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field

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The definition of a field is a large open space, often where sports are played, or an area where there is a certain concentration of a resource.

(noun)

An example of a field is the area at the park where kids play baseball.
An example of a field is an area where there is a large amount of oil.

See field in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

a wide stretch of open land; plain
a piece of cleared land, set off or enclosed, for raising crops or pasturing livestock
a piece of land used for some particular purpose: a landing field
an area of land producing some natural resource: a gold field
any wide, unbroken expanse: a field of ice
1. a battlefield
2. a battle
1. an area of military operations
2. a military area away from the post or headquarters
1. an area where practical work is done, as by a social worker, geologist, etc., away from the central office, laboratory, or the like: usually with the: camping equipment tested in the field
2. a realm of knowledge or of special work or opportunity: the field of electronics
an area of observation, as in a microscope
the background, as on a flag or coin
1. an area where games or athletic events are held
2. the part of such an area, usually inside a closed racing track, where contests in the high jump, long jump, shot put, pole vault, etc. are held
3. ☆ in baseball, any part of the outfield: a batter who hits to all fields
4. all the entrants in a contest
5. all the entrants in a contest except the one(s) specified
Comput. any of the units of storage that are grouped to form a record ()
Heraldry the surface or part of the surface of a shield
Horse Racing those horses, in a race with more than twelve entrants, that are grouped together to function as a unit for betting purposes
Math. a set of numbers or other algebraic elements for which arithmetic operations (except for division by zero) are defined in a consistent manner to yield another element of the set
Physics a region, volume, or space where a specific, measurable force, as gravity or magnetism, exists
TV
1. the area viewed by the camera
2. the area that the scanning element covers in one vertical sweep

Origin: ME feld < OE, akin to Ger feld, Du veld < IE *pelt- < base *pele-, *pla-, flat and broad > L planus, plane, Gr palamē, flat hand

adjective

of, operating in, or held on the field or fields
growing in fields; having a field as its habitat

transitive verb

1. Baseball, Cricket to catch (a batted or thrown ball)
2. to put (a team or player) in the field for a game or competition
to position in a given location: to field an army
Informal
1. to answer (a question) extemporaneously
2. to deal with; handle: to field phone calls

intransitive verb

Baseball, Cricket to play as a fielder

Field, Cyrus West 1819-92; U.S. industrialist: promoted the first transatlantic cable
Field, Eugene 1850-95; U.S. journalist & poet

See field in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

a. A broad, level, open expanse of land.
b. A meadow: a field of buttercups.
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.
e. A wide unbroken expanse, as of ice.
a. A battleground.
b. A battle.
c. The scene or an area of military operations or maneuvers.
d. A military area away from headquarters.
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.
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. The portion of a playing field having specific dimensions on which the action of a game takes place.
c. All the contestants or participants in an event, especially all the contestants except the favorite or the winner in a contest of more than two.
d. The members of a team engaged in active play.
e. The body of riders following a pack of hounds in hunting.
a. An area of human activity or interest: several fields of endeavor.
b. A topic, subject, or area of academic interest or specialization.
c. Profession, employment, or business.
d. 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.
e. An area or region where business activities are conducted: sales representatives in the field.
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.
Physics A region of space characterized by a physical property, such as gravitational or electromagnetic force or fluid pressure, having a determinable value at every point in the region.
The usually circular area in which the image is rendered by the lens system of an optical instrument. Also called field of view.
Computer Science
a. A defined area of a storage medium, such as a set of bit locations or a set of adjacent columns on a punch card, used to record a type of information consistently.
b. An element of a database record in which one piece of information is stored.
c. An interface element in a GUI that accepts the input of text.

adjective

Growing, cultivated, or living in fields or open land.
Made, used, or carried on in the field: field operations.
Working, operating, or active in the field: field representatives of a firm.

verb field·ed, field·ing, fields

verb, transitive

Sports
a. To retrieve (a ball) and perform the required maneuver, especially in baseball.
b. To place in the field to play: field a team.
To respond to: fielded tough questions from the press.
a. To place in competition.
b. To put into action: field an army of campaign workers.
Computer Science To enter (data) into a field.