field

SayFEELD/fild/UK/fiːld/

Pluralfields

Verbfields, fielding, fielded

23 meanings of field

Practice

1
subject areanouncountable
A subject or area of work, study, or business.
Like one shelf in a big library, holding everything about a single subject.
Medicine is a demanding field that takes years to master.
He switched fields after college, moving from law to teaching.
UsageSay someone works in the field of medicine.
Similararea, discipline, domain, sphere, subject
2
farmlandnouncountable
An open area of land, often with crops or animals on it and a fence or hedge around it.
Like a big outdoor room with walls made of fences or hedges.
The cows grazed in the field all afternoon.
Farmers planted corn across three large fields this spring.
UsageSay the cows are in the field.
Similarmeadow, pasture, paddock, grassland
Note
3
sports groundnouncountable
A marked area of ground where a sport or game is played.
Like a stage, but for sports instead of plays.
The players ran onto the field as the crowd cheered.
The kids ran onto the soccer field after school.
UsagePlayers are on the field.
Similarpitch, ground
4
on locationnoun
The place where real, hands-on work happens, away from an office, classroom, or lab.
Like learning to swim in a real lake instead of reading about it in class.
The students left the classroom to study birds in the field.
Scientists collect most of their samples out in the field.
UsageSay scientists work in the field when they study things in real conditions.
Note
5
force (physics)nouncountable
A force or other effect that spreads through space, like gravity or magnetism.
Like the warmth around a fire that you feel before you touch it.
A magnet creates a field that pulls iron toward it.
The fields around power lines can affect nearby devices.
Note
6
form boxnouncountable
A space on a form or in a computer record where one piece of information is filled in or stored.
Like a blank box waiting for you to fill it in.
Type your name in the first field on the page.
She left several fields on the application blank.
UsageYou fill in a field on a form.
Similarbox, space
7
all competitorsnounmetonymicallycountable
All the people, teams or horses in a contest, or in betting, all of them except the favorites.
Like all the players in a game, taken together as one group.
A strong field lined up at the start of the race.
She came from behind to beat the whole field.
UsageWe say a strong field of runners.
Similarlineup, entry
Oppositefavorite
Note
8
visual rangenouncountable
The whole area that you can see or notice at one time.
Like how much you can see through a window at once.
A bird flew into her field of view from the left.
The doctor checked how wide his field of vision was.
UsageWe say field of vision or field of view.
Similarrange, view
9
battle groundnouncountable
The open ground where a battle is fought between armies.
Like a giant chessboard where real armies fight instead of pieces.
Thousands of soldiers fell on the field that bloody afternoon.
The general surveyed the field before ordering the charge.
Similarbattleground
Note
10
mineral areanouncountable
An area of ground that holds a useful mineral, like oil or coal.
Like a buried treasure chest, but full of oil or metal instead of gold.
My uncle works on an oil field in Texas.
New gas fields were discovered off the coast.
UsageWe say oil field or gas field.
Similardeposit
Note
11
deployverbtransitive
To put a team, troops, or candidates into action.
Like a coach sending players out to play.
The party will field three candidates in the next election.
The army fielded a new unit along the border.
Similardeploy, muster, raise, assemble
Note
12
catch ballverbtransitive
In baseball or cricket, to catch or stop the ball and throw it back, or be the team doing this.
Like grabbing a ball that rolls to you and quickly passing it on.
The shortstop will field the ball and throw it to first base.
She fielded the grounder cleanly and tagged the runner.
Similarcatch, stop, retrieve
Note
13
deep area (baseball)nouncountable
In baseball, the grassy area far from home plate where the outfielders stand.
Like the far back part of a yard, away from the house.
The ball bounced off the wall in left field.
Our fastest runner stands in center field to catch long hits.
UsageWe say left field and right field.
Note

Less common meanings

14
answerverbtransitive
To answer or deal with a question or request, often without warning.
Like catching a ball someone throws at you and tossing it back.
Executives must field tough questions from shareholders each year.
She fielded every complaint calmly during the meeting.
UsageWe say someone fielded questions.
Similarhandle, answer, address, tackle
Oppositedodge, evade
Note
15
small airportnouncountable
A place where planes take off and land, often a small one without paved runways.
Like a parking lot for planes instead of cars.
The old field outside town is just a grass strip for small planes.
Pilots landed at a remote field in the desert.
Similarairstrip
16
run a surveyverbtransitive
To carry out a study or survey out in the real world, not in a lab.
Like testing something outside in real life instead of in a lab.
The team will field a survey across ten cities next month.
Researchers fielded a questionnaire to thousands of households.
Similarconduct, run, launch
Note
17
flag backgroundnouncountable
The plain background of a flag, coat of arms or coin, behind the pictures or symbols.
Like the color of paper behind a drawing.
The flag has a single white star on a blue field.
A bright red field covered most of the banner.
Similarbackground, ground
Note
18
opportunitynouncountable
A free and good chance to act, work, or succeed at something.
Like an open road with no traffic, where you can go as fast as you want.
When the big store closed, the small shops had a clear field.
With rivals gone, she had a clear field to build her business.
UsageWe say someone has a clear field.
Similaropening, scope, opportunity, room
Note
19
noun
In math, a set of numbers you can add, subtract, multiply and divide (except by zero) while staying inside the set.
20
noun
In older TV signals, one half of a full picture frame.
21
nounobsolete
In early baseball, the team that throws and catches the ball while the other team bats.
22
noun
The area where a board game or video game is played.
23
nounarchaic
An old word for a fielder in cricket.
The manager should always choose his own Eleven; and, we have already hinted that fielding, rather than batting, is the qualification. A good field is sure to save runs, though the best batsman may not make any.
1854, James Pycroft, The Cricket Field

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of field apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From Old English feld, meaning 'field'. It goes back to an old Germanic word and an even older root meaning 'flat' or 'plain'.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

English field comes from Old English feld, meaning 'field'. en.wiktionary.org
Old English feld descends from an older Germanic word. en.wiktionary.org
The Germanic word ultimately descends from an older root meaning 'flat' or 'plain'. en.wiktionary.org