fielding

1. 1
   noununcountable

   The act of catching, stopping, or returning a ball, especially after a player has hit or thrown it.

   Her fielding during the final innings prevented at least three runs.

   The coach praised the team's sharp fielding throughout the afternoon.

   Note

   The noun reaches beyond the game. The fielding of questions from an audience is the same act of taking what comes at you and sending it back. It is uncountable, so it has no plural. It usually takes an of-phrase naming what is fielded, or a possessive naming who does it (the team's fielding). The position a player holds belongs to the player's role.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The position or role of a player whose job is to catch, stop, and return the ball in sports such as cricket and baseball.

   Australia's fielding was the difference in a tightly contested match.

   She specializes in fielding, patrolling the outfield with remarkable speed.

   Oppositebatting

   Note

   A sports word for the defensive half of the game. In cricket and baseball, whichever side is not batting is fielding, and its catching, stopping and returning of the ball holds down the other team's score. As an uncountable noun it names a discipline a side is judged on, so it takes adjectives of quality: sharp fielding, sloppy fielding.

3. 3
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of field.

   The shortstop is fielding the ball cleanly tonight.

   The senator spent the morning fielding questions about the new policy.

   Note

   One spelling does every job the verb can do, from the ballpark to the press conference. The transitive uses need an object: fielding a ground ball, fielding a strong team, fielding questions or complaints. The intransitive sports use stands alone, as in the visitors are fielding first. Once it follows the and takes an of-phrase, it has become the noun for the act.

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