In this glorious and well-foughten field.
Shak.
What though the field be lost?
Milton.
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.
Without covering, save yon field of stars.
Shak.
Ask of yonder argent fields above.
Pope.
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).
6. An unresticted or favorable opportunity for action, operation, or
achievement; province; room.
Afforded a clear field for moral experiments.
Macaulay.
7. A collective term for all the competitors in any outdoor contest or
trial, or for all except the favorites in the betting.
8. (Baseball) That part of the grounds reserved for the players which
is outside of the diamond; -- called also outfield.
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.
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
(Zoˆl.), 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 (Zoˆl.), 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. (Zoˆl.) (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 mouse (Zoˆl.), a mouse
inhabiting fields, as the campagnol and the deer mouse. See Campagnol,
and Deer mouse. -- Field officer (Mil.), an officer above the rank of
captain and below that of general. -- Field officer's 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 (Zoˆl.), the black-bellied
plover (Charadrius squatarola); also sometimes applied to the
Bartramian sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda). -- Field spaniel (Zoˆl.),
a small spaniel used in hunting small game. -- Field sparrow. (Zoˆl.)
(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 (Zoˆl.), 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, or back, against the field, to bet on (a horse,
etc.) against all comers. -- To take the field (Mil.), to enter upon a
campaign.
Field (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fielded; p. pr. & vb. n. Fielding.] 1.
To take the field. [Obs.] Spenser.
2. (Ball Playing) To stand out in the field, ready to catch, stop, or
throw the ball.
Field, v. t. (Ball Playing) To catch, stop, throw, etc. (the ball), as
a fielder.