field

noun

• 1an area of open land, especially one planted with crops or pasture, typically bounded by hedges or fences:a wheat field a field of corn
• a piece of land used for a particular purpose, especially an area marked out for a game or sport:a football field
• a large area of land or water completely covered in a particular substance, especially snow or ice: an ice field
• an area rich in a natural product, typically oil or gas: a gas field
• a place where a subject of scientific study or of artistic representation can be observed in its natural location or context.
• (usually the field) an area which is or is to become the scene of a battle or campaign: a field of battle
• archaic a battle:many a bloody field was to be fought

• 2a particular branch of study or sphere of activity or interest:we talked to professionals in various fields
• Computing a part of a record, representing an item of data.
• Linguistics & Psychology a general area of meaning within which individual words make particular distinctions.

• 3a space or range within which objects are visible from a particular viewpoint or through a piece of apparatus. See also field of vision.

• 4 (usually the field) all the participants in a contest or sport:he destroyed the rest of the field with a devastating injection of speed
• Cricket fielders collectively, or the manner in which they are spread over the pitch:he sees the ball early and strokes it through the gap in the field
• a fielder.

• 5 Physics the region in which a particular condition prevails, especially one in which a force or influence is effective regardless of the presence or absence of a material medium.
• the force exerted or potentially exerted in a field: the variation in the strength of the field

• 6 Mathematics a system subject to two binary operations analogous to those for the multiplication and addition of real numbers, and having similar commutative and distributive laws.

• 7 Heraldry the surface of an escutcheon or of one of its divisions.
• an area on a flag with a single background colour:fifty white stars on a blue field

verb

• 1 [no object] chiefly Cricket & Baseball attempt to catch or stop the ball and return it after it has been hit by the batsman or batter, thereby preventing runs being scored or base runners advancing.
• [with object] catch or stop (the ball) and return it: his swinging bunt was fielded by the Chicago catcher

• 2 [with object] send out (a team or individual) to play in a game:Leeds fielded a team of youngsters
• (of a political party) put up (a candidate) to stand in an election:the Ecology party fielded 109 candidates
• deploy (an army):Russia was committed to fielding 800,000 men

• 3 [with object] deal with (a difficult question, telephone call, etc.).

adjective

• carried out or working in the natural environment, rather than in a laboratory or office:field observations and interviews
• (of military equipment) light and mobile for use on campaign:field artillery
• used in names of animals or plants found in the open country, rather than among buildings or as cultivated varieties, e.g.: field mouse.
• denoting a game played outdoors on a marked field.