field \field\ (f[=e]ld), n. [OE. feld, fild, AS. feld; akin to
D. veld, G. feld, Sw. f[aum]lt, Dan. felt, Icel. fold field
of grass, AS. folde earth, land, ground, OS. folda.]
1. Cleared land; land suitable for tillage or pasture;
cultivated ground; the open country.
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2. A piece of land of considerable size; esp., a piece
inclosed for tillage or pasture.
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Fields which promise corn and wine. --Byron.
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3. A place where a battle is fought; also, the battle itself.
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In this glorious and well-foughten field. --Shak.
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What though the field be lost? --Milton.
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4. An open space; an extent; an expanse. Esp.:
(a) Any blank space or ground on which figures are drawn
or projected.
(b) The space covered by an optical instrument at one
view; as, wide-field binoculars.
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Without covering, save yon field of stars.
--Shak.
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Ask of yonder argent fields above. --Pope.
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5. (Her.) The whole surface of an escutcheon; also, so much
of it is shown unconcealed by the different bearings upon
it. See Illust. of {Fess}, where the field is represented
as gules (red), while the fess is argent (silver).
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6. An unresticted or favorable opportunity for action,
operation, or achievement; province; room.
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Afforded a clear field for moral experiments.
--Macaulay.
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7. (Sports) An open, usually flat, piece of land on which a
sports contest is played; a playing field; as, a football
field; a baseball field.
Syn: playing field, athletic field, playing area.
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8. Specifically: (Baseball) That part of the grounds reserved
for the players which is outside of the diamond; -- called
also {outfield}.
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9. A geographic region (land or sea) which has some notable
feature, activity or valuable resource; as, the diamond
fields of South Africa; an oil field; a gold field; an ice
field.
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10. A facility having an airstrip where airplanes can take
off and land; an airfield.
Syn: airfield, landing field, flying field, aerodrome.
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11. A collective term for all the competitors in any outdoor
contest or trial, or for all except the favorites in the
betting.
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12. A branch of knowledge or sphere of activity; especially,
a learned or professional discipline; as, she's an expert
in the field of geology; in what field did she get her
doctorate?; they are the top company in the field of
entertainment.
Syn: discipline, subject, subject area, subject field, field
of study, study, branch of knowledge.
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Note: Within the master text files of this electronic
dictionary, where a word is used in a specific sense in
some specialized field of knowledge, that field is
indicated by the tags: () preceding that sense of the
word.
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13. A location, usually outdoors, away from a studio or
office or library or laboratory, where practical work is
done or data is collected; as, anthropologists do much of
their work in the field; the paleontologist is in the
field collecting specimens. Usually used in the phrase
{in the field}.
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14. (Physics) The influence of a physical object, such as an
electrically charged body, which is capable of exerting
force on objects at a distance; also, the region of space
over which such an influence is effective; as, the
earth's gravitational field; an electrical field; a
magnetic field; a force field.
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15. (Math.) A set of elements within which operations can be
defined analagous to the operations of addition,
subtraction, multiplication, and division on the real
numbers; within such a set of elements addition and
multiplication are commutative and associative and
multiplication is distributive over addition and there
are two elements 0 and 1; a commutative division ring;
as, the set of all rational numbers is a field.
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Note: Field is often used adjectively in the sense of
belonging to, or used in, the fields; especially with
reference to the operations and equipments of an army
during a campaign away from permanent camps and
fortifications. In most cases such use of the word is
sufficiently clear; as, field battery; field
fortification; field gun; field hospital, etc. A field
geologist, naturalist, etc., is one who makes
investigations or collections out of doors. A survey
uses a field book for recording field notes, i.e.,
measurment, observations, etc., made in field work
(outdoor operations). A farmer or planter employs field
hands, and may use a field roller or a field derrick.
Field sports are hunting, fishing, athletic games, etc.
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{Coal field} (Geol.) See under {Coal}.
{Field artillery}, light ordnance mounted on wheels, for the
use of a marching army.
{Field basil} (Bot.), a plant of the Mint family ({Calamintha Acinos}); -- called also {basil thyme}.
{Field colors} (Mil.), small flags for marking out the
positions for squadrons and battalions; camp colors.
{Field cricket} (Zool.), a large European cricket ({Gryllus campestric}), remarkable for its loud notes.
{Field day}.
(a) A day in the fields.
(b) (Mil.) A day when troops are taken into the field for
instruction in evolutions. --Farrow.
(c) A day of unusual exertion or display; a gala day.
{Field driver}, in New England, an officer charged with the
driving of stray cattle to the pound.
{Field duck} (Zool.), the little bustard ({Otis tetrax}),
found in Southern Europe.
{Field glass}. (Optics)
(a) A binocular telescope of compact form; a lorgnette; a
race glass.
(b) A small achromatic telescope, from 20 to 24 inches
long, and having 3 to 6 draws.
(c) See {Field lens}.
{Field lark}. (Zool.)
(a) The skylark.
(b) The tree pipit.
{Field lens} (Optics), that one of the two lenses forming the
eyepiece of an astronomical telescope or compound
microscope which is nearer the object glass; -- called
also {field glass}.
{Field madder} (Bot.), a plant ({Sherardia arvensis}) used in
dyeing.
{Field marshal} (Mil.), the highest military rank conferred
in the British and other European armies.
{Field officer} (Mil.), an officer above the rank of captain
and below that of general.
{Field officers court} (U.S.Army), a court-martial
consisting of one field officer empowered to try all
cases, in time of war, subject to jurisdiction of garrison
and regimental courts. --Farrow.
{Field plover} (Zool.), the black-bellied plover ({Charadrius squatarola}); also sometimes applied to the Bartramian
sandpiper ({Bartramia longicauda}).
{Field spaniel} (Zool.), a small spaniel used in hunting
small game.
{Field sparrow}. (Zool.)
(a) A small American sparrow ({Spizella pusilla}).
(b) The hedge sparrow. [Eng.]
{Field staff} (Mil.), a staff formerly used by gunners to
hold a lighted match for discharging a gun.
{Field vole} (Zool.), the European meadow mouse.
{Field of ice}, a large body of floating ice; a pack.
{Field}, or {Field of view}, in a telescope or microscope,
the entire space within which objects are seen.
{Field magnet}. see under {Magnet}.
{Magnetic field}. See {Magnetic}.
{To back the field}, or {To bet on the field}. See under
{Back}, v. t. -- {To keep the field}.
(a) (Mil.) To continue a campaign.
(b) To maintain one's ground against all comers.
{To lay against the field} or {To back against the field}, to
bet on (a horse, etc.) against all comers.
{To take the field} (Mil.), to enter upon a campaign.
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