field

Pluralfields

Formsfields, fielding, fielded

1. 1
   subject areanouncountable

   A particular area of study, knowledge, work, or business activity.

   Genetics is a rapidly advancing field within modern biology.

   Researchers from several fields collaborated on the climate report.

   UsageUse in: work in the field of genetics, an expert in her field.

   Similararea, discipline, domain, sphere, subject

2. 2
   farmlandnouncountable

   An area of open land, especially one used for crops or animals and usually bounded by a fence or hedge; open country.

   A herd of sheep wandered across the field toward the gate.

   The farmer rotated his crops between two fields each year.

   UsageUsually use in for people or animals: cows graze in a field, workers are in the fields. Players play on a sports field.

   Similarmeadow, pasture, paddock, grassland

   Note

   Poetry leans on the plural for abundance, as in Canto III of Lord Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1816), with its hills and "fields which promise corn and wine". Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • Lord Byron wrote Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. gutenberg.org
   • The first two cantos were first published in 1812; Canto III, containing the quoted passage, was first published in 1816. Specify Canto III to retain 1816. rpo.library.utoronto.ca
   • The poem contains the exact words “fields which promise corn and wine” alongside a description of hills. en.wikisource.org
3. 3
   sports groundnouncountable

   A marked area of ground set aside for playing a game or running a race using physical effort.

   The athletes lined up on the field before the race began.

   Groundskeepers prepared the field hours before the match.

   UsagePlayers run onto or play on the field; compounds name the sport: soccer field, football field.

   Similarpitch, ground

4. 4
   on locationnoun

   The setting of practical, direct, or natural work, as distinct from an office, classroom, or laboratory.

   Anthropologists spend years in the field living among the communities they study.

   The engineers tested the prototype in the field rather than in the lab.

   UsageUsually in the field; not to be confused with in the field of history, which names a subject.

   Note

   The sense behind fieldwork, field-tested, and time in the field: real conditions, as opposed to the lab or the armchair.

5. 5
   force (physics)nouncountable

   A physical phenomenon, such as force, potential, or fluid velocity, that pervades a region of space, or a mathematical model assigning a quantity to each point in it.

   Physicists mapped the magnetic field around the conductor.

   Gravitational fields bend the path of light from distant stars.

   Note

   Physics treats a field as something spread through space rather than located at a point. Magnetic, gravitational, and scalar fields each assign a quantity to every point and moment. In modern theories, fields carry energy and momentum and mediate interactions between particles. Mathematicians use the same word for something unrelated, the algebraic structure, so a vector field and a finite field belong to different subjects. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

   • A physical field is distributed through space rather than located at a single point. damtp.cam.ac.uk
   • Magnetic, gravitational, and scalar fields assign quantities to points in space and time. openstax.org
   • Fields carry energy and momentum in modern field theories. damtp.cam.ac.uk
   • Fields mediate interactions between particles. home.cern
   • An algebraic field is a different kind of mathematical object from a physical or vector field; finite fields are algebraic fields. mathworld.wolfram.com
   • Vector fields concern quantities assigned to points, a different subject from finite fields. mathworld.wolfram.com
6. 6
   form boxnouncountable

   A space on a form, or a part of a database record or data structure, that holds one particular piece of information.

   Please complete every required field before submitting the form.

   The address fields must match the details on your card.

   UsageOn forms you fill in or complete a field; required fields must not be left blank.

   Similarbox, space

7. 7
   all competitorsnounmetonymicallycountable

   The whole group of competitors in a contest, or everyone except the favorites in betting.

   The field for this year's marathon includes runners from over thirty countries.

   Rather than back the favorite at short odds, she put her money on the field.

   UsageCommon adjectives: a strong field, a weak field; a winner beats the field.

   Similarlineup, entry

   Oppositefavorite

   Note

   The competitors taken together, named after the ground they compete on. In betting the word can exclude the favorites. In that case the field means all the remaining runners, taken as a group. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • The collective sense for competitors derives metonymically from the ground where they compete. en.wiktionary.org
8. 8
   visual rangenouncountable

   The full extent of what can be perceived by a given sense, such as sight.

   After the injury, the left side of his visual field went dark.

   A flicker of movement at the edge of your visual field can catch your eye.

   UsageFixed phrases: field of vision, field of view, visual field.

   Similarrange, view

9. 9
   battle groundnouncountable

   The ground or place where a battle is fought; a battlefield.

   The cavalry swept across the field, scattering the enemy ranks.

   The general refused to leave the field until the last of his soldiers had retreated.

   Similarbattleground

   Note

   Here a battle is pictured as the ground it is fought on, and so the word comes to stand for the battle itself. In Shakespeare's Henry V the dying Duke of York recalls a "well-foughten field", and Milton's Paradise Lost (1667) asks "What though the field be lost?" To lose the field is to lose the fight, not merely the ground. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

   • Henry V is by William Shakespeare. en.wikipedia.org
   • The dying Duke of York recalls a "well-foughten field"; Exeter reports his words in Act IV, scene VI. folger.edu
   • John Milton wrote Paradise Lost. christs.cam.ac.uk
   • Paradise Lost was first published in 1667. wwwe.lib.cam.ac.uk
   • Paradise Lost contains the exact question "What though the field be lost?", spoken by Satan in Book I. luminarium.org
10. 10
    mineral areanouncountable

    A region containing a concentration of a particular mineral resource, such as oil, gas, or coal.

    Geologists surveyed the field to estimate its oil reserves.

    Several gas fields in the region have been abandoned.

    UsageNamed by the resource, which comes first: oil field, gas field, gold field.

    Similardeposit

    Note

    Geology's word for ground where one resource is concentrated, named by what it yields: an oil field, a gas field. The word usually implies a concentration rich enough to extract, though some known fields are too small or remote to work. In petroleum geology a single field may group several reservoirs under one geological structure. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • In geology, a field is a region containing a particular mineral resource. en.wiktionary.org
    • A field need not be commercially exploitable; the British Geological Survey describes the Connemara oil field as non-commercial. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    • A petroleum field may include several reservoirs associated with the same geological structure. eia.gov
11. 11
    deployverbtransitive

    To deploy or put (troops, a team, or candidates) into active operation or competition.

    The nation can field a modern, well-equipped army at short notice.

    The new party hopes to field candidates in every district in the next election.

    Similardeploy, muster, raise, assemble

    Note

    Military usage lets the object be equipment as readily as troops. An army fields soldiers, but it can also field a new land-mine detector, putting it into operational service. By extension, a party can field candidates and a club can field a squad for a match.

12. 12
    catch ballverbtransitive

    In baseball, cricket and similar games, to catch or stop the ball and send it back, or to be the side doing this while the other side bats.

    Good infielders field sharp grounders without hesitation.

    The outfielder fielded the ball before it reached the fence.

    Similarcatch, stop, retrieve

    Note

    A sports verb that takes the ball as its object: a player fields a grounder, or fields the ball cleanly. In cricket and baseball it means gathering the ball on defense and sending it where it limits the batting side. The player who does it is a fielder, and the idea of handling what comes at you carries over to fielding questions.

13. 13
    deep area (baseball)nouncountable

    In baseball, the outer grassy area beyond the infield, patrolled by the outfielders.

    The outfielder sprinted back toward the fence in right field, but the ball dropped just beyond his reach.

    With a powerful right-handed hitter at the plate, the outfielders moved over toward left field.

    UsageDivided into left, center and right field; the idiom out of left field means unexpected.

    Note

    Baseball shorthand for the outfield, the grass beyond the infield that the outfielders defend. It is divided into left, center, and right, and the positions take their names from those parts, so a center fielder patrols center field. Where the playing area means the whole ground, this sense means only its outer reaches. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • The outfield is the grassy area beyond the infield. underarmour.com
    • Outfielders defend the outfield. baseballsoftballuk.com
    • The outfield has left, center, and right sections, with correspondingly named fielding positions; a center fielder patrols center field. baseballsoftballuk.com
    • The outfield comprises the outer part of the playing area. mlb.com

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