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[feeld] /fild/

noun
1.
an expanse of open or cleared ground, especially a piece of land suitable or used for pasture or tillage.
2.
Sports.

3.
Baseball.

4.
a sphere of activity, interest, etc., especially within a particular business or profession:
the field of teaching; the field of Shakespearean scholarship.
5.
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.
6.
a job location remote from regular workshop facilities, offices, or the like.
7.
Military.

8.
an expanse of anything:
a field of ice.
9.
any region characterized by a particular feature, resource, activity, etc.:
a gold field.
10.
the surface of a canvas, shield, etc., on which something is portrayed:
a gold star on a field of blue.
11.
(in a flag) the ground of each division.
12.
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 , , .
13.
Also called field of view. Optics. the entire angular expanse visible through an optical instrument at a given time.
14.
Electricity. the structure in a generator or motor that produces a magnetic field around a rotating armature.
15.
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.
16.
Photography. the area of a subject that is taken in by a lens at a particular diaphragm opening.
17.
Psychology. the total complex of interdependent factors within which a psychological event occurs and is perceived as occurring.
18.
Computers.

19.
Television. one half of the scanning lines required to form a complete television frame. In the U.S., 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 (def 9).
20.
Numismatics. the blank area of a coin, other than that of the exergue.
21.
Fox Hunting. the group of participants in a hunt, exclusive of the master of foxhounds and his staff.
22.
Heraldry. the whole area or background of an escutcheon.
verb (used with object)
23.
Baseball, Cricket.

24.
to place in competition:
to field a candidate for governor.
25.
to answer or reply skillfully:
to field a difficult question.
26.
to put into action or on duty:
to field police cars to patrol an area.
27.
Informal. .
verb (used without object), Baseball, Cricket.
28.
to act as a fielder; field the ball.
29.
to take to the field.
adjective
30.
Sports.

31.
Military. of or relating to campaign and active combat service as distinguished from service in rear areas or at headquarters:
a field soldier.
32.
of or relating to a field.
33.
grown or cultivated in a field.
34.
working in the fields of a farm:
field laborers.
35.
working as a salesperson, engineer, representative, etc., in the field:
an insurance company’s field agents.
Idioms
36.
in the field,

37.
keep the field, to remain in competition or in battle; continue to contend:
The troops kept the field under heavy fire.
38.
out in left field. (def 3).
39.
play the field, Informal.

40.
take the field,

/fiːld/
noun
1.
an open tract of uncultivated grassland; meadow related adjective campestral
2.
a piece of land cleared of trees and undergrowth, usually enclosed with a fence or hedge and used for pasture or growing crops: a field of barley
3.
a limited or marked off area, usually of mown grass, on which any of various sports, athletic competitions, etc, are held: a soccer field
4.
an area that is rich in minerals or other natural resources: a coalfield
5.
short for battlefield, airfield
6.
the mounted followers that hunt with a pack of hounds
7.

8.
(cricket) the fielders collectively, esp with regard to their positions
9.
a wide or open expanse: a field of snow
10.

11.

12.
the surface or background, as of a flag, coin, or heraldic shield, on which a design is displayed
13.
Also called field of view. the area within which an object may be observed with a telescope, microscope, etc
14.
(physics)

15.
(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
16.
(maths, logic) the set of elements that are either arguments or values of a function; the union of its domain and range
17.
(computing)

18.
(television) one of two or more sets of scanning lines which when interlaced form the complete picture
19.
(obsolete) the open country: beasts of the field
20.
hold the field, keep the field, to maintain one’s position in the face of opposition
21.
in the field

22.
lead the field, to be in the leading or most pre-eminent position
23.
(informal) leave the field, to back out of a competition, contest, etc
24.
take the field, to begin or carry on activity, esp in sport or military operations
25.
(informal) play the field, to disperse one’s interests or attentions among a number of activities, people, or objects
26.
(modifier) (military) of or relating to equipment, personnel, etc, specifically designed or trained for operations in the field: a field gun, a field army
verb
27.
(transitive) (sport) to stop, catch, or return (the ball) as a fielder
28.
(transitive) (sport) to send (a player or team) onto the field to play
29.
(intransitive) (sport) (of a player or team) to act or take turn as a fielder or fielders
30.
(transitive) (military) to put (an army, a unit, etc) in the field
31.
(transitive) to enter (a person) in a competition: each party fielded a candidate
32.
(transitive) (informal) to deal with or handle, esp adequately and by making a reciprocal gesture: to field a question
/fiːld/
noun
1.
John. 1782–1837, Irish composer and pianist, lived in Russia from 1803: invented the nocturne
n.

Old English feld “plain, open land” (as opposed to woodland), also “a parcel of land marked off and used for pasture or tillage,” probably related to Old English folde “earth, land,” from Proto-Germanic *felthuz “flat land” (common West Germanic, cf. Old Saxon and Old Frisian feld “field,” Old Saxon folda “earth,” Middle Dutch velt, Dutch veld Old High German felt, German Feld “field,” but not found outside it; Swedish fält, Danish felt are borrowed from German), from PIE *pel(e)-tu-, from root *pele- (2) “flat, to spread” (see plane (n.1)).

Finnish pelto “field” is believed to have been adapted from Proto-Germanic. The English spelling with -ie- probably is the work of Anglo-French scribes (cf. brief, piece). Collective use for “all engaged in a sport” (or, in horseracing, all but the favorite) is 1742; play the field “avoid commitment” (1936) is from notion of gamblers betting on other horses than the favorite. Field glasses attested by 1836.
v.

“to go out to fight,” 16c., from field (n.) in the specific sense of “battlefield” (Old English). The meaning “to stop and return the ball” is first recorded 1823, originally in cricket; figurative sense is from 1902. Related: Fielded; fielding.
field
(fēld)

verb

To handle; receive and answer; cope with: The secretary fielded the questions rather lamely (1902+)

Related Terms

out in left field, play the field

(Heb. sadeh), a cultivated field, but unenclosed. It is applied to any cultivated ground or pasture (Gen. 29:2; 31:4; 34:7), or tillage (Gen. 37:7; 47:24). It is also applied to woodland (Ps. 132:6) or mountain top (Judg. 9:32, 36; 2 Sam. 1:21). It denotes sometimes a cultivated region as opposed to the wilderness (Gen. 33:19; 36:35). Unwalled villages or scattered houses are spoken of as “in the fields” (Deut. 28:3, 16; Lev. 25:31; Mark 6:36, 56). The “open field” is a place remote from a house (Gen. 4:8; Lev. 14:7, 53; 17:5). Cultivated land of any extent was called a field (Gen. 23:13, 17; 41:8; Lev. 27:16; Ruth 4:5; Neh. 12:29).

In addition to the idiom beginning with
field