece of land used for some particular purpose [a landing field]

4. an area of land producing some natural resource [a gold field]

5. any wide, unbroken expanse [a field of ice]

6.

a) a battlefield

b) a battle

7.

a) an area of military operations

b) a military area away from the post or headquarters

8.

a) an area where practical work is done, as by a social worker, geologist, etc., away from the central office, laboratory, or the like: usually with the [camping equipment tested in the field]

b) a realm of knowledge or of special work or opportunity [the field of electronics]

9. an area of observation, as in a microscope

10. the background, as on a flag or coin

11.

a) an area where games or athletic events are held

b) the part of such an area, usually inside a closed racing track, where contests in the high jump, long jump, shot put, pole vault, etc. are held

☆ c) in baseball, any part of the outfield [a batter who hits to all fields]

d) all the entrants in a contest

e) all the entrants in a contest except the one(s) specified

12. Comput. any of the units of storage that are grouped to form a RECORD (n. 7)

13. Heraldry the surface or part of the surface of a shield

14. Horse Racing those horses, in a race with more than twelve entrants, that are grouped together to function as a unit for betting purposes

15. Math. a set of numbers or other algebraic elements for which arithmetic operations (except for division by zero) are defined in a consistent manner to yield another element of the set

16. Physics a region, volume, or space where a specific, measurable force, as gravity or magnetism, exists

17. TV

a) the area viewed by the camera

b) the area that the scanning element covers in one vertical sweep

adj.

1. of, operating in, or held on the field or fields

2. growing in fields; having a field as its habitat

vt.

1.

a) Baseball, CricketBaseball Cricket to catch (a batted or thrown ball)

b) to put (a team or player) in the field for a game or competition

2. to position in a given location [to field an army]

3. Informal

a) to answer (a question) extemporaneously

b) to deal with; handle [to field phone calls]

vi.

Baseball Cricket to play as a fielder

to play as a fielder

——————

keep the field or hold the field

to continue activity, as in games or military operations

——————

☆ play the field

1. to take a broad area of operations; not confine one's activities to one object

2. Informal to date more than one person during the same period of time

——————

take the field or leave the field

to begin (or withdraw from) activity in a game, military operation, etc.