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| n. 1. a. A broad, level, open expanse of land. b. A meadow: cows grazing in a field. c. A cultivated expanse of land, especially one devoted to a particular crop: a field of corn. d. A portion of land or a geologic formation containing a specified natural resource: a copper field. e. A wide unbroken expanse, as of ice. 2. a. A battleground. b. Archaic A battle. c. The scene or an area of military operations or maneuvers: officers in the field. 3. a. A background area, as on a flag, painting, or coin: a blue insignia on a field of red. b. Heraldry The background of a shield or one of the divisions of the background. 4. a. An area or setting of practical activity or application outside an office, school, factory, or laboratory: biologists working in the field; a product tested in the field. b. An area or region where business activities are conducted: sales representatives in the field. 5. Sports a. An area in which an athletic event takes place, especially the area inside or near to a running track, where field events are held. b. In baseball, the positions on defense or the ability to play defense: She excels in the field. c. In baseball, one of the three sections of the outfield: He can hit to any field. 6. A range, area, or subject of human activity, interest, or knowledge: several fields of endeavor. 7. a. The contestants or participants in a competition or athletic event, especially those other than the favorite or winner. b. The body of riders following a pack of hounds in hunting. c. The people running in an election for a political office: The field has been reduced to three candidates. 8. Mathematics A set of elements having two operations, designated addition and multiplication, satisfying the conditions that multiplication is distributive over addition, that the set is a group under addition, and that the elements with the exception of the additive identity form a group under multiplication. 9. Physics A physical quantity in a region of space, such as gravitational force or fluid pressure, having a distinct value (scalar, vector, or tensor) at each point. 10. The usually circular area in which the image is rendered by the lens system of an optical instrument; field of view. 11. Computers a. An element of a database record in which one piece of information is stored. b. A space, as on an online form or request for information, that accepts the input of text: an address field. adj. 1. Growing, cultivated, or living in fields or open land. 2. Made, used, or carried on in the field: field operations. 3. Working, operating, or active in the field: field representatives of a firm. v. field·ed, field·ing, fields v. tr. 1. a. Sports To catch or pick up (a ball) and often make a throw to another player, especially in baseball. b. To respond to or deal with: fielded tough questions from the press. 2. a. Sports To place in the playing area: field a team. b. To nominate in an election: field a candidate. c. To put into action; deploy: field an army of campaign workers. 3. To enter (data) into a field. v. intr. Idiom: Sports To play as a fielder: How well can he field? take the field To begin or resume activity, as in a sport or military operations. [Middle English feld, from Old English; see pelə-2 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] Synonyms: field, bailiwick, domain, province, realm, sphere, territory, turf These nouns denote an area of activity, thought, study, or interest: the field of comparative literature; considers marketing to be her bailiwick; the domain of physics; the province of politics; the realm of constitutional law; a task within his assistant's sphere; the territory of historical research; bureaucrats interested only in protecting their turf. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
