What does "field" mean?
A land area free of woodland, cities, and towns; an area of open country.
Field
/fiːld/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A land area free of woodland, cities, and towns; an area of open country.
- Grammar: field is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: area, box, discipline, domain.
- Useful contrasts: bats, bullpen, casern.
- Usage evidence: An expert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes that can be made in his field, and how to avoid them.
How to use "field"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "field" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "field" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "field" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "field" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "field" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "area" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "field", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A land area free of woodland, cities, and towns; an area of open country.
"There are several species of wild flowers growing in this field."
- 2 a particular kind of commercial enterprise wordnet
- 3 A land area free of woodland, cities, and towns; an area of open country.; The open country near or belonging to a town or city. plural-normally
"Harry shook his head, and wandered away miserable through the fields, and would not in these days even set his foot upon the soil of the park. “He was not going to intrude any farther,” he said to the rector. “You can come to church, at any rate,” his father said, “for he certainly will not be there while you are at the parsonage.” Oh yes, Harry would go to the church. “I have yet to understand that Mr. Prosper is owner of the church, and the path there from the rectory is, at any rate, open to the public;” for at Buston the church stands on one corner of the park."
- 4 a place where planes take off and land wordnet
- 5 A wide, open space that is used to grow crops or to hold farm animals, usually enclosed by a fence, hedge or other barrier.
"There were some cows grazing in a field."
Show 38 more definitions
- 6 the area that is visible (as through an optical instrument) wordnet
- 7 A region containing a particular mineral.
"an oil field; a gold field"
- 8 a branch of knowledge wordnet
- 9 An airfield, airport or air base; especially, one with unpaved runways.
- 10 all the competitors in a particular contest or sporting event wordnet
- 11 A place where competitive matches are carried out.; A place where a battle is fought; a battlefield.
"Tarry, sweet soul, for mine; then fly abreast, As in this glorious and well-foughten field We kept together in our chivalry!"
- 12 all of the horses in a particular horse race wordnet
- 13 A place where competitive matches are carried out.; An area reserved for playing a game or race with one’s physical force.
"soccer field"
- 14 (mathematics) a set of elements such that addition and multiplication are commutative and associative and multiplication is distributive over addition and there are two elements 0 and 1 wordnet
- 15 A place where competitive matches are carried out.; An area reserved for playing a game or race with one’s physical force.; The team in a match that throws the ball and tries to catch it when it is hit by the other team (the bat). obsolete
- 16 (computer science) a set of one or more adjacent characters comprising a unit of information wordnet
- 17 A place where competitive matches are carried out.; An area reserved for playing a game or race with one’s physical force.; The outfield.
- 18 a region where a battle is being (or has been) fought wordnet
- 19 A place where competitive matches are carried out.; A place where competitive matches are carried out with figures, or playing area in a board game or a computer game.
- 20 a region in which active military operations are in progress wordnet
- 21 A place where competitive matches are carried out.; A competitive situation, circumstance in which one faces conflicting moves of rivals.
"Dr. Finn understood enough of elections for Parliament, and of the nature of boroughs, to be aware that a candidate’s chance of success is very much improved by being early in the field."
- 22 somewhere (away from a studio or office or library or laboratory) where practical work is done or data is collected wordnet
- 23 A place where competitive matches are carried out.; All of the competitors in any outdoor contest or trial, or all except the favourites in the betting. metonymically
"This racehorse is the strongest in a weak field."
- 24 a piece of land cleared of trees and usually enclosed wordnet
- 25 Any of various figurative meanings, often dead metaphors.; A physical phenomenon (such as force, potential or fluid velocity) that pervades a region; a mathematical model of such a phenomenon that associates each point and time with a scalar, vector or tensor quantity.
"magnetic field; gravitational field; scalar field"
- 26 a piece of land prepared for playing a game wordnet
- 27 Any of various figurative meanings, often dead metaphors.; Any of certain structures serving cognition.; The extent of a given perception.
"field of view"
- 28 a geographic region (land or sea) under which something valuable is found wordnet
- 29 Any of various figurative meanings, often dead metaphors.; Any of certain structures serving cognition.; A realm of practical, direct or natural operation, contrasted with an office, classroom, or laboratory.
"The design needs to be field-tested before we commit to manufacture."
- 30 extensive tract of level open land wordnet
- 31 Any of various figurative meanings, often dead metaphors.; Any of certain structures serving cognition.; A domain of study, knowledge or practice.
"As towns continue to grow, replanting vegetation has become a form of urban utopia and green roofs are spreading fast. Last year 1m square metres of plant-covered roofing was built in France, as much as in the US, and 10 times more than in Germany, the pioneer in this field."
- 32 the space around a radiating body within which its electromagnetic oscillations can exert force on another similar body not in contact with it wordnet
- 33 Any of various figurative meanings, often dead metaphors.; Any of certain structures serving cognition.; An unrestricted or favourable opportunity for action, operation, or achievement.
"Penn was without doubt a man of eminent virtues. He had a strong sense of religious duty and a fervent desire to promote the happiness of mankind. On one or two points of high importance, he had notions more correct than were, in his day, common even among men of enlarged minds: and as the proprietor and legislator of a province which, being almost uninhabited when it came into his possession, afforded a clear field for moral experiments, he had the rare good fortune of being able to carry his theories into practice without any compromise, and yet without any shock to existing institutions."
- 34 a particular environment or walk of life wordnet
- 35 Any of various figurative meanings, often dead metaphors.; Any of certain structures serving cognition.; A non-zero commutative ring in which all non-zero elements are invertible; a simple commutative ring.
"The set of rational numbers, #92;mathbb#123;Q#125;, is the prototypical field."
- 36 Any of various figurative meanings, often dead metaphors.; A physical or virtual location for the input of information in the form of symbols.; The background of the shield.
"The field of the arms (shield), which is vert (green), represents the open country of Great Britain."
- 37 Any of various figurative meanings, often dead metaphors.; A physical or virtual location for the input of information in the form of symbols.; The background of the flag.
- 38 Any of various figurative meanings, often dead metaphors.; A physical or virtual location for the input of information in the form of symbols.; The part of a coin left unoccupied by the main device.
- 39 Any of various figurative meanings, often dead metaphors.; A physical or virtual location for the input of information in the form of symbols.; A section of a form which is supposed to be filled with data.
"The form has fields for each element of the customer's home address and shipping address."
- 40 Any of various figurative meanings, often dead metaphors.; A physical or virtual location for the input of information in the form of symbols.; A component of a database in which a single unit of information is stored.
- 41 Any of various figurative meanings, often dead metaphors.; A physical or virtual location for the input of information in the form of symbols.; An area of memory or storage reserved for a particular value, subject to virtual access controls.
"Read-only fields allow you to establish a point of data whose value is not known at compile time, but that should never change once established."
- 42 Any of various figurative meanings, often dead metaphors.; Part (usually one half) of a frame in an interlaced signal.
- 43 Archaic form of fielder. alt-of, archaic
"The manager should always choose his own Eleven; and, we have already hinted that fielding, rather than batting, is the qualification. A good field is sure to save runs, though the best batsman may not make any."
Verb
- 1 To intercept or catch (a ball) and play it. transitive
- 2 select (a team or individual player) for a game wordnet
- 3 To be the team catching and throwing the ball, as opposed to hitting it. intransitive
"The blue team are fielding first, while the reds are batting."
- 4 answer adequately or successfully wordnet
- 5 To place (a team, its players, etc.) in a game. transitive
"The away team fielded two new players and the second-choice goalkeeper."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 play as a fielder wordnet
- 7 To answer; to address. transitive
"She will field questions immediately after her presentation."
- 8 catch or pick up (balls) in baseball or cricket wordnet
- 9 To execute research (in the field). transitive
"He fielded the marketing survey about the upcoming product."
- 10 To deploy in the field. transitive
"to field a new land-mine detector"
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
"Her book includes an incisive discussion of misogyny on the New Right. [Laura K.] Field notes how “gynocracy” and “the longhouse” have become overwrought MAGA epithets for an unbearably feminized and pluralist society."
- 2 A community near Field Hill within Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada, named after Cyrus West Field.
- 3 A community in West Nipissing, Northeastern Ontario, Canada.
- 4 An unincorporated community in Bell County, Kentucky, United States.
- 5 A neighbourhood of Nokomis, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 A locality in south-east South Australia.
- 7 A hamlet in Leigh parish, East Staffordshire district, Staffordshire, England (OS grid ref SK0233).
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"An expert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes that can be made in his field, and how to avoid them."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "field"?
Common synonyms include: area, box, discipline, domain, academic discipline, academic specialty.
How do you use "field" in a sentence?
An expert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes that can be made in his field, and how to avoid them.
How do you pronounce "field"?
Pronounced /fiːld/.
Etymology
From Middle English feeld, feld, from Old English feld, from Proto-West Germanic *felþu, from Proto-Germanic *felþuz (“field”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“field, plain”) or *pleth₂- (“flat”) (with schwebeablaut). Cognate with Scots feld, feild (“field”), North Frisian fial, fälj (“field”), Saterland Frisian Fäild (“field”), West Frisian fjild (“field”), Dutch veld (“field”), German, Luxembourgish Feld (“field”), Vilamovian fald (“field”), Danish, Norwegian felt (“field”), Swedish fält (“field”). Related also to Old English folde (“earth, land, territory”), Old English folm (“palm of the hand”). More at fold.