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单词 field
释义

fieldn.1

Brit. /fiːld/, U.S. /fild/
Forms: early Old English -felt (in compounds), early Old English felth, Old English (rare)–early Middle English (south-western) feold, Old English (rare)–early Middle English 1500s 1700s feald, Old English–1600s feld, late Old English felld, late Old English–early Middle English fæld, early Middle English ueld, early Middle English uelde (in compounds), early Middle English væld (south-west midlands), early Middle English veld, Middle English felt (south-western and west midlands), Middle English ffeld, Middle English (in a late copy) 1500s–1600s ffylde, Middle English (chiefly northern) 1500s–1600s fild, Middle English (chiefly northern) 1500s–1600s filde, Middle English–1600s feeld, Middle English–1600s (1700s–1800s regional) feild, Middle English– field, late Middle English falde (south-western), late Middle English ffeeld, late Middle English ffeelde, late Middle English ffelde, late Middle English ffielde, late Middle English vylde (southern), late Middle English–1500s feelde, late Middle English–1500s feled, late Middle English–1600s feilde, late Middle English–1600s felde, late Middle English–1600s fielde, late Middle English–1600s fyld, late Middle English–1600s fylde, 1500s feyeld, 1500s fyelde, 1500s fyilde, 1500s fylld, 1500s–1600s fyeld, 1600s feyld, 1600s feylde, 1600s ffeild, 1600s ffield, 1600s fieilde, 1600s filld (North American), 1600s fillde, 1800s– fiel' (regional); English regional 1800s fylde (Lancashire), 1800s veel (Somerset), 1800s– fild; U.S. regional 1900s– filled; Scottish pre-1700 feald, pre-1700 feilde, pre-1700 feld, pre-1700 felde, pre-1700 feyld, pre-1700 feylde, pre-1700 fielde, pre-1700 fyeld, pre-1700 fylde, pre-1700 1700s– feild, pre-1700 1700s– field.
Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian feld , field open country, field of battle, agricultural land (Frisian fjild ), Old Dutch felt open country, agricultural land (Middle Dutch velt , also ‘field of battle, open space in a town, area of space in a book, square on a chessboard, surface of a shield on which a charge is displayed’; Dutch veld , also ‘area in which something operates (e.g. a magnetic field)’), Old Saxon feld open country, agricultural land (Middle Low German velt open country, meadow, agricultural land, land, place, field of battle, surface of a shield on which a charge is displayed), Old High German feld open country, plain (Middle High German velt , also ‘field of battle, square on a chessboard, surface of a shield on which a charge is displayed, side of a die’, German Feld ); not found outside West Germanic (Old Swedish, Swedish fält and Danish felt are borrowings from a West Germanic language), although the probable borrowing Finnish pelto field points to the existence of the word at a very early stage in Germanic (as do similar forms in various other languages of the Baltic region); an ablaut variant of the same Germanic base is probably shown by fold n.1 and its cognates (among which there are North Germanic as well as West Germanic forms), although this is not accepted by all scholars; probably ultimately either < the same Indo-European base as ancient Greek πλατύς broad (see plat adj. and adv.), or < a suffixed form of the same Indo-European base as Old Church Slavonic polie plain, field and probably also classical Latin plānus (see plain adj.2), palm n.2 and its Germanic cognates (Old English folm , folme , etc.: see palm n.2), and floor n.1; however, the assignment of various forms to either of these two bases is rather uncertain (and it is possible that fold n.1 derives from the same base as ancient Greek πλατύς and that field n.1 derives from the same base as Old Church Slavonic polie, and hence that the two Germanic words may not be related).In Old English originally a strong masculine u -stem, but it shows (already in early texts) attraction to the more common a -stem declension (compare A. Campbell Old Eng. Gram. (1959) §§611, 613); a rare weak by-form is also occasionally attested in later Old English. The original sense of the word appears to have been ‘open country’ (attested in all the earlier stages of the West Germanic languages), i.e. land unencumbered by obstruction, as contrasted with forest, hill, or marsh. The sense development is first to ‘pastureland’ and subsequently to ‘arable land’; the latter development has been linked with changes in farming practices characterized by the introduction of the open-field system of agriculture probably (at least in southern England) by the end of the 10th cent. (see further M. Gelling & A. Cole Landscape of Place-names (2000) 269–78). It is uncertain to what extent the later semantic development may have been influenced by association with Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French, French champ (see camp n.2) or with classical Latin campus (see camp n.2) or ager (see acre n.); some influence from classical Latin campus and Middle French, French champ is likely in the early development of branch II. With sense 4 compare classical Latin ager in similar use. With sense 1a(b) compare similar use of the plural of champ denoting the countryside in Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French, French. The word is extremely common in place names, several dating back to very early times, e.g. Haethfelth, Hertfordshire, and also West Riding, Yorkshire (8th cent. in a manuscript of Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica (731); both now Hatfield), Anliccitfelda, Staffordshire, and Eostrefeld, West Riding, Yorkshire (11th cent. in a manuscript of Stephen of Ripon's Life of Bishop Wilfrid (c710–30; now respectively Lichfield and Austerfield), (in) Bradanfelda, Berkshire (12th cent. in a copy of a charter of c690; now Bradfield), etc. Also attested early in surnames, as Robert de Felde (1185), Hugo de la Felde (1188), John del Feld (1190), James atte Felde (1296), William othe felde (1327), etc.
I. Ground; a piece of ground.
* General senses.
1.
a. Open country, esp. as opposed to woodland; a stretch of open land; a plain.
(a) In singular. Now rare or merged in sense 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > level land > [noun] > open (level) land
fieldeOE
champaignc1420
champian1570
overture1579
campagnaa1664
plain1755
the world > the earth > land > landscape > level land > [noun] > level place or plain
fieldeOE
wong971
field landOE
woldc1220
flat1296
plainc1325
field placec1384
champaign?a1400
floor?a1400
smeethc1440
plain-land1487
weald1544
champian1589
camp1605
level1623
campaign1628
planure1632
campania1663
esplanade1681
flatland1735
vlakte1785
steppe1837
eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 893 Þa gegaderade Ælfred cyning his fierd & for þæt he gewicode betwuh þæm twam hergum þær þær he niehst rymet hæfde for wudufæstenne ond for wæterfæstenne, swa þæt he mehte ægþerne geræcan gif hie ænigne feld secan wolden.
OE Ælfric 1st Let. to Wulfstan (Corpus Cambr. 190) in B. Fehr Die Hirtenbriefe Ælfrics (1914) 132 Sume preostas fægnieð, þonne men forðfarað and gegaderiað hy to þam lice, swaswa grædige hremmas, þærþær hy hold geseoð, on holte oþþe on felda.
lOE Agreement between Abbot Ceolred & Wulfred (Sawyer 1440) in S. E. Kelly Charters of Peterborough Abbey (2009) 216 We him þis sellað mid felda & mid wuda & mid fenne sua þer to belimpeð.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 14568 Wude & feld. & dale & dun.
c1180 Notes to Hexateuch (Claud. B.iv) in A. N. Doane & W. P. Stoneman Purloined Lett. (2011) 18 Josephus cwæð, þæt [i.e. the place where Adam and Eve were created] wæs in Syrie on ane felde abute Damasco, of rædra yrþe, þæt is mæden yrðe.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 3608 (MED) Bath in feild and in forest.
a1525 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1923) I. 304 Ebrone in quhilk God create Adam in þe feld Damycene.
a1530 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Royal) i. l. 405 Bath felde and fyrth oure-flet that flude.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Gen. xxvii. A Esau wente his waye in to the felde, to hunt for venyson.
1673 J. Janeway Invisibles, Realities 41 In the evening..he usually walked into the field, if the weather would permit.
1704 I. Mather Voice of God i. 64 A Young Man being in the field was suddenly slain by this Tempestuous wind.
1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 163 They had pitch'd their Tents thus in the open Field, and in the Forest.
1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe III. ii. 39 Folk-free and Sacless art thou in town and from town, in the forest as in the field.
1896 A. C. Hillier tr. R. Muther Hist. Mod. Painting II. 294 Some one..wished to place in the field or the forest, which he had painted after nature, a figure.
1904 M. Roberts Rachel Marr 141 It seemed to Rachel that they were children of the wood and of the field, and cousins to the happy beasts and birds.
1922 W. H. Hamilton John Masefield 20 Nothing in English has so captured the very breath of the open field and the open sea as some of his loving, minute descriptions of them both.
(b) In plural.Some later examples may equally be regarded as illustrating extended use of sense 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > level land > [noun] > the open
fieldOE
openc1485
champian1579
campaigna1667
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xi. 109 Witodlice sum gemyndleas wif ferde worigende geond wudas, and feldas.
OE tr. Alexander's Let. to Aristotle (1995) §9. 228 Þæra mænego in ðissum dunum & denum & on wudum, & on feldum eardigeað & in stanholum hie selfe digliað.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 11885 (MED) Sir Ion..& mani oþer kniȝt To wodes & to feldes hulde hom day & niȝt.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. i. 1093 Somme bestes beþ tame and some beþ wylde, and somme lyueþ in towne and some in fieldes.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 370 (MED) Þen þe flod ryses, Overwaltez uche a wod and þe wyde feldez.
c1425 (?a1400) Arthur (Longleat 55) l. 472 Þe feltes full of men yscleyn.
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 4136 Wast fildis,..as playn as a playn table.
c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) lxxxvii. 276 He was in the feldes a hawkynge.
1561 T. Norton & T. Sackville Gorboduc v. ii Children..play in the streetes and fieldes.
a1593 C. Marlowe Passionate Sheepheard in Englands Helicon (1600) sig. Aav Vallies, groues, hills and fieldes.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iv. xxxiii. 300 These wilde kine have so multiplied..that they troupe together in the fields and woods by thousands.
1687 P. Ayres Lyric Poems 25 Rubbish swells the Plains, and strews the Fields.
1701 W. Kennett Cowell's Interpreter (new ed.) sig. L The Commoners, or Tenants, and Inhabitants, who had the right of Common, or Commoning in open Fields or Woods.
1768 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. (ed. 8) Herbarize, to go abroad in the fields in quest of different or new herbs or plants.
1818 J. Hogg Wool-gatherer in Brownie of Bodsbeck II. 127 If we sit down and trust, ye'll hae to sleep in the fields.
1825 Worcester Mag. & Hist. Jrnl. Nov. 50 The snowy wastes of the frozen north, and the desert fields of the sultry equator, are not barriers to his enterprising disposition.
1856 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters III. 231 The fields!.. All spring and summer is in them.
1898 Biogr. Rec. De Kalb County 488/2 The various phases of transformation, which have converted the wild fields of prairie into..fertility and productiveness.
1955 J. R. R. Tolkien Return of King v. i. 27 Since Vorondil father of Mardil hunted the wild kine of Araw in the far fields of Rhûn.
1992 M. Roberts Daughters of House (1993) 41 You went into the fields and woods for what you needed, according to season. Kindling perhaps, or primroses, or mushrooms.
b. In the genitive, with reference to (esp. uncultivated) plants which grow in open ground, animals which graze upon it, etc. (in later use chiefly in flower of the field, beast of the field). Now somewhat archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > [noun] > enclosed land or field > with reference to what grows on it
fieldeOE
cornfield1608
eOE Metres of Boethius (partly from transcript of damaged MS) (2009) vi. 10 Þonne weaxeð hraðe feldes blostman, fægen þæt hi moton.
OE Lambeth Psalter xxxvi. 2 Quemadmodum olera herbarum cito decident : swaswa wyrta felda uel blæda wyrtena hwætlice hi feallaþ uel hreosað.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 9225 Itt wass huniȝ off þe feld.
c1350 Psalter (BL Add. 17376) in K. D. Bülbring Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter (1891) viii. 7 (MED) Alle shepe and nete and also þe bestes of þe felde.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. vi. 28 Beholde ȝe the lilies of the feelde, how thei wexen.
a1400 Psalter (Vesp.) cii. 14 in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1896) II. 234 (MED) Man, his daies ere als hai, Als blome ofe felde sal he welyen awai.
c1450 Speculum Christiani (Harl. 6580) (1933) 182 Swete brede wythouten soure dowgh es necessarys, wyth letusez of the felde [L. lactucis agrestibus].
1531 G. Joye tr. Prophete Isaye xl. sig. K.iij That euery man is but grasse: and all their gloriouse beutye is lyke a flower of the felde.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Gen. iii. A The serpent was sotyller then all the beastes of the felde.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vii. 337 Each Plant of the field, which e're it was in the Earth God made. View more context for this quotation
a1668 W. Waller Divine Medit. (1839) 86 It was just with God..to turn his majesty to grass, to have his dwelling, and intercommoning with the beasts of the field.
1745 J. Grigg Young Chevalier 17 The Grass of the Field, which itself rises for but a Summer.
1781 R. B. Sheridan Trip to Scarborough iii. 56 Methinks the seat of our family looks like Noah's ark, as if the chief part on't were designed for the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the field.
1845 Nonconformist 5 312 The stupidest of the browsers of the field.
1887 Amer. Naturalist 21 605 What is there about the Milkweed which gives it an advantage over the other plants of the field?
1921 Jrnl. Rom. Stud. 11 251 She [sc. Artemis] was the patroness rather of wild beasts of the field..than of agricultural or domesticated animals.
1958 S. Beckett Endgame 42 She was bonny once, like a flower of the field.
2008 Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 15 July (Metro section) 13 Compassion distinguishes us from the beasts of the field.
†c. The surface of open ground, as a place upon which (esp. uncultivated) plants grow. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > ground > [noun] > surface of
bosomOE
fielda1400
brim1572
surface1596
day1620
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 6080 Letus wild, þe quilk þat groues on þe feild.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 28 The feld is the fundament of tho flouris.
c1450 Med. Recipes (BL Add. 33996) in F. Heinrich Mittelengl. Medizinbuch (1896) 230 (MED) Tak wolues festes, þat þou fendest on þe feld, & breke hem atwo, & ley hyt to þe wounde.
?1527 L. Andrewe tr. Noble Lyfe Bestes sig. L iij/2 This birde..layth his eggis vpon the grounde & bredeth them out the while that ye corne groweth on the felde.
2.
a.
(a) A piece of open land which is used, or has been designated to be used, for a particular purpose (originally and still predominantly agriculture, as pasture or crops), and which is now usually marked off or bounded by hedges, fences, boundary stones, or the like. In early use also as mass noun: †land of this kind (obsolete).In plural often used generally in the sense ‘land under cultivation, farmland’; cf. sense 1a(b).The prevalence of Enclosure Acts in Britain from the mid 18th cent. tended to reduce the amount of open common land and to increase the number of enclosed fields: cf. enclosure n. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > [noun] > enclosed land or field
tye832
hopea1000
fieldOE
field landOE
glebe1387
parka1393
closec1440
outset1506
intake1523
rout1598
fielden1610
town park1701
paddock1808
savannah1882
OE Blickling Homilies 199 Þas welegan mannes..unarimed mengeo on hryþrum & on manigfealdum ceapum geweox & gewridode, toþon þæt he wæs geond þæs muntes feld mid þy feo oferbræded & beþeaht.
OE Bounds (Sawyer 1329) in D. Hooke Worcs. Anglo-Saxon Charter-bounds (1990) 290 & xxx æcra on þæm twæm feldan dallandes wiðutan.
OE Rule St. Benet (Tiber.) (1888) xli. 73 Si labores agrorum non habent monachi : geswinc felda gif hi nabbað munecas.
OE Ælfric's Colloquy (1991) 23 Exeo diluculo minando boues ad campum, et iungo eos ad aratrum : ic ga ut on dægræd þywende oxon to felda, & iugie hig to syl.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1112 Ðis wæs swiðe god gear & swiðe wistfull on wudan & on feldan.
lOE St. Margaret (Corpus Cambr.) (1994) 154 Ða gewearð hit on anum dæge þæt hire fostermoder hi het gan mid oþrum fæmnum on feld, sceap to hawienne.
a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) l. 269 Tis der [sc. the fox]..Goð o felde to a furȝ & falleð ðarinne.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 7799 He sey þat feldes were vol of corne echon.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1963) Ruth ii. 2 I schal go in to þe feeld & gederyn eris.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 275 Feeldis..which thei hem silf tilien.
c1480 (a1400) St. Machor l. 862 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 25 [Him] tyd one a tym to gang Apone þe feild his corne ymange.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1960) xii. ix. 50 Hys fader eyrit and sew ane peyss of feld, That he in hyregang held tobe his beild.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball iv. lvi. 516 That with the pale..flowers groweth in drie medowes, and in the feeldes also.
1612 Descr. Virginia in J. Smith Narr. Early Virginia (1907) 101 Their houses are in the midst of their fields or gardens; which are smal plots of ground.
1653 R. Austen Treat. Fruit-trees 55 [Flanders cherries] beare well in Orchards, and feilds at large.
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry ii. 106 Peas and Beans are what belong to Garden Tillage as well as that of the Field.
1762 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. i. xi. 88 There is scarcely a field, in which we will not observe weeds of the two first kinds.
1808 J. Stewart Acct. Jamaica ix. 117 Pastures shaded with lofty trees..and extensive fields of sugar-canes, chequer and adorn the face of the country.
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge iv. 253 Fields..through which the New River took its winding course.
1893 Earl of Dunmore Pamirs II. 293 Ploughed fields, one of which was ‘lumped up’ for melon planting.
1917 M. Gyte Diary 18 Jan. (1999) 114 There is no working on the land as all the fields are covered with snow.
1937 Amer. Home Apr. 141/1 (advt.) More than 50,000 acres of rich, fertile fields..are used for planting these stock seeds.
1940 Manch. Guardian Weekly 8 Nov. 325 One German pilot even turned his guns against land girls working in the fields.
1979 J. Gratus Jo'burgers 45 He did not see the fields of ripened mealies nor the ponderous cattle.
2004 Independent 15 June (Review section) 3/4 As long as we have sprayed pesticides, as the Sumerians did 4,700 years ago when they sprinkled sulphur on their fields.
(b) With preceding modifying word, indicating the type of crop being grown, as cornfield, hayfield, rice field, turnip field, etc., or the purpose to which the field is (to be) put, as bleaching field, camping field, etc.For established compounds see the first element.
ΚΠ
c1330 (?a1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) p. 422 (MED) In a brom feld þer wer hidde Þre hundred Sarrazins.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xv. cliv. 814 Thanatos, Tenette,..haþ whete feeldes and noble glebe.
c1475 tr. A. Chartier Quadrilogue (Univ. Coll. Oxf.) (1974) 183 We chasse the enmyes as men dooues out of a peese feeld.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xlvii Standynge water in his corne feldes, at the landes endes or sydes.
1613 G. Markham Eng. Husbandman: 1st Pt. Former Pt. vii. sig. Gv In the beginning of Nouember, you shall beginne to Winter-ridge your fallow, or tilth-field.
1753 Scots Mag. Sept. 468/2 Indicted for stealing..some stockings from a bleachfield.
1788 Connecticut Gaz. 25 July 2/2 A stranger with a sympathizing heart, would drop a tear..to see..large mowing fields the grass destroyed, cut to pieces, and washed against the walls and fences.
1843 Penny Mag. Nov. 462/1 The cloth is stretched out and hung up to dry. This used to be done in the tenter-fields.
1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise: Pt. III 354 Goodly store Of honey that the bees had grumbled o'er In clover fields of Kent.
1944 Nature 15 Apr. 449/2 The biotope of the Brussels sprout field lends itself particularly well to population studies.
1992 Org. Gardening July–Aug. 44/2 Capture a bunch of minute pirate bugs..from the alfalfa fields they like to inhabit and release them in your corn patch.
b. An airfield.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > airfield or airport > [noun] > airfield
satellite airfield1904
air park1908
field1910
airfield1919
flying field1927
satellite aerodrome1940
1910 Rudder Dec. 301/2 Le Blanc's superiority was due in part to having the best machine at the field.
1930 Techn. News Bull., Bureau of Standards (U.S.) June 61/1 The angle..of the high-frequency landing beam has been adjusted so that an airplane may be guided along the proper gliding path to the field.
1958 ‘N. Shute’ Rainbow & Rose i. 8 It's not a licensed field.
1998 B. Kingsolver Poisonwood Bible (1999) i. 32 The bush plane that dropped down into the field to leave us here went right away again.
3. Open land as opposed to land with buildings upon it; the countryside as opposed to a town or village. Now rare (chiefly archaic and literary in later use).Frequently in phrases with the implication that the two taken together constitute everywhere, as in field and town, etc.In quot. c1275 used of a belt of open land just outside a town.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > country as opposed to town > [noun]
landc900
fieldeOE
uplanda1122
countryc1300
regiona1382
monkerya1790
countryside1815
eOE Laws of Ine (Corpus Cambr. 173) vi. §4. 92 Gif ðonne on gafolgeldan huse oððe on gebures gefeohte, cxx scillinga to wite geselle & þam gebure vi scillinga; & þeah hit sie on middum felda gefohten, cxx [read xxx] scillinga to wite sie agifen.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 14912 Wið-uten þere burȝe an ane uelde brade wes isomned þat folc sone.
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 1712 (MED) Miri it is in feld and toun.
c1400 Simonie (Peterhouse) (1991) l. 146 God..mot noȝt among hem come in felde ne in toun.
c1435 (c1350) Gamelyn (Royal 18 C.ii) l. 672 He moste nedes walke in felde þat may not walke in towne.
a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) l. 3866 (MED) This tame Tygre..Out at the gates..Into the felde wildly out ran.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Mark xv. f. lxixv They compelled..Simon of cerene (which cam oute of the felde)..to beare hys crosse.
?1556 N. Smyth tr. Herodian Hist. viii. f. lxxxviiiv All thynge, whiche was in the Towne, or fielde, [was] caryed awaye, or burnte.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream ii. i. 238 In the towne, the fielde, You doe me mischiefe. View more context for this quotation
1682 Tryal of Witches 49 As they were going into the Field to load, one of the Carts wrenched the Window of Rose Cullenders House.
1805 J. Taylor et al. Orig. Poems for Infant Minds II. 11 Alike in the field and the town, Men and beasts to their labours apply.
1862 G. Borrow Wild Wales III. 160 I don't think your honour is a Durham man either of town or field.
1913 D. H. Lawrence Sons & Lovers xii. 400 The bells began to ring in the church, sounding loud across the town and the field.
a1924 T. W. H. Crosland Last Poems (1928) 51 I saw..Rape in the field and murder in the town.
4. The territory belonging to or associated with a city or town. Now rare (historical in later use).In historical use chiefly in the formula the town and field of ——, in descriptions and paraphrases of earlier documents.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town or city > [noun] > with adjoining territory > adjoining territory
territorya1398
freedom1423
liberty?1435
terroira1460
territor1466
fielda1533
lowy1576
nomarchy1656
territorium1720
a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1539) 140 b In the felde of Elinos, vnder a marble, is the pouders of Sysifo Seteno.
1562 A. Farewell Will 10 Jan. in Farwell Family (1929) I. 19 James Farwell all my free land & land in the town & field of Neytane.
1572 J. Jones Bathes of Bathes Ayde ii. f. 11v The hot wellse, in the fielde of Padua.
1741 T. Wotton Eng. Baronetage IV. 83 All rents, duties, and service customs..which they held of his fee and had in the town and field of Chetwode.
1980 Albion 12 8 A manor called Rousland in the town and field of Straunge, Neese and Kynton.
5. An area rich in a significant or valuable natural production, esp. (in early use) coal.coal-, diamond-, gold-, oilfield, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > tract > [noun] > by contents
field1672
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > formations by contents > [noun] > containing minerals
field1672
oil pool1863
oil sand1875
trap1920
source rock1931
trend1939
1672 G. Sinclair Hydrostaticks 290 The wind in which this Ill Air is most noxious, and hurtful, blows from that Point, where the Field of Coal lyes, that's not yet wrought.
1733 Ballycastle Collieries 16 The Field of Coal, recoverable by those Methods, cou'd employ only a few Hands.
1795 J. Sinclair Statist. Acct. Scotl. VII. 13 This very extensive field of coal, reaching from Saltcoats to Garnock, is cut into three parts.
1859 K. Cornwallis Panorama New World I. 55 Bowls filled with the precious metal, and..labelled with the name of the field from which it was taken.
1931 N.E. Coad Such is Life 48 The two brothers Hitching had caught the gold-fever, and had forsaken their ordinary avocations..to try their luck on the newly discovered field.
2008 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 12 Nov. b2/1 (advt.) Release hard-to-reach oil and extend the productivity of mature fields.
** Military and derived senses.
6.
a. The ground on which a battle is fought; a battlefield. Frequently more fully as field of battle, field of fight, etc.A fair field (and no favour): see fair adj. 14b.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > armed encounter > battlefield > [noun]
fieldeOE
place?c1225
fletc1275
champ of battlec1300
champany?a1400
o laundon?a1400
palaestrac1425
battle-stead1487
fighting-stead1487
open fielda1500
spear-field1508
joining-place1513
camp1525
foughten field1569
battleground1588
Aceldama1607
champian?1611
field of honour1611
champaign1614
standing ground1662
fighting-field1676
battlefield1715
society > society and the community > dissent > contention or strife > [noun] > place where contest is fought out
fieldeOE
listc1386
cockpita1568
amphitheatre1710
arena1814
scrambling-place1878
scrambling-ground1884
eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xxxiii. 227 Ac hwam beoð ðonne ðas ðyllecan geliccran ðonne ðæm folce þe on clænum felda weorðlicne sige gefeohtað, & eft innan hira burgum fæste belocene ðurh hiera giemelieste hie lætað gebindan?
OE Battle of Maldon (1942) 241 Wearð her on felda folc totwæmed, scyldburh tobrocen.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 9752 And ich wullen bidden drihten..þat [ich] on þissen felde [c1300 Otho wolde] mote beon ifroured.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iv. l. 2091 (MED) Thei setten day, thei chosen field, The knihtes coevered under Schield Togedre come at time set.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 6432 (MED) Wit israel was left þe feild.
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 450 Þan foundis Philip to þe fyȝt & þe fild entres.
a1475 J. Fortescue Governance of Eng. (Laud) (1885) 130 The Erlis of Lecestir and Glocestre..toke hym and his sonne prisoners in the ffelde.
c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Law of Armys (2005) 53 Sik destructioun of blude was neuer before that tyme sene jn a felde.
1592 R. Dallington tr. F. Colonna Hypnerotomachia f. 22 Instruments of warre. As well ayerie and marine, as for the field.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) i. iii. 85 They haue vs'd Their dearest action in the tented field . View more context for this quotation
1648 G. Daniel Eclog. v. 200 Rebell mouths..did then confesse Him master of ye feild.
1708 J. Addison Present State War 25 We..cast about for a sufficient number of Troops to face them [sc. the enemy] in the Field of Battle.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth III. 102 The victor is obliged to fight several of those battles before it remains undisputed master of the field.
1812 J. W. Croker Talavera 55 To the very field of fight..The conflagration spread.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 658 These three chiefs..fled together from the field of Sedgemoor.
1863 A. W. Kinglake Invasion of Crimea I. xi. 174 The English Ambassador remained upon the field of the conflict.
1925 Amer. Mercury Oct. 185/2 Only regulars and non-regulars who have skilled training and hardening are reliable on the field of battle.
1942 Jrnl. Mod. Hist. 14 366 The heavy guns, once located on the field of battle, might properly be called position-artillery.
2001 D. J. Eicher Longest Night 226 Beauregard was left in command of the field because Johnston made the foolish decision to ride forward and lead attacks himself.
b. figurative. Also in various fixed phrases: see Phrases 1, Phrases 3, etc.
ΚΠ
OE Wærferð tr. Gregory Dialogues (Hatton) (1900) ii. iii. 110 Soþlice se stranga Godes fyhtling [sc. St Paul] nolde beon gehæfd binnon clysingum þære burge Damasci, ac sohte þone feld þæs gecampes.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 131 A ueld of uiyȝt huerinne him behoueþ eure to..wyȝte mid dyeulen.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection ii. sig. Tiiiiv Well exercised in the felde of vertues & holy workes.
1586 W. Fulke Apol. Declam. Frarine 27 in Treat. against Def. of Censure Bks. W. Charke & M. Hanmer They conquered the field against the Lutheranes, by pretence of scripture onelie, as Rotman before vanquished the Papists.
1610 H. Hexham tr. J. Polyander Refut. Epist. 92 Liuing in that miserable age, wherein superstition was Mistris of the field.
c1686 in Roxburghe Ballads (1886) VI. 125 He conquer'd the field: Then they both were united.
1724 J. Swift Let. to People of Ireland 16 He is so far Master of the Field..that no London Printer dare publish any Paper written in Favour of Ireland.
1778 N. Greene Let. Jan. in G. Washington Papers (2003) Revolutionary War Ser. XIII. 426 It is almost an established maxim in European Politicks in war that the longest purse will remain masters of the field.
1848 H. Rogers Ess. I. vi. 322 To drive the sophists from the field.
1886 B. L. Farjeon Three Times Tried 1 I bade her good-day, and left Captain Bellwood in possession of the field.
1912 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 17 818 I do not draw the conclusion: therefore, German social theory has conquered the field and English social theory has been destroyed.
1958 New Eng. Q. 31 556 Wells..could not match James's firmness of style and passionate seriousness and left James the master of the field.
1998 Gay Times Aug. 39/1 John Major's toothache had absented him from the field of battle when Mrs Thatcher was fighting for her political life in 1990.
c. As the object of verbs conveying the idea of gaining or losing possession, as †have, win, lose, etc.In these constructions merging with sense 7b.
ΚΠ
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 4536 (MED) Þe king arþure þe veld adde atte laste.
1480 W. Caxton Chron. Eng. sig. t2 The Erle of kent had the feld & gate hym moche wurshipp & thank.
a1500 Warkworth's Chron. (1839) 6 The Walschmen loste the felde.
a1500 (?a1400) Sir Torrent of Portyngale (1887) l. 213–5 Of the fynd the maystry to haue, Of hym to wyn the fyld..Of hyme he wane the fyld þat day.
?1533 W. Tyndale Expos. Mathew (v) f. xvv In euerye batayle some of them that wynne the felde, be slayne.
1586 W. Warner Albions Eng. iv. xxi. 89 The Danes..got the feelde.
1642 J. B. Speciall Newes Army at Warwicke sig. A2v By the help of the Lord Brookes purple-Coats, they won the field.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 105 What though the field be lost? View more context for this quotation
1705 R. Blackmore Eliza viii. 229 The Spaniard now, and now the Britons yield, And in their turn they win, and lose the Field.
1787 H. J. Pye Art of War ii, in Poems II. 260 To adverse fate must victors sometimes yield, Turenne has fail'd, and Condé lost the field.
1833 United Service Mag. Dec. 519 He measured their strength with the heavy masses brought up by Tilly and Wallenstein, and gained the field.
1866 G. T. Stevens 3 Years in 6th Corps xiv. 153 On the field where Hooker's men had won and lost the field, the dead and dying were scattered thickly among the broken cornstalks.
1917 G. R. Noyes tr. A. Mickiewicz Pan Tadeusz (1920) ix. 246 Now the gentry had won the field; they pursued, slashed, and stabbed the dispersed yagers.
1948 F. Cleaves Rock of Chickamauga viii. 136 More daring tactics might have won the field for the Confederacy.
2005 N. Webber Evol. Norman Identity iii. 50 Against the Franks, even when they are relatively successful, they always lose the field.
d. In wider sense: the area or territory which is, or is to become, the scene of military operations or a military campaign.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > armed encounter > battlefield > [noun] > level country as scene of battle
plainc1385
field1567
champian1579
champaign1600
champian?1611
1567 G. Fenton tr. M. Bandello Certaine Tragicall Disc. f. 38 A folyshe Romaine woman hearing of the death of her son in a battaile..seing his safe retorne from the field contrary to her expectacion.
1676 W. Temple Let. to Prince of Orange in Wks. (1731) II. 410 I did not believe Your Highness would do any thing in those kind of Affairs till Your Return from the Field.
1769 W. Draper in ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) I. ii. 20 A sincere..attachment to his king and country..first impelled him to the field.
1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations II. v. i. 291 His society..is at no sort of expence, either to prepare him for the field, or to maintain him while he is in it. View more context for this quotation
1835 I. Taylor Spiritual Despotism iii. 85 Their [sc. the Greek people's] eye was directed..to the senate or the field.
1904 Scribner's Mag. Jan. 32/2 There did not exist in the country any nucleus of trained officers to fit them [sc. soldiers] for the field.
2001 R. J. Jarymowycz Tank Tactics xiv. 290 The original 1917 Bolshevik who had learned his trade in the czar's army or the field.
e. Chess. Originally: †the playing area of a chessboard (obsolete). In later use: that part of a chessboard to which a specified piece may move; the immediate vicinity of a specified piece (esp. the king). In later use chiefly in king's field.
ΚΠ
a1525 Bk. Chess 2073 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1923) I In this sport quhar victor suld be had Quhen to the king chek in the feild is maid.]
1614 A. Saul Famous Game Chesse-play ii. sig. B2 Place the white Queene next her King in a white house, which is the fourth house on that side of the field.
1674 C. Cotton Compl. Gamester v. 60 The Bishop is tyed to one colour of the field out of which he cannot pass, but the Knight passeth through all the houses of the field.
1784 P. Thicknesse Speaking Figure 18 The Bishop walks always in the same colour of the field which he is placed in at first.
1803 P. Pratt Stud. Chess II. 136 The office of the knight is, to exclude the adverse king from the squares which are out of the bishop's field.
1898 Brit. Chess Mag. May 221 The Knights..guard exactly the same squares of the King's field in both mates.
1961 G. Abrahams Technique in Chess i. iv. 100 A bishop exploits the weakness of a knight:..1 P–Kt5, Kt×P 2 B×P (controlling the knight's field).
1964 Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 23 Apr. 23/4 He brought off a beautiful pure mate..that is each square in the Kings field was attacked only once.
2002 Boston Globe (Nexis) 1 Jan. e6 Ivanchuk offered a pawn and Anand decided to take it, opening up his king's field.
7.
†a. A body of troops disposed in readiness for battle; (also) order of battle, disposition of troops in the field. Obsolete. to pitch (also set) a field: to dispose one's troops for fighting, to choose one's battleground; to make ready for a battle; corporal of the field: see corporal n.2 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > formation > [noun] > battle array
arraya1375
ordinancec1385
fielda1393
front1487
stight1489
order of battle?1548
battle array1552
battle1577
battle-rayc1600
battalia1613
war1667
line of battle1695
ORBAT1975
society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > [verb (transitive)] > draw up (troops) > in battle array
setc1275
host1297
ordainc1300
devisec1325
battle1330
arraya1375
stuffc1390
addressa1393
embattle1393
fit?a1400
stedilla1400
fewterc1440
to pitch (also set) a fielda1500
order1509
pitcha1513
deraign1528
marshal1543
re-embattle1590
size1802
form1816
society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > [noun]
field?1548
disposition1776
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. l. 1838 (MED) He goth and hath the feld assailed, And slowh and tok al that he fond.
?1435 in C. L. Kingsford Chrons. London (1905) 84 (MED) Assemblyng off the peple and gederyng a felde in the kyngis lande.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) x. 377 The twa feildys togiddyr relyt than..Schyr Ihon Sewart.
a1500 (a1450) Generides (Trin. Cambr.) l. 4806 (MED) Whanne the ost was come before ye town, he sett his felde.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI f. xcviv That my saied lorde of Winchester, intended to gather any feld or assemble people, in troublyng of the kynges land, and against the kinges peace.
?1548 Order Prince in Battayll muste Obserue sig. Avij Let him study to breake hys [sc. the enemy's] felde.
?a1562 G. Cavendish Life Wolsey (1959) 180 Who pitched a feld Royall ayenst theme.
1627 in P. H. Brown Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1900) 2nd Ser. II. 51 To appoint a lieutennent colonell, serjant major, corporall of the said feild.
1772 R. Warner tr. Plautus Twin Brothers i. iii, in B. Thornton et al. tr. Plautus Comedies III. 17 We mean to pitch a field with you to-day.
1896 ‘O. Rhoscomyl’ Battlement & Tower xii. 117 We would have pitched a field in our very streets to oust him.
b. A battle. Now rare (chiefly archaic in later use). †to make (also give) a field: to make a stand for battle, to give battle (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > armed encounter > [noun] > battle or a battle
i-winc888
fightc893
wic897
wal-slaught?a900
fight-lacc1000
orrestlOE
battle1297
journeyc1330
warc1330
acounteringa1400
fieldc1425
engagement1665
affair1708
c1425 (?a1400) Arthur (Longleat 55) l. 480 The falde was hys & Arthourez.
?1435 in C. L. Kingsford Chrons. London (1905) 86 (MED) The kyng and his trewe subgectes shulde..be compelled to haue made a ffelde to haue withstoude hem.
c1503 R. Arnold Chron. sig. Avi A felde..bytwene the kynge and ye duke of yorke.
a1525 G. Myll Spectakle of Luf in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1923) I. 294 Modred..gadderit sic nomber of folkis that he gaif a feild till his vnkle.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Macc. x. 50 A mightie sore felde..continuynge till the Sonne wente downe.
1575 J. Rolland Treat. Court Venus ii. f. 232 Diuers greit kingis in feild he did vincus.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice ii. i. 26 This Symitare..wone three fields of Sultan Solyman.
c1600 Wriothesley's Chron. Eng. (1875) I. 2 A feild that they made againste the Kinge.
1650 M. Carter Most True Relation Exped. Kent, Essex, & Colchester 144 The King summoned a generall Councell of War, and desired the opinion of his Officers, whether he should give a Field to the enemy or not.
c1650 J. Spalding Memorialls Trubles Scotl. & Eng. (1851) II. 201 This feild wes foughten vpone Sonday,..vpone a fair heth or mvre.
1703 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion II. vii. 221 [He] sent a Trumpet to the Marquis, with a Letter; offering a pitch'd field at a place of his own choosing.
1821 J. F. Cooper Spy II. xvii. 259 These militia seldom fail of making a bloody field.
a1829 B. St. Leger Froissart & his Times (1832) II. 387 Every man may consider it was a well-fought field, when there were so many slain and taken on both parts.
1843 W. H. Prescott Hist. Conquest Mexico I. ii. vii. 348 Many a bloody field was to be fought.
1901 M. E. Henry-Ruffin John Gildart 43 Many a field was fought And lost since last he stood in those now thin And shrunken ranks.
1910 Times 5 Nov. 34/1 There are many professional and business men here to-day..who have seen many a hard-fought field in the Kaffir wars.
a1973 J. R. R. Tolkien Silmarillion (1977) 303 Before the City of Gondor a great field was fought.
*** Hunting and sporting senses.
8. Frequently with the. Open country regarded as a place over which hunting, hawking, riding to hounds, etc., takes place; (hence by metonymy) the world or sphere of hunting. Cf. hunting-field n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > hunting area > [noun]
fieldOE
forest1297
seta1425
chasea1440
hunting-fieldc1680
hunting-ground1721
flying county1856
hunt1857
moor1860
the Shires1860
driving moor1873
beat1875
killing ground1877
flying country1883
killing field1915
OE Laws of Cnut (Nero) ii. lxxx. 366 And ic wylle, þæt ælc man si his huntnoðes wyrðe on wuda & on felda on his agenan.
1575 G. Turberville Bk. Faulconrie 82 There be some men which delight more to haue Hawkes for the field than for the riuer.
1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 135 When he went to hawke or hunt, or to other delights of the field.
1720 D. Manley Power of Love iv. 249 He lov'd Sports, as Hawking, Hunting, Shooting, and all the Diversions of the Field.
1729 W. Law Serious Call xii. 190 The next attempt after happiness, carry'd him into the field..nothing was so happy as hunting.
1801 J. Strutt Glig-gamena Angel-ðeod i. i. 6 King John was particularly attached to the sports of the field.
1838 J. Mayer Sportsman's Direct. (ed. 6) i. 2 The stag intended for the field is kept upon dry food, hay, beans and corn.
1882 A. C. Dayton Last Days Knickerbocker Life N.Y. xv. 256 The Spirit of the Times, a journal which was for years the acknowledged organ of the sports of turf and field.
1908 Bystander 16 Sept. 613/1 Apostrophising..some ignorant or thoughtless offender against the etiquette of the field.
1959 Times 10 Oct. 9/4 Members of the field, old and young, will be making their beginning of season resolutions—to take fences where you meet them, [etc.].
1999 Sport at Home & Abroad 44 (advt.) Reversible hunter coat... Practical for the field yet silky-smart in town.
9.
a. Originally Horse Racing. All those taking part in a particular race except for one particular individual (esp. in against the field, with reference to the practice of betting on one competitor against the remainder). Later also: all of those taking part in a race.See also to back the field at back v. 7, the class of the field at class n. 7c.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > player or sportsperson > [noun] > those taking part in outdoor sport
field1729
sportswoman1754
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > [noun] > racer > all except favourite
field1729
1729 J. Cheny Hist. List Horse-matches 1728 61 Miss Stephenson [sc. a horse] (back'd before starting at two to one against the Field).
1741 S. Richardson Pamela III. xxxiii. 315 An hundred Guineas to one against the Field.
1834 Times 11 June 6/1 Had Plenipotentiary been out of this stake, a good field might have been expected from so full an entry.
1885 Truth 28 May 853/2 The Great Northern Handicap..brought out a better field than usual.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses 533 A dark horse riderless, bolts like a phantom past the winningpost... The field follows, a bunch of bucking mounts.
1986 Auckland Metro Feb. 14/2 Only the New York, Chicago, Boston and London marathons were still getting good fields.
2001 Navy News Sept. 50/2 Coming round the second bend in fifth place, he carved through the field, but his lunge for the line was a fraction too late.
b. Hunting. Those who take part in a hunt.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > hunter > [noun] > group or band of hunters
blast1486
fadea1522
stalec1540
hunting-fieldc1680
chase1811
field1818
harriers1877
1818 Sporting Mag. Oct. 40/2 Some of the field..continued their pursuit [of the hare], by means of a boat.
1841 J. T. J. Hewlett Parish Clerk II. 15 The hounds and huntsman, with the field at their heels.
1890 Sat. Rev. 1 Feb. 135/1 Fields of hunting and riding men are very large.
1930 R. Clapham in C. Frederick et al. Foxhunting xxviii. 275 Should hounds distance their field and run a fox to ground, the music of a few staunch markers lets the huntsman know in which direction to go.
2002 N.Y. Times 3 Feb. ix. 11/3 Like fox hunting, beagling involves hounds following a scent, but the field follows on foot, not horseback.
c. All (or all except one individual) of those taking part in any contest or competition; all those being considered in a particular assessment or comparison.
ΚΠ
1860 T. P. Thompson Audi Alteram Partem (1861) III. cxxxiii. 101 To speak up for ‘Victor Emmanuel against the field’.
1862 Farmer's Mag. June 543/1 ‘Tipton’ beat a large field for the yearling bull prize.
1887 Burlington (Iowa) Hawk-eye 29 May 8/2 The committee are..left with a greatly narrowed field from which to select a freight train brake.
1926 A. S. L. Farquharson in J. C. Wilson Statement & Inference I. p. xxvi On the 10th April 1874 he was elected Fellow of Oriel, out of a strong field.
1950 ‘J. Tey’ To love & be Wise xvii. 216 ‘No bets on the field [of suspects]?’ ‘N-o. I think not. A saver on Weekley, perhaps.’
2001 Washington Post 24 Oct. (Home ed.) d1/1 Washington-Baltimore is almost certain to make the first cut Friday when the U.S. Olympic Committee narrows the field of eight U.S. cities seeking the 2012 Games.
10.
a. An enclosed or marked-out area of (usually grass-covered) ground, for playing a game, as cricket, baseball, football, etc., or for athletic events; = playing field n. at playing n. Compounds 2. (The usual term in North America.) Cf. pitch n.2 18.Frequently with preceding specifying word, as cricket, football field, etc.; for more established compounds see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > place for sports or games > [noun]
ring?a1400
rink1489
game place1542
playing field1583
rink-room1594
stadium1603
cirque1644
xystus1664
amphitheatre1710
field1730
grandstand1754
chunk-yard1773
sports ground1862
park1867
sports field1877
pitch1895
close1898
sports centre1907
padang1909
sports stadium1911
bowl1913
field house1922
sportsdrome1951
sports complex1957
astrodome1964
dome1965
sportsplex1974
1730 Wat Tyler & Jack Straw ii. i. 17 When in milder Play We struck the well-stitch'd Leather o'er the Field In artful Cricket, how the Maids would sigh!
1787 Microcosm 2 July 381 The poet will be equally circumstanced in the field.
1836 E. Jesse Angler's Rambles 296 When her lover spooned a ball up into the air, which was of course caught, he generally walked off to a distant part of the field.
1869 C. Cook Descr. N.Y. Central Park 13 There was no place within the city limits in which it was pleasant to walk, or ride, or drive, or stroll;..no field for base-ball or cricket; [etc.].
1911 S. A. Burstall Story Manch. High School for Girls 170 The School yet lacks its own field, but the improvement of the playground..has made this need less evident.
1972 Kingston (Ont.) Whig-Standard 15 Mar. 1/7 A hardball field with lighting suitable for minor baseball teams will be built in Bayridge subdivision in Collins Bay.
1991 H. Holt Cruellest Month iv. 40 Not many people were actually watching the cricket, just a scattering of enthusiasts around the edge of the field.
b. Chiefly in various ball games: the area within which play takes place. Frequently more fully as field of play.Sometimes subdivided into infield and outfield; see infield n. 3a, infield n. 4a, outfield n. 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > cricket ground > [noun]
ground1718
cricket ground1745
cricket field1760
field1816
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > baseball ground > [noun] > ground where fielders stand
field1848
short field1856
left field1857
right field1857
infield1867
outfield1868
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > rugby football > [noun] > parts of pitch
touch1845
goalpost1857
goal line1860
touch-in-goal1863
field of play1871
twenty-five1877
dead-ball line1892
in-goal1897
try line1898
1816 W. Lambert Instr. & Rules Cricket 14 If it should be found necessary to change the position of the players, by placing them further in the Field, or nearer the Wicket.
1848 By-laws & Rules Knickerbocker Base Ball Club 10 The Captains..shall designate the position each player shall occupy on the field.
1871 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports (ed. 9) iii. i. ii. 626/2 The first player who touches it [sc. the ball] down, takes it up and..bounds it outside the line of touch, i.e., in the field of play.
1880 Crimson (Harvard Univ.) 29 Oct. 33/1 Within a few minutes from the beginning of play, Smith kicked a goal from the field.
1900 A. E. T. Watson Young Sportsman 284 A place kick which..would have hit the posts produced upward and rebounded into the field of play.
1938 Times 18 Jan. 6/7 One of them was behind his own goal-line and therefore off the field of play.
1986 Football Monthly June 34/1 The early stages were played almost entirely in the middle of the field, neither goalkeeper being seriously troubled.
2004 W. St. John Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer 92 The Tech defenders overpursue, and an alley opens up diagonally across the field.
c. With the. By metonymy: participation or competition in a sport, esp. as a professional. Frequently in off the field, on the field; cf. off-field adj. at off- prefix 2a, on-the-field adj. at on- prefix 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > [noun] > participation in
sportingc1475
playing1561
sporting of nature1666
field1870
1870 N.Y. Daily Tribune 4 Aug. 8/1 They have not only shown themselves to be expert players, but gentlemen both on and off the field.
1907 World To-day Jan. 87/1 These meetings at the dinner table on the night before the games were an important factor in changing the attitude of the men toward each other on the field.
1958 Life Sept. 100/2 It even affects the veteran..when he is representing the Yankees away from the field.
1989 Baseball Digest Sept. 56/1 In late May manager Anderson had to get away from the field for a couple of weeks to recuperate from physical exhaustion.
2007 P. Crerand Never turn other Cheek v. 93 We were pushing Liverpool for the league and doing well in both cup competitions, yet off the field there were problems.
d. Contrasted with track. The branch of athletics which takes place on the athletics field, as distinct from races run on the track. Cf. track and field at track n. 6e.Recorded earliest in field athletics n. at Compounds 5. Cf. also field athlete n., field event n.
ΚΠ
1879 Baldwin's Monthly (N.Y.) May 2/1 The introduction of field athletics at the colleges.
1888 N.Y. Times 14 Oct. 6/1 Splendid work on the track and in the field.
1902 Scroll Apr. 394 We have won a glorious victory over Princeton in field and track, beating her by a score of 77 to 40 points.
1952 Times 19 July 5/6 The inability of their own men and women to win a single event on track or field.
2005 O. H. Jobson Expanding Boundaries of Self xvii. 88 In my age group I was first in field and track and the wrestling and boxing champion.
11. Cricket and Baseball.
a. The side which is fielding; the fielders collectively. Also: all of the players currently on the field of play.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > cricketer > [noun] > side > side which is out or in
field1744
out1824
in-side1837
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > baseball player > [noun] > team
ball team1440
field1868
1744 Norwich Mercury 15 Sept. And spread the field at distance wait, To break the striker's force.
1777 Hampshire Chron. 28 July The superior skill of Small and Nyren in managing the field gave the victory to Hambledon.
1850 ‘Bat’ Cricketer's Man. (rev. ed.) 51 The disposition of the field depends entirely upon circumstances.
1859 All Year Round 23 July 305 Our field worked like tigers.
1868 W. Everett Changing Base (1869) xii. 142 He often failed to get his bases, if the field were active against him.
1899 Outing July 432/2 Robertson, splendidly backed up by his field, gave no bases on balls.
1912 E. W. Hornung Fathers of Men xxii. 263 He took himself in hand, set his field and opened the bowling himself.
1997 Independent (Nexis) 28 Dec. s1 Lara..placed his field and marshalled his bowlers expertly.
b. (a) A fielder. Now rare. (b) With preceding modifying word, in the names of particular positions that a fielder may occupy.centre field, deep field, infield, left field, long field, outfield, right field, short field: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > characteristics of team ball games > [noun] > types of player
field1816
fielder1824
defender1851
scrimmager1877
attacker1884
tackler1891
shooter1901
passer1905
right wing1908
ball hawk1917
screener1923
striker1963
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > cricketer > [noun] > fielder
seeker-out1744
fieldsman1772
fieldman1773
field1816
fielder1824
scout1824
fag1825
watch1836
leather-hunter1944
1816 W. Lambert Instr. & Rules Cricket 44 The middle wicket man, off side, will then stand wider from the bowler..and will play between the Long Field and the Point.
1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. i. 32 He was accounted..an active field.
1859 All Year Round 23 July 305 Southey..a good bowler and ‘field’.
1864 Baily's Monthly Mag. Sept. 297 We had only two men on the one side, no cover field anywhere near the public-house, and no long-field on near the sheepfold.
1870 N.Y. Herald 20 Oct. 7/4 Higham played second base and Swandell played right field.
1904 Caian Michaelmas 82 A dogged, hard-working but unlucky bowler and keen field.
1963 C. L. R. James Beyond Boundary iv. 60 Cyril Fraser, genuine leg-spinner, sound bat and a brilliant field anywhere, would be welcome in most English counties today.
2009 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 14 June (Sports section) 3/1 Castillo muffed a two-out pop fly to short right field.
II. An area of operation or observation.
12.
a. An area or sphere of action, enquiry, or interest; a (wider or narrower) range of opportunities, or of objects, for activity or consideration; a theme, a subject. Frequently with of.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > [noun] > business claiming attention > an occupation or affair > affairs > sphere of activity
fieldOE
limitationc1405
hemisphere?1504
ambitudea1525
world1580
orb1598
spherea1616
ambit1649
scene1737
orblet1841
front1917
parish1940
ballpark1963
shtick1965
society > occupation and work > duties > [noun] > sphere of work, business, or activity
field1340
vineyardc1380
orb1598
spherea1616
province1616
work field1684
purview1688
scope1830
coverage1930
shtick1965
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > branch of knowledge > [noun] > area of study
field1340
spherea1616
scope1830
OE tr. Theodulf of Orleans Capitula (Corpus Cambr.) xxi. 325 Mon on þam feldum þara haligra gewryta [L. per sanctarum scripturarum campos] swiðe eaðe þa wæpnu metan mæg, mid þam mon þa uncysta ofercuman mæg ond gode weorc fryðian [corrected to fyrðrian].
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 240 Huanne oure lhord wolde by uonded of þe dyeule: he yede in-to desert. uor þe desert of religion: is ueld of uondinge.
c1430 N. Love Mirror Blessed Life (Brasenose e.9) (1908) 161 That first it byhoueth they proue hem selfe by exercise of vertues in the felde of worchynge, that is to seie that thei knowe hem self besily.
1529 T. Paynell in tr. Assaute & Conquest Heuen Ep. Ded. sig. A.iii For as vice is distroyer of all thinges, so vertue in this felde, as in al other causes is chiefe gouernour and maistres.
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Luke xv. f. cxxxiii The Jewes neglecteth all the premisses dooyng nothyng but digge and beare burdens in the fielde of the lawe.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) i. v. sig. D6v A very good Orator might haue a fayre field to vse eloquence in, if [etc.].
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §228 As for the increase of Vertue generally..it is a large Field, and to be handled by it self.
1661 W. Johnson Novelty Represt 432 Leave not you many books of Scripture out of the Canon, and use you not the large feild of Scripture to puzzle the weak?
1695 J. Dryden tr. C. A. Du Fresnoy De Arte Graphica 11 A Subject..which..shall..afford..Art, an ample field of matter wherein to expatiate it self.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 160. ¶4 This..Failure..opens a large Field of Raillery.
1750 W. Beawes Lex Mercatoria (1752) 2 The wide field for trade that now lies before us.
1807 T. Thomson Syst. Chem. (ed. 3) II. 143 A very interesting field of investigation.
1880 Harper's Mag. July 313/2 The titles of the ninth volume..cover a wide field of literary and scientific research in the departments of geography, geography [etc.].
1939 Public Opinion Q. 3 562 Giving the home shopper television eyes opens a wide field in marketing.
1950 Sci. News 15 124 The research worker may find blood group inheritance a convenient field for study.
2004 Independent 17 June i. 39/1 Tony De La Rosa was a major innovator in the field of conjunto music.
b. As a mass noun: scope, opportunity; extent of material for some specified action or operation. Frequently with for.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > freedom of action or from restraint > [noun] > scope or free opportunity
roomeOE
leisure1303
libertyc1425
free chase1467
scope1534
roomtha1540
swinge1542
swing1584
blank charter1593
freedom1623
field1639
play1641
free agencya1646
range1793
expatiationa1848
leaveway1890
open slather1919
headroom1932
1639 G. Chapman & J. Shirley Trag. Chabot iv. sig. G2v It shall be your province..To urge what can in justice be against him, His riot on our Lawes, and corrupt actions Will give you scope and field enough.
1664 J. Dryden Rival Ladies iii. i. 37 Thou hast not Field enough in thy Young breast, To entertain such Storms to struggle in.
1721 J. Swift Let. to Young Gentleman 19 Take the Matter in this Light, and it will afford Field enough for a Divine to enlarge on.
1793 B. Vaughan Lett. on Concert of Princes 24 It is..of no importance to be able to apportion, with accuracy, these several objects among the concerted powers; as there is field enough for all.
1809 A. Edmondston View Zetland Islands I. vii. 337 There is ample field for improvement on the political economy of Zetland.
1895 Classical Rev. 9 207/1 As to emendation, Lucretius does not furnish much field for this.
1910 Outlook 30 Apr. 994/2 He has field enough for his pen in a parish; he can hardly know more and know it intimately enough to write about it.
1996 Australian (Nexis) 17 July 27 A fluid, multipolar East Asian power game would give China and Japan ample field for political manoeuvre.
c. A particular branch of study or area of expertise or competence; a subject. Also more fully field of study.
ΚΠ
1825 G. Jardine Outl. Philos. Educ. 19 Men of ordinary talents may, nevertheless, by confining their attention to one particular field of study,..acquire some eminence.
a1862 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. (1873) III. v. 350 The philosopher and the practical man..each is in his own field, supreme.
1888 Harper's Mag. Feb. 334 Japanism—a new word coined to designate a new field of study, artistic, historic, and ethnographic.
1911 R. A. Wason Knight-errant xi. 128 Business is not my field. I dislike saying so, just at this time, for I fear I shall have to enter it in earnest.
1947 J. Somerville in E. J. Simmons USSR xvii. 330 Great reliance was at one time placed on the field of study known in the Soviet Union as pedology.
2001 New Scientist 25 Aug. 82/2 (advt.) Candidates..must have demonstrated experience of research in helioseismology, solar physics, geoseismology, astrophysics or a related field.
13. In the context of work or research: the world or environment outside the study, office, laboratory, headquarters, etc.; the sphere of direct or practical participation in work or research. Frequently attributive (see Compounds 1c) or in in the field (see Phrases 1b).Recorded earliest in field entry n. (a) at Compounds 5.
ΚΠ
1610 W. Folkingham Feudigraphia iv. Concl. 85 (heading) Briefe directions for orderly marshalling of Surueyes, for accommodating of Field-entries in Rough-Bookes.
1786 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 76 382 A sketch of the fish, which was made in the field, in a hot climate, under every disadvantage.
1836 1st Ann. Rep. James River & Kanawha Co. 46 The said surveyors, rodmen and chainmen may be called into the field by the assistant engineer when he thinks necessary.
1869 Rep. Select Comm. Gen. Valuation (Ireland) 19/1 in Parl. Papers (H. C. 362) IX. 1 It is the duty of the heads of department..when the work comes from the field to check it.
1884 Science 1 Feb. 136/1 Dr. William Hallock, who.., since his return from the field, has been conducting a series of experiments in the laboratory at New Haven.
1921 Nature 5 May 93/2 To achieve a knowledge of the living plant, he says, let the botanist take to the field.
1943 Public Admin. Rev. 3 367/1 On this point Federal Field Offices is concerned with the division of authority between Washington and the field.
1990 R. Goldberg & G. J. Goldberg Anchors x. 157 When one of the anchors goes into the field, his network's news organization gears up to turn out more stories in more depth from that location.
2003 R. W. Nolan Anthropol. in Pract. ii. 57 Anthropologists..are in a sense defined and created by their field experience. The field is where many key workplace skills are acquired and practiced.
14.
a. The extent of a scene which can be seen from a particular position; spec. the angular range which is visible through an optical instrument or with the eye. Frequently with of in noun phrases, as field of observation, field of view, field of vision. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > [noun] > range or field of
eyeOE
sightc1175
eyesightc1225
kenning1530
view1553
reach1579
kena1592
sight-shot1663
command1697
field1721
eye scope1853
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > [noun] > instrument for looking through > space or range through which objects are visible
field1721
1721 J. T. Desaguliers tr. W. J. 's Gravesande Math. Elements Nat. Philos. II. iii. xii. 74 The Space seen thro' the Microscope..is called the Field of the Microscope.
1763 Philos. Trans. 1762 (Royal Soc.) 52 579 It might not be so easily found on the Moon's dark limb by a telescope of a smaller field of view.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 718 The whole field of view through the foot-wide arch.
1817 T. Chalmers Series Disc. Christian Revelation ii. 72 That circle by which the field of observation is inclosed.
1864 A. Bain Senses & Intellect (ed. 2) i. ii. 236 The eye can take in a wide field at once.
1877 E. R. Conder Basis of Faith ii. 83 No scintillation of its existence twinkles within the field of our knowledge.
1896 G. E. De Schweinitz Dis. Eye (ed. 2) ii. 87 The field of vision which pertains to the two eyes..constitutes only the area where the central and inner parts overlap.
1938 N.Y. Times 25 Dec. ii. 9/6 The unusually short focus of the telescope allows for a wide and bright field rather than a great magnifying of stellar objects.
1942 R. Hillary Last Enemy iii. 72 I noticed how small was my field of vision [from an aeroplane].
2004 Discover Nov. 46/1 Despite..repointing itself every 45 minutes or so when Earth and other bodies block the field of view, the Hubble manages to do science nearly 50 percent of the time.
b. In extended use: the extent of that which is perceived or experienced, as field of perception, field of experience.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > [noun] > range of perception
field1829
psychosphere1901
1829 J. Fearn Ess. Consciousness 167 It appears of the highest utility to Man that he has a large field of Perception in all the Senses at once.
1865 S. H. Hodgson Time & Space vi. 295 It has been shown that the whole field of consciousness is occupied by perception and spontaneous redintegration.
1912 W. James Ess. Radical Empiricism vi. 170 (note) The world experienced (otherwise called the ‘field of consciousness’) comes at all times with our body as its centre, centre of vision, centre of action, centre of interest.
1957 H. Read Tenth Muse xiii. 109 As the mind perceives, it automatically selects and organizes the field of perception.
1987 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 100 357 Attention may..leave certain processes wholly out of the field of consciousness.
2000 Amer. Literary Hist. 12 307 A present whose larger contours and determining forces seem strangely outside the field of perception.
c. Photography. The extent of a scene which is judged to be in focus in a photograph taken of it. Chiefly in depth of field n. the distance between the nearest and farthest objects judged to be in focus in a photograph; (also) the extent to which a lens can simultaneously bring into focus objects at different distances; cf. depth of focus n. at focus n. Phrases 4.A larger aperture results in a shallower depth of field (and vice versa).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > action of taking photograph > technical factors > [noun] > type of focusing
depth of field1855
circle of least confusion1867
flatness of field1867
infinity1867
register1890
fixed focus1892
back focus1897
circle of confusion1906
isocentre1931
split-field1941
split-image1950
1855 G. W. Wilson Pract. Guide Collodion Process Photogr. 29 From want of depth of field in the lenses, every part of the figure must be brought as nearly as possible on the same plane.
1882 Brit. Jrnl. Photogr. 29 475/2 The natural field of a lens is curved, the real focus of the marginal rays being nearer the lens than the edges of the flat plate are.
1921 Camera Craft 28 53 Use a very small stop and by that means, increase the depth of field.
1965 Movie Spring 34/1 I used a telefoto lens a great deal so as not to have any depth of field.
2001 Treasure Hunting Feb. 79/2 Maximise the depth of field by selecting manual control and ‘stopping down’ to the smallest aperture available.
d. Television. A set of equally spaced scanning lines extending over the full picture area of a cathode ray tube television, produced by a single passage of the spot over the screen.Two (or more) fields are interlaced in order to produce a single frame. Cf. interlaced adj. b.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [noun] > picture elements, lines, or rasters
picture element1925
line1929
scanning line1929
scanning field1935
scanning raster1935
field1938
line standard1959
pixel1965
1938 Brit. Patent 494,365 1/2 Much television experimental work has been done in which the field is scanned at the same frequency.
1967 W. Wharton & D. Howorth Princ. Television Reception iii. 38 Each complete scan is called a field, and two successive scans which provide the complete picture information are called a picture.
1993 Sound & Vision Apr. 11/2 The odd-numbered lines are scanned first, forming one ‘field’, then the even-numbered lines filled in, to form a second field.
2009 P. Wheeler High Definition Cinematogr. (ed. 3) xi. 68 As two fields are required to complete every frame, in US television 60 fields are required to complete the required 30 frames in every second of recording.
15.
a. Physics. A state or situation in which a force is exerted on objects of a particular kind (e.g. electric charges); a region of space in which such a situation exists, and every point has a scalar, vector, or tensor value of a physical quality associated with it; the scalar, vector, or tensor value at a such a point. Cf. field of force at Phrases 14.The concept of fields arose out of the work of Faraday and Maxwell. Fields came to be regarded as having an existence independent of the space they occupy. In the 20th cent. some field theories were further developed in the light of quantum mechanics (cf. field theory n., quantum field theory n. at quantum n. and adj. Compounds 2).electric, magnetic, radiation, scalar, tensor, vector field, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > mechanics > force > [noun] > area under influence of
field1845
field of force1850
force field1920
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > magnetism > [noun] > magnetic field
field1845
magnetic domain1953
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrically induced magnetism > [noun] > field > range of
field1845
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electric charge, electricity > [noun] > field produced by
field1881
the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > [noun] > field of energy
field1956
1845 M. Faraday Diary 10 Nov. (1933) IV. 331 Wrought with bodies between the great poles, i.e. in the magnetic field, as to their motions under the influence of magnetic force.
1865 J. C. Maxwell in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 155 460 The theory I propose may..be called a theory of the Electro-magnetic Field, because it has to do with the space in the neighbourhood of the electric or magnetic bodies.
1881 J. C. Maxwell Treat. Electr. & Magnetism (ed. 2) I. 45 The electric field is the portion of space in the neighbourhood of electrified bodies, considered with reference to electric phenomena.
1897 J. J. Thomson in London, Edinb., & Dublin Philos. Mag. 5th Ser. 44 311 If these corpuscles are..projected from the cathode by the electric field, they would behave exactly like cathode rays.
1928 A. S. Eddington Nature Physical World vii. 153 It is usually considered that when we use these [sc. magnets, electroscopes, etc.] we are exploring not space, but a field in space.
1955 S. S. Schweber et al. Mesons & Fields I. x. 108 We now turn to the discussion of interaction between fields, and in particular we treat first the coupling between a spinor and a Boson field.
1956 E. H. Hutten Lang. Mod. Physics iii. 93 Energy is thus contained in the volume of space in which a field exists.
1959 B. I. Bleany & B. Bleaney Electr. & Magn. i. 4 From Eq. (1.2) we find that E = q1/(4πε0r3)r is the electric field due to the charge q1.
2007 I. Stewart Why Beauty is Truth xiii. 238 The large-scale effect of all these carrier particles is to fill the universe with ‘fields’... The two nuclear forces together create something called a Yang–Mills field.
b. An emanation of immaterial energy or life force believed to surround a person, animal, or object. Cf. aura n. 2c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > the paranormal > [noun] > supposed emanation or essence of individual
aura1870
field1889
1889 Theosophical Siftings 25 Mar. 6 As we ascend in the scale of vital organism, the field of energy must naturally become more considerable according to the energy expended by the life-processes of the organism.
1949 M. Tamalelagi Star Symphony 122 This odor is the quality or tone condition of the blood and extends itself into the aura or field of vibration of the individual.
1976 Yoga Jrnl. Nov.–Dec. 15/1 Each one of us is creating a psychic field around us.
1998 E. Davis TechGnosis (1999) ii. 55 The living and communicating bodymind, a field of vital psychic energy that can be tapped and redirected by patient and physician alike.
2007 E. D. Ching & K. Ching Chi & Creativity 74 You and your friend quickly exit the building and leave its field of ominous Chi.
c. Short for field magnet n. at Compounds 5.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrically induced magnetism > [noun] > magnet > for creating magnetic field
field magnet1878
field1889
1889 Telegr. Jrnl. & Electr. Rev. 24 690/1 Winding the field with separate circuits which are connected to a switch.
1952 A. E. Fitzgerald & C. Kingsley Electr. Machinery i. 11 (caption) Part of Boulder Dam hydroelectric station showing wound revolving field (suspended from two cranes) of..water-wheel generator.
2008 R. Miller & M. R. Miller Industr. Electr. & Motor Controls viii. 138/1 The field is wound with a few turns of comparatively large diameter wire.
d. Embryology. = morphogenetic field n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > embryo or fetus > embryo parts > [noun] > regions
segment1826
lateral plate1859
protovertebra1869
mesomere1902
organizator1924
organizer1925
field1927
organization centre1928
inductor1929
1927 G. R. de Beer in Biol. Rev. Mar. 189 The only hypothesis which appears tenable is that of a Gradient System or ‘field’..for the place of determination of the rudiments of other organs.
1934 J. S. Huxley & G. R. de Beer Elements Exper. Embryol. viii. 276 The term field implies a region throughout which some agency is at work in a co-ordinated way, resulting in the establishment of an equilibrium within the area of the field.
1969 Jrnl. Theoret. Biol. 25 i. 41 Most embryonic fields seem to involve distances of less than 100 cells, and often less than 50.
2004 R. J. Adams & C. B. Kimmel in C. D. Stern Gastrulation xx. 313/1 The axial domain of cells fails to express notochord makers and the field remains broader than the normal developing tissue.
e. Psychology. An environment or situation regarded as a system of psychological forces or factors acting upon or interacting with an individual.Associated especially with the theories of Kurt Lewin (1890–1947).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > mental action or process > [noun] > psychological environment
field1930
1930 R. M. Ogden in Jrnl. Genetic Psychol. 38 281 The Gestalt view of learning..accepts..the organism as a dynamic agent within a field of forces which condition the organism's responses.
1935 D. K. Adams & K. E. Zener tr. K. Lewin Dynamic Theory of Personality iii. 79 To understand or predict the psychological behavior..one has to determine for every kind of psychological event..the momentary whole situation, that is, the momentary structure and the state of the person..and of the psychobiological environment... Every fact that exists psychobiologically must have a position in this field.
1950 Mind 59 569 A stimulus in an environmental field acts upon an organism in such a way as to evoke a ‘directional’ response, which leads to adaptation to the field—certain ‘directional’ responses being attitudes, sentiments, and so on.
2006 R. Harré Key Thinkers Psychol. vi. 141 Lewin presented the dynamic field of an individual in terms of potentialities for movement in certain directions.
16.
a. Mathematics. A set of elements with two binary operations that satisfy certain axioms analogous to those for the addition, multiplication, and division of real numbers; a commutative ring (ring n.1 15) that contains a unit element for multiplication and an inverse for each non-zero element.Galois field, semi-field: see the first element. [Originally after German Zahlkörper number field ( R. Dedekind Dirichlet's Vorlesungen über Zahlentheorie (ed. 2, 1871) Suppl. X. 454).]
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > numerical arrangement > [noun] > set > in abstract algebra > field
field1893
subfield1910
splitting field1942
1893 E. H. Moore in Bull. N.Y. Math. Soc. 3 75 Suppose that we have a system of symbols or marks,..in number s, and suppose that these s marks may be combined by the four fundamental operations of algebra..and that when the marks are so combined the results of these operations are in every case uniquely determined and belong to the system of marks. Such a system of s marks we call a field of order s.
1941 G. Birkhoff & S. MacLane Surv. Mod. Algebra ii. 40 A field F is an integral domain which contains for each element a ≠ 0 an ‘inverse’ element a−1 satisfying the equation a−1a = 1.
1968 I. D. Macdonald Theory of Groups xi. 222 Familiar examples of fields are the real numbers, the rational numbers, and the residue classes modulo a prime.
2004 M. Potter Set Theory & its Philos. 87 The first step in executing this programme is nowadays known as arithmetization and consists in the construction of a complete ordered field within the theory of sets, taking the natural numbers as given.
b. Logic. The class comprising the domain and the range or converse domain of a relation.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > predicate or propositional logic > [noun] > propositional relation > other terms relating to
domain1903
field1903
referent1903
biconditional1940
non-disjunction1949
1903 B. Russell Princ. Math. ix. 97 All referents with respect to a given relation form a class. It follows..that all relata also form a class. These two classes I shall call respectively the domain and the converse domain of the relation; the logical sum of the two I shall call the field of the relation.
1952 F. B. Fitch Symbolic Logic vi. 179 The field of a relation has the same members as the field of the converse of that relation.
2002 K. Fine Limits Abstraction (2008) iii. 121 A generating relation corresponds to a construction of abstracts, with each abstract in the field of the relation being generated from a concept that holds of previously generated objects.
III. An extended surface.
17. The surface on which something is portrayed.
a. Heraldry. The surface of an escutcheon, shield, banner, etc., on which a charge is displayed, esp. with reference to its colour; the surface of one of the divisions in the shield. Also figurative, and in extended use with reference to the colouring of any flag. of the field: having the same colour as the field.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > escutcheon or shield > [noun] > field of escutcheon
champc1320
fieldc1405
mouldc1440
society > communication > indication > insignia > standard > [noun] > flag > ground of each division of flag
fieldc1405
c1405 (c1375) G. Chaucer Monk's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 689 The feeld of snow with thegle of blak ther Inne.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) v. l. 3021 (MED) He sawe a baner blased vp & doun, Þe felde þer-of al colour ynde.
a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) l. 1532 (MED) And to beholde in the knyghtes sheldys The felle beestys peynted in the feeldys.
c1460 Bk. Arms in Ancestor (1903) Oct. 203 (MED) The armys of London beryth gowlys iiij woyderys of sylver a swerde of the felde.
a1500 (?a1400) Sir Torrent of Portyngale (1887) l. 1120 (MED) Sir Torrent ordenyth hym a sheld, It was ryche in euery ffeld.
1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. bii* Ilka souerane his ensenye schewin has thair Ferly fair was the feild.
1572 J. Bossewell Wks. Armorie ii. f. 56 The field is parted per fesse embattyled.
1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. B2v This silent warre of Lillies and of Roses..in her faire faces field . View more context for this quotation
1607 S. Hieron Mariage-blessing in Wks. (1620) I. 414 A field of sincerity, charged with deedes of piety.
1658 Coat of Armes John Presbyter (single sheet) She [sc. Scotland] beares in her Eschucheon the Field of Rebellion, charg'd with a Stool of Repentance.
1719 F. Nichols Of Several Degrees Gentry 61 [He] chang'd his Arms, and bore the Lion rampant, Or, in a Field Gules, with a Border engrail'd of the first.
1788 Pennsylvania Gaz. July 9 A flag, blue field, with a laurel and an olive wreath over the words—‘Washington, the Friend of his Country’.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Elaine in Idylls of King 181 Sir Lancelot's azure lions..Ramp in the field.
1890 J. R. Lowell Writings iv. 216 A scutcheon this, a helm-surmounted shield, Three griffins argent on a sable field.
1907 G. W. Eve Heraldry as Art 55 Az[ure] on a chevron between three roses Or, as many fleurs-de-lis of the field.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses 314 The flag of the province of Desmond and Thomond, three crowns on a blue field.
1988 T. Woodcock & J. M. Robinson Oxf. Guide to Heraldry i. 4 In about 1195..Richard I altered his arms..to the three gold leopards or lions passant guardant on a red field, which remains the Royal Arms of England.
2000 Burlington Mag. June 375/2 The coat of arms on the shield—a unicorn couped on a field azure..has yet to be identified.
b. gen. The ground of a picture, design, etc., as distinct from the more prominent figures or motifs.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > [noun] > a painting > part of > specific
tarage1439
field1555
sky1606
landscape1656
mass1662
incident1705
second ground1801
pick1836
negative space1949
1555 J. Elder Copie of Let. to Scotl. sig. B.vii Under which picture were written in field siluer with fayre Romaine letters of sable, these wordes folowinge.
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. liii. 272 The grounde or fielde of the whole flower is either pale, red, yellowe, or white.
1634 J. Bate Myst. Nature & Art iv. 162 How to make white letters in a blacke Feild. Take [etc.].
1695 J. Dryden tr. C. A. Du Fresnoy De Arte Graphica 51 Let the Field, or Ground of the Picture, be clean.
1701 W. Salmon Polygraphice (ed. 8) II. x. xxvii. 814 Enamel..serves..for the Basis, Ground or Field for Painting upon.
1790 W. Beaumont tr. J.-J. De Barthélemy Trav. Anacharsis III. 408 The field of the picture includes not only the inside of the city seen through the walls..but the sea shore.
1849 J. Ruskin Seven Lamps Archit. vi. 175 Shadow is frequently employed as a dark field on which the forms are drawn.
1882 Builder & Wood-worker Nov. 213/2 Over the wide door is a great tangle of country blossoms on a field of blending blue and grey.
1913 W. A. Hawley Oriental Rugs 286 If the field has concentric medallions, the rug may be a..Mahal.
1938 F. D. McCarthy Austral. Aboriginal Decorative Art 36 The chanting tubes or didjeridu are painted with red, yellow, white and black dashes on a red or plain field.
2000 Nation (N.Y.) 17 Apr. 34/3 You first see a crude mural painting of black silhouettes against an orange field.
c. Numismatics. The main area of the flat surface of a coin or medal, as distinct from any figure or text placed upon it.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > [noun] > obverse or reverse of coin > spaces on
exergue1697
field1697
exergum1730
1697 R. Gale tr. L. Jobert Knowl. Medals v. 66 They [sc. inscriptions] are very rarely to be seen round the Medals, but only in the Field, or at least in the Exergue.
1747 Hist. Medals Queen Anne 14/2 in Metallick Hist. Reverse: The middle of the field contains the pictures of Francis Eugene..and John Friso Prince of Friesland.
1784 J. Pinkerton Ess. Medals xii. 85 When the letters or words of a medal thus occupy the field, they are called an inscription.
1832 J. Y. Akerman Numismatic Man. iii. 24 A dove flying, to the left, in the field ΑΘ; the whole in a laurel garland.
1879 H. Phillips Addit. Notes upon Coins 6 The setting sun is illumining with his rays the whole field of the medal.
1965 Amer. Jrnl. Archeol. 69 337 The same figure becomes the chief type, filling the full field of the coin.
1992 Coin Monthly Feb. 31/2 On these particular coins there is a very small amount of scuffing on the field and light wear on the raised surfaces.
18. A large stretch; an expanse.
a. Of sea, sky, stars, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > [noun] > spreading out > an expanse of something
spacea1382
widenessa1382
continuance1398
field1547
sheet1593
universe1598
main1609
reach1610
expansion1611
extent1627
champaign1656
fetch1662
mass1662
expanse1667
spread1712
run1719
width1733
acre1759
sweep1767
contiguity1785
extension1786
stretch1829
breadths1839
outspread1847
outstretch1858
1547 W. Baldwin Treat. Morall Phylos. ii. xi. sig. M.iii Sowe not the sea fyeldes.
c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme lxvi. 18 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 75 A field of dusty sand.
1609 W. Shakespeare Pericles i. 80 Without couering, saue yon field of Starres. View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 125 The nimble Horsemen scour the Fields of Air. View more context for this quotation
1733 A. Pope Ess. Man i. 49 Yonder argent fields above.
1798 A. Browne Compend. View Civil Law (new ed.) i. 15 [We] expanded our sails over every field of the ocean.
1813 P. B. Shelley Queen Mab iv. 46 The orb of day..o'er ocean's waveless field Sinks sweetly smiling.
1860 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters V. 141 (note) Detached bars, darker or lighter than the field [of cloud] above.
1915 Living Age 17 July 175/2 [They] beheld, beyond a field of broken sea, a low green and yellow shore.
1966 H. Hibbett tr. M. Takeyama Harp of Burma 131 As the boat rolled from side to side its mast swayed through the field of stars.
2008 I. Doig Eleventh Man 85 The pods of parachutes opened prettily,..cloudflowers against the blue field of sky.
b. Of immaterial things. Cf. also branch II.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > [noun] > spreading out > an expanse of something > of immaterial things
field1577
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 7 What diuinitie there is in it, and what a feeld of the acknowledged benefites of God, you haue heard.
1590 R. Greene Neuer too Late ii. sig. Bv Loue had..wrapt him in a field of woes.
1712 R. Blackmore Creation vi. 307 Who can this Field of Miracles survey.
1847 L. Hunt Men, Women, & Bks. II. xi. 265 He discloses to us the whole field of his ignorance.
1867 A. Barry Life & Wks. Sir C. Barry vi. 190 The whole field of English history.
1914 World's Work Dec. 146/1 Turning Europe into a field of wholesale slaughter and devastation.
2005 E. Csapo Theories Mythol. v. 215 Somehow, after reaping an entire field of nullities, Saussure thinks that our bag will suddenly become replete with relational meaning.
c. Of ice or snow. Cf. ice field n., snow-field n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > ice > body of ice > [noun] > ice-field or pack-ice
ice field1694
field1695
ice-island1750
field ice1772
ice isle1777
pack1791
stream1817
ice pack1835
pedregal1839
pack ice1842
stream-ice1856
1695 R. Blackmore Prince Arthur x. 277 The rest ply all their Oars, and frighted row, Thro' Fields of Ice, to shun th' unequal Foe.
1742 London Mag. Nov. 556/1 On the 5th we saw a large Cake or Field of Ice.
1774 B. La Trobe Brief Acct. Mission Esquimaux Indians Labrador 18 After sailing three days, they were stopt by a field of ice, which extended beyond the bounds of their sight.
1813 R. Bakewell Introd. Geol. ii. 51 Vast masses of rock..are sometimes enveloped in fields of ice.
1818 Sir J. Leslie in Edinb. Rev. 30 16 A very wide expanse of it [sc. salt-water ice] they [sc. whale-fishers] call a field.
1886 J. Ruskin Præterita II. v. 178 The snows round..are the least trodden of all the Mont Blanc fields.
1930 Discovery Mar. 91/1 Flat fields of snow-ice, strictly speaking neither land-ice nor sea-ice, which..fringe almost the whole circumference of the continent.
1988 P. Wayburn Adventuring in Alaska (rev. ed.) i. 26 The sun backlights a field of dryas or ice floes of the Arctic Ocean.
2002 J. Neale Tigers of Snow ii. 42 The sahibs and porters were crossing a steep field of snow.
19. Computing. Any one of a number of places where a user is expected to enter a single item of a particular type of data; an item of such data; esp. one in a database record. Cf. data field n. at data n. Compounds 2.Originally a group of columns on a punched card.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > hardware > secondary storage > [noun] > punch card or tape > punching of holes in
field1903
keypunching1913
summary punching1935
tape-punching1951
over-punching1958
society > computing and information technology > data > database > [noun] > unit of data
data point1910
data field1929
descriptor1954
item1954
record1957
data packet1959
field1959
struct1971
datagram1976
1903 Jrnl. Polit. Econ. 11 372 The fields are to be punched in the regular order by touching the keys indicated from left to right.
1940 W. J. Eckert Punched Card Methods Sci. Computation ii. 7 The first step in the use of a card for a particular record is the designation of groups of columns as ‘fields’.
1959 Jrnl. Assoc. Computing Machinery 6 7 Figure 3 illustrates a file of payroll data as it would be recorded on magnetic tape. Each record in this file is partitioned into fields.
1966 P. Abrams & W. Corvine Basic Data Processing ii. 14 A field is one or more characters of data that are meaningful as a unit. The number of children in a family is a field; so is a person's name.
1985 InfoWorld 28 Oct. 38/3 If the information is right, you decide into which field of which database to put the information.
2007 K. Thomas Beginning Ubuntu Linux (ed. 2) xxvi. 475 You're asked if you want to create a primary key. This is the unique numeric field that the database uses to keep track of each entry.

Phrases

P1. in the field.
a. On the field of battle; engaged in combat or military manoeuvres; on campaign.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military operations > [adverb]
in the field?1473
a warfare1483
on (also upon) commando1824
?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) I. lf. 80 And whan he sawe that he had no mo men lefte in the felde he retorned in to his pallays sorowyng & gretely anoyed.
1591 Troublesome Raigne Iohn i. sig. A4v My father..receiud his spurres of Knighthood in the Field.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics ii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 82 As Legions in the Field their Front display. View more context for this quotation
1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 11 All the Military part of the Court, was in the Field.
1769 O. Goldsmith Rom. Hist. II. viii. 260 It was equal to him whether he fell by his enemies in the field, or by his creditors in the city.
1830 Ann. Reg. 1829 Hist. Europe 243/1 The different provinces [of the Argentine republic] had their armies in the field, and were fighting equally bitterly against each other.
1863 H. Cox Inst. Eng. Govt. iii. viii. 713 An army in the field abroad.
1914 D. Haig Let. 24 Oct. in War Diaries & Lett. 1914–18 (2005) 74 A wire..recommending Bulfin for promotion for service in the field.
1941 S. Horn Army of Tennessee xix. 406 Most of the armies in the field were so hard pressed that there was no possibility of borrowing from one to bolster the other.
2003 Guardian 3 Apr. i. 6/1 Commanders in the field and armchair generals have started talking about how British and US forces will ‘attrit’ the Iraqis.
b. In the world or environment outside the study, office, laboratory, headquarters, etc.; by practical or direct involvement in work or research. Cf. sense 13.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > research > [adverb]
in the field1786
1786 [see sense 13].
1798 Analyt. Rev. Nov. 557 There are very powerful agents in the field, who, while we only write, are actually explaining and enforcing our system, by arguments of compulsive instruction.
1846 C. Darwin Let. 19 May (1987) III. 320 I am delighted that you are in the Field, geologising or palaeontologising.
1897 C. T. Clough in W. Gunn et al. Geol. Cowal x. 102 The felsite and hornblende-porphyrite are classed together, because it is not always possible, in the field, to decide to which of these groups a particular band should be referred.
1900 Insurance Economist Mar.–Apr. 8/1 It has still been the motto of the management that nothing was too good for its representatives in the field.
1964 L. Deighton Funeral in Berlin (1966) 43 The case officer is the go-between connecting Washington with the agent in the field.
1969 Times 13 Jan. 11/2 When this virus is put into sheep experimentally it produces a disease identical with that from which it can be recovered in the field.
2006 C. Stringer Homo Britannicus App. 292 I also enjoy getting out in the field, although some of the digs I've been involved with in East Anglia have been unbelievably challenging.
c. Cricket and Baseball. Playing as (a member of) the fielding team.
ΚΠ
1828 Laws of Cricket in Sporting Mag. June 122 No substitute in the field shall be allowed to bowl, keep wicket, stand at the point or middle wicket, or stop behind to a fast bowler.
1860 Times 15 Aug. 5/6 Fryer, in keeping wicket, received a severe blow on the thumb, which caused him to retire; Mr. Davison took his place, and Captain Marshall gave his services in the field.
1889 H. C. Palmer et al. Athletic Sports Amer., Eng. & Austral. ii. 420 Ryan and Crane, with the regular Chicago team in the field, sent the ball over the plate, while Messrs. W.G. and E.M. Grace, together with other prominent cricketers, tried to hit it.
1912 Chicago Tribune 2 June 9/1 A bit of stuttering by the Sox in the field gave the visitors a tally in the fourth.
1967 Encycl. Brit. III. 230/2 In the field he would rather not get his hands in contact with a batted ball difficult to field than risk the danger of being charged with a fielding error.
1994 I. Botham My Autobiogr. iii. 45 As a young tyro I was reasonably satisfied with the rest of my performance in the field that day.
P2. to go into the field: to enter the field of battle, go to war. Also: †to go to fight a duel (obsolete).
ΚΠ
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) iii. l. 717 (MED) Þe Grekis goon In-to þe feld, with pompe ful royal.
1570 T. Wilson tr. Demosthenes 3 Orations 14 Take ye good heede of this..that your armie is gone into the field accordingly.
1596 C. Gibbon Watch-worde for Warre sig. F3 The most renowned and valiantest warriors amongst the Heathen..would neuer goe into the field without Phylosophers.
1616 J. Chamberlain Let. 26 Oct. in R. F. Williams Birch's Court & Times James I (1848) (modernized text) I. 433 I heard yester-night that Sir Henry Rich was gone into the field with Sir Ralph Sheldon.
1641 R. Younge Counterpoyson (ed. 2) xxix. 186 A very duellist will goe into the field to seeke death, and finde honour.
1741 W. Oldys Mem. Mrs. Anne Oldfield 52 They went into the Field, and in less than half an Hour, Word was brought to the House, that Mr. Fulwood was killed on the Spot.
1837 T. De Quincey Revolt of Tartars in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. July 94/2 The khan went into the field..and at last, in a pitched battle, overthrew the Turkish force opposed to him.
1892 Daily News 12 Apr. 6/1 The line battalion in England, which has a linked battalion abroad, is unfit in every way to go into the field.
1912 Hansard Commons 5 Aug. 2709 We go into the field..with a grave shortage of officers.
1988 S. Zaffiri Hamburger Hill viii. 66 Another officer..expressed his opposition to the Vietnam War and refused to go into the field.
2008 A. H. Cordesman Iraq's Insurgency ii. 22 Most Iraqi units are going into the field and fighting for their country.
P3.
a. to keep (also maintain) the field: to remain in position on the battlefield; to maintain one's position, to stand firm; also figurative and in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > war > wage war [verb (intransitive)] > continue at war
to hold, keep war or warsa1122
to keep the journeyc1330
to keep (also maintain) the field1433
society > armed hostility > armed encounter > contending in battle > contend in battle or give battle [verb (intransitive)] > continue the fight
to keep (also maintain) the field1433
1433 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. July 1433 §17. m. 16 My said lorde of Bedford hath..many and diverse dayes kept þe felde, redy to have foghtyn and delivered bataille to þe kynges enemyys.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. C.iiiv Then the lorde Admyrall saw that it was no tyme to kepe the felde, turned bacward in good ordre of battail & came to Calaice.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxix. 174 The forces of the Commonwealth keeping the field no longer.
1673 J. Dryden Marriage a-la-Mode ii. i. 18 This tongue..may keep the field against a whole Army of Lawyers.
1771 ‘Claudero’ Misc. Prose & Verse (ed. 4) 91 Besides, perhaps, it is not civil, On Sundays to abuse the devil; Who, notwithstanding, keeps the field.
1855 W. H. Prescott Hist. Reign Philip II of Spain I. i. ii. 58 Four knights were prepared to maintain the field against all comers.
1881 J. C. Hurd Theory our Nat. Existence v. 162 A certain amount of power to maintain the field, as against a government already existing, requires recognition as a belligerent force.
1940 M. B. Garrett European Hist. iii. xviii. 248 Under other commanders the imperial army, now purged of treason, kept the field.
1963 D. Rickey 40 Miles a Day 255 The Sioux and Cheyennes could not keep the field against an enemy that moved in all weather.
2002 Historian Fall 142 Technological innovation enabled the German army to keep the field against exponentially superior enemies longer than logic indicated.
b. to hold the field: to maintain one's ground (originally on a field of battle); to succeed in not being displaced or superseded.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > absence of change, changelessness > lasting quality, permanence > be permanent [verb (intransitive)] > by prevailing
to hold the field?a1518
obtain1619
?a1518 H. Watson Ualentyne & Orson (1555) lxxvi. sig. Ss.i.v And whan the paynyms sawe that the Admyrall was dead it is not to be demaunded yf they were sorowfull, and had no hardynes for to holde the felde.
1592 W. Wyrley Lord Chandos in True Vse Armorie 38 The Captaine gone, then Angolesme doth yeeld With seauen Townes more, the Frenchmen hold the field.
1668 Earl of Orrery Henry V i. 10 If..you had present been to see The softness of those Charms which conquer'd me; You'd wonder more that long I held the field, Then that at last I willingly did yield.
1741 H. Brooke tr. Constantia in G. Ogle et al. tr. Canterbury Tales of Chaucer II. 133 Courage still tenacious, holds the Field.
1771 O. Goldsmith Hist. Eng. II. xii. 6 He accepted the challenge; and proposed, with his knights, to hold the field against all that would enter the lists.
1836 T. Q. Stow Scope of Piety x. 259 Amidst all..the deadly conflicts of the christian, he has the gratification to perceive that he still holds the field; that he still maintains the fight; that he has not given in to the foe.
1887 A. Birrell Obiter Dicta 2nd Ser. 66 The last edition will..long hold the field.
1914 S. W. Pennypacker Pennsylvania xii. 122 Twenty-six hundred Americans fought seven thousand British, and, capturing a battery, held the field.
1997 R. Fortey Life x. 276 Uniformitarianism held the field through much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
P4.
a. to leave (a person) the field: to concede an argument or contest to (a person); also in extended use. Similarly to leave the field to.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > completing > non-completion > abandon an attempt or enterprise [verb (intransitive)]
unbenda1400
unbinda1400
to leave (a person) the field?c1450
to give upa1616
to call (it) quits1851
to pull the pin1860
to hang up one's fiddle1889
to pack in1906
to pack up1925
to cop out1942
to give it away1949
the mind > possession > relinquishing > relinquish or give up [verb (transitive)] > an argument or contest
to leave (a person) the field?c1450
?c1450 tr. Bk. Knight of La Tour Landry (1906) 21 Ye wyll speke riotesly..therfor y will leue you the felde.
1607 E. Grimeston tr. Gen. Inuentorie Hist. France ii. 268 Presuming by his onely valour to haue forced a mightie King, to leaue him the field.
1796 N.-Y. Mag. Jan. 30/1 The unhappy lover, far from arming against his rival, must leave him the field.
1860 F. C. L. Wraxall Only Woman III. x. 217 Alice has recognised my superior claims and left the field to me.
1925 Times 13 Apr. 11/5 Mr. Shaw has been in office before and may be again. But..I hope that Mr. Baldwin will not leave him the field.
1995 Fellowship Catholic Scholars Newslet. July 48/1 The Church is bigger than ecclesiastical officers and we must not leave the field to the Ultramontanes.
b. to leave the field free: to put up no opposition; to refrain from entering into competition; to allow something or someone to proceed unhindered or unopposed; similarly to leave the field open.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > not doing > abstaining or refraining from action > abstain or refrain from action [verb (intransitive)] > refrain from interfering
to leave the field open1668
to let (or leave) well alone1722
to get out of a person's face1931
non-intervene1937
1668 J. Dryden Sr Martin Mar-all iv. 46 You see I am no very obstinate Rival, I leave the field free to you.
1693 A. Monro Serm. Several Occasions xi. 381 If we should quit our ground and leave the Field open to their Pride and Vanity.
1724 J. Swift Some Observ. Wood's Half-pence 27 His Majesty Pursuant to the Law, hath left the Field open between Wood and the Kingdom of Ireland.
1751 T. Smollett Peregrine Pickle II. lxi. 180 His tormentor..would undoubtedly shift his quarters, and leave the field free to his designs.
1820 T. S. Hughes Trav. Sicily I. iv. 127 Shall reformation..now retreat, and leave the field open to infidelity?
1846 Forest Hill I. xvii. 236 Its [sic] ‘yes Sir’,—‘no Sir’,—‘as you please, Sir’, leaving all the field wide open to Clotilda.
1882 Cent. Mag. June 301/1 The abolition of the low-priced pirated productions..would leave the field free for libraries.
1922 McClure's Mag. Mar. 105/2 He went, leaving the field free for Bill, who took prompt advantage of his opportunity to call.
2003 J. Dawson & S. Propes 45 RPM v. 33 [The strike] had depressed the availability of recordings by top pop talent, leaving the field open for small, independent companies to step in with non-union genres.
P5. to take the field: to commence military operations, to begin a campaign; to enter active (military) service; to go on to a sports field at the start of a game; (more generally) to enter into competition.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > war > wage war [verb (intransitive)] > go to war
to take the plainc1380
to go to war or warsc1450
to take the field1482
to go (etc.) on warfare1483
to pass (forth) in warfare1483
field1535
to go out1548
to go to the war(s)1600
to be (also go) on the warpath1841
to wash one's spears1892
1482 W. Caxton in tr. Higden's Prolicionycion viii. xiii. f. ccccvjv But blessyd be God the kynge and lordes had knowleche of theyr entente, and toke the felde to fore them.
1590 E. Daunce Briefe Disc. Spanish State 32 It behoueth him to take the field in March, or at the least in Aprill.
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. xv. 632/1 The morning approached, the French tooke the field.
1641 Naunton's Fragmenta Regalia sig. F4v They will..learne the strength of the Rebells, before they dare take the field.
1702 J. Savage Compl. Hist. Germany 129 Hearing that his Enemies had taken the Field, he march'd directly against them.
1773 J. Duncombe Surrey Triumphant in T. Evans Old Ballads (1784) IV. 329 At last, Sir Horace took the field, A batter of great might.
1855 D. Brewster Mem. Life I. Newton (new ed.) II. xiv. 3 The greatest mathematicians of the age took the field.
1879 J. R. Lumby Introd. to Higden (Rolls) VII. p. xx Gregory [VI] appealed to the emperor for help, and when an excuse of the Vandal war was made by him, the pope took the field himself against the robbers.
1942 B. Bandel Let. 14 Aug. in Officer & Lady (2004) 20 The embryo officers will be assigned to companies, and will learn with them..until they are ready to take the field.
1960 T. McLean Kings of Rugby 205 They took the field against Canterbury as if the match were ‘a piece of cake’.
1995 Daily Mirror 23 Feb. (Careers Suppl.) 6/3 Assistant bank manager David Aldred leaves his desk on Fridays, puts on his maroon beret and takes the field as Lance Corporal with the Paras.
2007 Wisden Cricketer May 44/5 Anybody not born in this great county shouldn't be allowed to take the field for Yorkshire.
P6. to lead the field: (a) to be first into battle (literal and figurative); (b) to be ahead of other participants in a hunt or (now more usually) a race or other competition.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > hunt [verb (intransitive)] > be first in the chase
to lead the field1617
1617 S. Collins Epphata to F. T. To Rdr. sig. (a)1 That one of his own name should lead the field in time to come, against the impugners of Soueraigntie.
1712 Examiner 30 Oct.–6 Nov. 1/1 They called in a forlorn Hope of upstarts..and pushing them forward, gave them an opportunity of leading the Field, and distancing both Parties.
1735 London Mag. May 269/1 With emulation fir'd They strain to lead the field, top the barr'd gate,..and brush the thorny twining hedge.
1833 Evangelical Reg. May 410 He led the field Against sectarian holds..And urg'd the sons of bigotry to yield.
1891 Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) 1 Dec. On a triangular or quadrangular fight [for the speakership] Mills can lead the field.
1981 O. Chadwick Popes & European Revol. i. 30 A war of pamphlets arose. Cardinal Quirini..led the field against Muratori.
2000 Disability Now May 47/1 (advt.) The centre is nationally recognised and acclaimed as leading the field in inter-agency partnership working.
P7. to have the field to oneself: to be free of rivals, to be unopposed.
ΚΠ
1794 R. B. Sheridan Duenna (new ed.) i. 28 If I could hamper him with this girl, I should have the field to myself.
1808 R. Cumberland Jew of Mogadore iii. 51 We have the field to ourselves, and Nadab at our mercy, now let us find out the Cadi, and impeach him.
1916 C. V. Stanford & C. Forsyth Hist. Mus. xi. 218 The chorus..became a shadow and the soloist had the field to himself.
2003 Mojo Nov. 134/2 Throughout 1977, Marquee Moon virtually had the field to itself. No other act straddled art rock and rebel rock so successfully.
P8. colloquial. to play the field.
a. Baseball (formerly also Cricket). To act as a fielder, to play as an outfielder; = field v. 2a.
ΚΠ
1858 Morning Post 10 June 3/4 It was a source of much gratification to witness the way in which he played the field to ensnare some of the old ones.
1903 World To-day Jan. 267/2 He is to secure this sum for his services, whether or not he plays the field for the New York American league team.
1988 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (Electronic ed.) 30 Aug. 5 Dwyer, who spent 21 days on the disabled list earlier in the season, won't be able to play the field at all because of a sore left arm.
2010 Providence (Rhode Island) Jrnl. 18 Mar. (electronic ed.) His shoulder was healthy enough to allow the traditional centerfielder to DH [sc. to play as a designated hitter], but not to play the field.
b. Originally U.S. Horse Racing. To bet on the field (sense 9a) rather than the favourite. Also in extended use. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1884 Trans. Calif. State Agric. Soc. 1883 114 The buyers of the short end only played the field on the off chance that Palo Alto's representative would break her neck.
1889 J. Splan Life with Trotters vii. 187 The Doctor..played the field against Wedgewood, a horse that had not yet come to the front.
1964 R. G. Martin Ballots & Bandwagons 268 Their great handicap was that they were playing the field against the favorite and seemed unable to focus on any single strong candidate.
c. Originally U.S. To avoid an exclusive commitment to any one person, cause, etc. (in later use frequently spec. with reference to sexual relationships); to explore the full range of possibilities.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > be inconstant [verb (intransitive)] > devote oneself to many things
to play the field1917
1917 Logansport (Indiana) Pharos-Reporter 6 Jan. 8/4 Speaker probably will have a harder time holding his honors than any other champion, for in baseball Dame Fortune is prone to play the field.
1920 W. H. Perkins Rep. Cases Court Appeals Maryland CXXXIV. 315 I did not tell her that I would not live with her any more, but I did say that I was going to play the field.
1936 L. Lefko Public Relations ii. 18 He hasn't any steady. He plays the field—blonde, brunette, or what have you.
1966 New Republic 3 Mar. 19 Japan Plays the Field. Peace and Trade with Everyone.
1991 She May 167/1 In relationships you are certainly not the type to play the field and, once you fall in love, no-one is more loyal and caring.
2009 Australian (Nexis) 7 Aug. 30 [He] had pulled out of the race some months earlier, deciding he wanted more time to play the field before committing to a full-time job as a big bank chair.
P9. Proverb. fields have eyes and woods have ears and variants: unseen people may be watching or listening. Cf. ear n.1 Phrases 3d.
ΚΠ
a1300 in Englische Studien (1900) 31 8 (MED) Veld haued hege, and wude haued heare. Campus habet lumen et habet nemus auris acumen.
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 664 That feeld hath eyen and the wode hath erys.
a1500 (?a1400) Tale King Edward & Shepherd (Cambr.) (1930) l. 268 (MED) Wode has erys, fylde has siȝt.
1605 P. Woodhouse Flea sig. B3 Know that fieldes haue eyes, & woods haue eares.
1863 H. W. Longfellow Saga King Olaf in Tales Wayside Inn 105 Forests have ears, and fields have eyes; Often treachery lurking lies.
1905 S. J. Weyman Starvecrow Farm xxviii. 320 Heedful of the old saying, that fields have eyes and woods have ears, she looked carefully round her before she laid her hand on the gate.
2008 C. Clark Hangman Blind (2009) 286 I'll be watching, waiting, following. You'll never get away. The fields have eyes.
P10.
a.
Field of Mars n. (a) chiefly historical the Campus Martius, an open space just outside the city boundary at Rome used by the ancient Romans for games, athletic practice, military drills, etc.; cf. camp n.2 10; (b) (also with lower-case initial in the first element) the sphere of warfare; the battlefield.
ΚΠ
a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1537) 118 She seing her husbande buried in the felde of Mars, scratched her vysage, & tare her heer.
1593 G. Harvey New Let. Notable Contents sig. B4v What hath the brauest man, that she hath not: excepting the Lion in the field of Mars, which she hath in the field of Minerua.
1721 Daily Post 22 Sept. 1/1 Cardinal Alberoni is very shortly going to dwell in a Palace that belongs to the Benedictin Nuns, whose Monastery is in the Field of Mars.
1792 A. Swinton Trav. Norway, Denmark & Russia 336 His little son..has already bled in the field of Mars: he was wounded at the siege of Oczakow.
1869 Hist. Mag. Mar. 187/2 In 1789, when he entered the field of Mars, Napoleon held a rank..of Sub-lieutenant in the French Artillery.
1900 Amer. Jrnl. Archaeol. 4 173 In Roman triumphs it was in the Field of Mars, before the Triumphal Gate (Porta Triumphalis) in front of the Circus Flaminius, that the welcoming scene took place.
1995 A. Halkin Enemy Reviewed 65 He simply saw the war as a great adventure affording man the supreme opportunity to prove himself on the field of Mars.
2001 M. Webb Churches & Catacombs of Early Christian Rome 143 In early Roman times it was named Campus Martius, the Field of Mars, which then included the whole area between the Capitoline, Quirinal, and the Pincian hills and the river Tiber, but which now refers to a much smaller area.
b.
field of Venus n. the sphere of love or romance; frequently contrasted with Field of Mars n. (b) at Phrases 10a.
ΚΠ
1683 Elegie on Earl of Essex (single sheet) As every Man were his own Fatal Catch, 'Tis in his Hands to forward the Dispatch; Some in the Field of Venus, some in Mars, Some meanly Hang themselves, some hang an Arse.
1787 Walker's Hibernian Mag. July 349/2 The adventures of the captain in the field of Venus, are as various as they have been on the ocean of Old Neptune—Priam of Troy could not boast a more numerous train of nymphs.
1864 J. Grant Laura Everingham xli. 295 If the Horse Guards make light of dangers risked in the field of Mars, they will make lighter still of those encountered in the field of Venus.
2004 L. E. Maguire Studying Shakespeare 76 Bertram's journey to selfhood in the field of Mars is thus easier than Helena's in the field of Venus.
P11. captain (also general, etc.) of the field: the captain (or general, etc.) commanding in a battle or campaign; also in extended use; cf. field general n. (a) at Compounds 5. officer of the field: = field officer n. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > leader or commander > officer or soldier of rank > [noun] > field-officer
officer of the field1535
field general1621
field officer1642
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Macc. xii. F Iudas called vpon the Lorde that he wolde be their helper, & captayne of the felde.
a1555 J. Philpot Let. to Lady Vane 10 Dec. in J. Foxe Actes & Monuments (1570) 2009/1 You haue so armed me to the Lords battell both inwardly and outwardly... You haue appointed me to so good and gracious a Generall of the field,..that [etc.].
1588 J. Aske Elizabetha Triumphans 16 (side note) The names of the Officers of the field belonging to the Campe.
1590 ‘Pasquil’ First Pt. Pasquils Apol. sig. D3 Equal, in respect of theyr fight in..battailes, as the Generall of the fielde and the common Souldiours are.
1650 M. Carter Most True Relation Exped. Kent, Essex, & Colchester 164 No Gunner should fire a Cannon without the Command of a Field Officer of his Post, or a General Officer of the Field.
1703 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion II. vii. 269 There were..above twenty Officers of the Field..slain upon the place.
1795 W. W. Seward Topographia Hibernica at Drogheda The three last, though they had been officers of the field, yet out of their zeal to the service, went on this occasion as private captains.
1841 Jrnl. Royal Asiatic Soc. 6 91 After the king, came his lieutenant-general of the field, and all his bow-men in rank, like a half moon.
1904 20th Cent. Biogr. Dict. Notable Americans X. at Webb, Alexander Stewart Meade mentions it as an act of bravery not surpassed by any general of the field.
1918 L. Perry Our Navy in War xiv. 261 A brief speech by Major-General George Barnett..to the officers of the field and staff of the overseas outfit.
P12. field of honour: the battlefield; (also) the field where a duel is fought.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > armed encounter > battlefield > [noun]
fieldeOE
place?c1225
fletc1275
champ of battlec1300
champany?a1400
o laundon?a1400
palaestrac1425
battle-stead1487
fighting-stead1487
open fielda1500
spear-field1508
joining-place1513
camp1525
foughten field1569
battleground1588
Aceldama1607
champian?1611
field of honour1611
champaign1614
standing ground1662
fighting-field1676
battlefield1715
society > armed hostility > armed encounter > battlefield > [noun] > place for single combat
champ closc1300
field of honour1995
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. xv. 632/1 We now goe into the field of honour, and to the worke of manhood, which your great valours so long haue expected and praied for.
1661 R. Boyle Some Consider. Style of Script. (1675) 209 He [sc. David] gathered bayes both on Parnassus and in the field of honor.
1779 A. Hewat Hist. Acct. Rise & Progress Colonies S. Carolina & Georgia II. x. 255 The duel..terminated without bloodshed, and not a little to the credit of the Scots officer, though his antagonist shewed no less spirit in the field of honour, falsely so called, than in defence of his country.
1824 W. Irving Tales of Traveller I. 52 My forefathers have been dragoons, and died on the field of honour.
1921 Times 19 July 13/2 Paying solemn and patriotic tribute to the memory of our troops fallen on the field of honour.
1995 Denver Post 9 Apr. d3/1 If someone said something..that really furred your duck, you invited him to the field of honor.
P13. field-star of Bethlehem: the plant star of Bethlehem (genus Ornithogalum). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > lily and allied flowers > hyacinth and allied flowers
jacinthine1513
jacinth1567
hyacinth1578
field-star of Bethlehem1812
Roman hyacinth?1877
Roman1881
1812 Monthly Mag. Suppl. No., 30 July 642/2 Upon the tomb itself we noticed the silvery mezereon, the poppy, the beardless hypecoum, and the field-star of Bethlehem.
1826 M. R. Mitford Our Village II. 172 The field-star of Bethlehem,—a sort of large hyacinth of the hue of the misletoe.
P14. field of force.
a. Physics. A field (sense 15a) in which a force is exerted on objects of a particular kind (e.g. electric charges). Cf. force field n. at force n.1 Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > mechanics > force > [noun] > area under influence of
field1845
field of force1850
force field1920
1850 M. Faraday Diary 23 July (1934) V. 325 When the opposed bodies are on opposite sides of the axis (Magnetic), then the figured forms would give fields of force in which the lines of magnetic power would vary.
1850 W. Thomson in London, Edinb., & Dublin Philos. Mag. 37 251 The ‘field of force’ [of a magnet] occupied by the mercury and watch-glass.
1920 A. S. Eddington Space, Time & Gravitation ii. 42 Since the effect of departing from Newton's standard frame is the introduction of a field of force, this generalised relativity theory must be largely occupied with the nature of fields of force.
1988 J. D. Barrow & F. J. Tipler Anthropic Cosmol. Princ. (rev. ed.) iv. 261 The Poisson–Laplace equation for the gravitational field of force in an N -dimensional space.
2003 I. J. R. Aitchison & A. J. G. Hey Gauge Theories in Particle Physics I. (ed. 3) ii. 30 He built his theory by analogy with electromagnetism, postulating a new field of force with an associated new field quantum, analogous to the photon.
b. figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > power > influence > [noun] > one who or that which influences
planetc1500
influenciary1659
influencer1664
influence1736
force1785
field of force1876
spiritus rector1876
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > theory of psychoanalysis > theories of Jung > ancestral experience > [noun] > component of > as centre of influence
field of force1943
1876 Trans. Wisconsin Acad. Sci., Arts & Lett. 3 136 Our public school system is enlarging its field of force so rapidly, that it is well to enquire if the improvement in quality keeps pace with that in quantity.
1943 H. Read Educ. through Art vi. 181 They [sc. Jungian archetypes] are centres of influence, or fields of force within the unconscious.
1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 23 Jan. 45/3 The present Byronic field of force.
1992 Internat. Rev. Appl. Linguistics in Lang. Teaching 33 180 There is indeed something like a field of force running through this utterance.
2000 A. McFadyen in A. Hastings et al. Oxf. Comp. Christian Thought 667/2 Original sin is a disorientating field of force that similarly captures our intentionality.., unplugging all relative goods from their relation to God and therefore from their own true being and freedom.

Compounds

C1. General attributive.
a.
(a) (In senses 1, 2.)Some of the more established compounds of this type are treated separately.
ΚΠ
OE Antwerp Gloss. (1955) 246 Oriades, muntælfen. Driades, wuduelfen. Moides, feldelfen.
lOE Bounds (Sawyer 284) in W. de G. Birch Cartularium Saxonicum (1885) I. 554 Þonne on felddene, andlang dene to wuda.
a1225 ( Royal Charter: Edgar to Ælfric (Sawyer 691) in S. E. Kelly Charters of Abingdon Abbey, Pt. 2 (2001) 370 Þas nigon hida licggead on gemang oþran gedallande feldlæs gemane & mæda gemane & yrþland gemæne.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. cix.1000 Avellana is a feld note [= nut] and a wode note.
c1480 (a1400) St. Justina 14 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 152 Þe Iow..þat in feld chapel lay.
?1507 C. Brandon et al. Iustes of Maye (de Worde) sig. A.vv At the felde ende was pyght..A pauyllyon on the grasse fresshe and nue.
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique iii. xliiii. 511 As for peare trees, apple trees, and others of that bignes, if you plant onelie one rowe by the sides of your field hedges or elsewhere, it will be inough to allow twentie feet betwixt one and another.
1641 N. Richards Poems Sacred & Satyricall 91 Field honour's but a Vapour; the sound brest, Puts on Church-Armour Faith, and sleights the rest.
1756 T. Hale et al. Compl. Body Husbandry iii. xix. 123/1 Holly..is..fitter than almost any Thing else for a Field Hedge, and is one of the unfittest that can be conceived for a Garden.
1819 P. B. Shelley Rosalind & Helen 57 Field smells known in infancy.
1884 Mag. of Art Mar. 215/2 The velvety green of spring-watered field-plots.
1904 W. Stevens Let. 6 Aug. (1967) 78 And it sounds, perfectly, like a field-noise at harvest.
1986 O. Rackham Hist. Countryside x. 224 Walnuts were much planted in field hedges but are rarely heard of again and may not have survived.
2005 A. Annakin-Smith Wirral Walks 110 Cross the stile and follow field edges to take you to the main road.
(b)
field crop n.
ΚΠ
1726 R. Bradley Country Gentleman & Farmer's Monthly Director 24 Pease, either the grey or other sorts proper for Field-Crops, may now be sown.
1860 P. H. Gosse Romance Nat. Hist. 105 The injuries done..in our field-crops.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) II. 1402 Sweet Corn..is a different variety, grown rather as a garden vegetable than as a field crop.
2009 Guardian 24 Jan. 8/4 Crop circles..are complex geometric patterns found impressed in field crops and other vegetation.
field-dew n.
ΚΠ
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream v. ii. 45 With this field deaw consecrate. View more context for this quotation
1884 Master's Rep. (Guild of St. George) 19 The soundest and fairest linen fabrics that care can weave, or field-dew blanch.
1998 G. Hill Triumph of Love in J. Wainwright Acceptable Words 80 Old stanchions wet with field-dew.
field drain n.
ΚΠ
1811 Communications to Board Agric. VII. xliv. 444 These field-drains are four feet wide at the top.
1914 R. Kipling Diversity of Creatures (1917) 45 The air was filled with the noise of rushing ditches and field-drains.
2001 Britannia 32 143 The land is flat, low-lying and wet, and is drained by a system of field drains.
field fence n.
ΚΠ
1636 Boston Rec. 13 It is ordered that all the feild fence shalbe made sufficient with duble rayle and payle before the first of the next second moneth.
1789 W. Marshall Rural Econ. Glocestershire I. 330 Mounds, field fences of every kind.
1886 J. Ruskin Præterita I. viii. 248 The field fences buried under crested waves of snow.
2005 L. Ham Nelson Way 113 Bear left to walk alongside the field fence and soon enter a wooded area.
field flower n.
ΚΠ
a1500 (?a1475) Guy of Warwick (Cambr. Ff.2.38) l. 55 (MED) Whyte sche was as felde flowre.
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler 214 Field-flowers..perfum'd the air. View more context for this quotation
1852 E. Bulwer-Lytton Falkland 59 I see him..gathering the field-flowers.
2007 E. Adler Meet Me in Venice xiv. 74 A great bouquet of field flowers that looked fresh-picked from some sunny meadow—daisies, sunflowers, goldenrod, lilacs and cherry blossom.
field gate n.
ΚΠ
1350–1 Manorial Documents in Mod. Philol. (1936) 34 41 Ffeldgate.
1607 E. Grimeston tr. Gen. Inuentorie Hist. France ii. 505 The Marquis of Guast had leysure to assemble his forces within Ast, and to enter into the Castle, by the field-gate.
1891 ‘S. C. Scrivener’ Our Fields & Cities 33 I was..glad to see the horse turning towards a field-gate.
2005 Britannia 36 243 The Roman road..running..in a north-north-easterly direction before curving to pass through the current field gate.
field husbandry n.
ΚΠ
1733 J. Tull Horse-hoing Husbandry xiii. 68 Most, if not all the Erudition, that can be acquir'd from the Greek and Latin Writers of Field-Husbandry in Verse and in Prose.
1984 E. Mphahlele Afrika my Music 10 Field husbandry has diminished considerably owing to the disruptive impact of the migrant-labour system and the lack of good land.
field mate n.
ΚΠ
1787 R. Burns Poems (new ed.) 68 The feather'd field-mates, bound by Nature's tie.
1875 L. Larcom Idyl of Work 133 Stanch friends and honest were he and his elder fieldmate, Time.
2007 J. Weeks Compl. Equine Training Man. 9 She [sc. a horse] was extremely anxious if separated from her field mates.
field measure n.
ΚΠ
1727 R. Bradley Compl. Body Husbandry xvi. 332/2 1 pole, or rod, or perch of field-measure for arable, medow or pasture.
1857 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 147 627 The Ordnance Survey Office have used, as standards of reference for field-measures, two 10-feet iron bars.
1991 F. A. Homann Pract. Geom. 15 The American Congress of Confederation..chose, against a decimal system proposed by Jefferson, field measures based on the English mile.
field name n.
ΚΠ
1869 J. Bannister Gloss. Cornish Names p. viii Many of the field-names in the Tithe Apportionments, made forty years ago, have been changed.
1924 E. Ekwall in Mawer & Stenton Introd. Surv. Eng. Place-names i. iv. 89 A full investigation of field-names..will probably often tell of a strong Scandinavian influence.
1996 R. Mabey Flora Britannica 47/1 ‘Crowpeckle’ survives in Northamptonshire in local vernacular and in field names such as Crowpightle.
field pastime n.
ΚΠ
1652 Earl of Monmouth tr. G. Bentivoglio Hist. Relations Flanders 53 She is given to exercise, and is a great friend to Hunting, and field pastimes.
1874 Gentleman's Mag. 13 308 A sport [sc. grouse-shooting] which shares with deer-stalking the pre-eminence over all our insular field pastimes.
1993 J. Burnham Bad Habits vi. 155 Upper-class field pastimes set the positive connotation of sport.
field path n.
ΚΠ
1566 W. Adlington tr. Apuleius .XI. Bks. Golden Asse xxxix. f. 90v My legges failed me, in such sorte that I coulde scarse come to the plaine fielde pathes.
1723 D. Defoe Hist. Col. Jack (ed. 2) 78 It was agreed to spread from the Field Path to the Road way.
1847 M. Howitt Ballads 294 Through old field-paths we'll wander.
2002 P. Long Guide to Rural Wales ix. 324 After an initial inland section along farm tracks and field paths this route includes a magnificent stretch of coastal walking.
field rent n.
ΚΠ
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Champart, fielde rent.
1796 S. Perry Hist. Sketch French Revol. I. 213 The exoneration from tythes and field rents.
2001 Jrnl. Econ. & Social Hist. Orient 44 464 Delivery of field rent in produce on the threshing floor is often prescribed in contemporary field lease contracts.
field road n.
ΚΠ
1743 W. Stukeley Abury viii. 36 Three stones lie still by the field-road coming from South-street to the Caln-road.
1864 H. Spencer Illustr. Progress 418 While along the field-roads..the movement is the slowest.
1995 J. Hildebrand Mapping Farm ii. 21 We drive back down the field road to a shelterbelt of wind-stunted cedars.
field seed n.
ΚΠ
1744 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman Apr. ii. 3 This early Spring Month, April, is not so late a one, as to deprive the Farmer of sowing several Sorts of Field Seeds.
1888 Daily News 11 Sept. 2/5 A fair amount of business is now being transacted in field seeds.
2006 Ecol. Applic. 16 846/2 This resulted in four seed sources for our experiments: early and late greenhouse seed, and early and late field seed.
field tent n.
ΚΠ
1592 R. Dallington tr. F. Colonna Hypnerotomachia f. 2 Heere appeareth no humaine creature to my sight, nor syluan beast, flying bird, countrey house, field tent [It. tugurio campestro], or shepheards cote.
1755 T. Smollett tr. M. de Cervantes Don Quixote II. iv. vi. 367 Among these trees, we have pitched some field-tents.
1996 High Country News 10 June 10/2 Costs range from $700 to more than $3,000 for one-to two week trips with far cushier accommodations than field tents.
field wall n.
ΚΠ
1763 Philos. Trans. 1762 (Royal Soc.) 52 545 The persons, who built it, would be at the trouble to remove that part of the circle, that was without, for the sake of building a field-wall.
1883 T. Lees Easther's Gloss. Dial. Almondbury & Huddersfield Gapstead, an interval in a field wall intended for a gate, or merely used for the passage of cattle.
1992 Independent 21 Sept. 8/1 The endangered landscapes include the remains of Bronze Age settlements, roads, field walls and cemeteries.
fieldway n.
ΚΠ
1665 R. Head Eng. Rogue I. sig. D4 Travelling the Field-way, we stumbled on a Tinker and his Trull.
1754 J. Justice Scots Gardiners Director 151 The green Dutch Turnip may be sown in the Garden, even in the Field Way.
1908 M. Hewlett Halfway House i. vi. 58 They walked by field-ways some couple of miles in the direction of Stockfield Peverel.
2000 Britannia 31 376 An indistinct bank..previously dismissed as an old fieldway.
b.
(a) With the sense ‘of or relating to the battlefield or (more generally) active military service’, or ‘intended for use or deployment in battle or on campaign’ (cf. sense 6).Some of the more established compounds of this type are treated separately.
ΚΠ
1761 T. Smollett et al. tr. Voltaire Wks. VI. 78 They had no field operations..; their only method of making war was by incursions.
1788 D. Dundas Princ. Mil. Movements 39 The opposite points being more immediately connected with field movement, which is the great object of this work, are looked upon as fundamental and indispensable.
1792 Rules & Regulations for Formations His Majesty’s Forces iii. 54 Officers become perfect in the three great and important field duties of precision and energy in their commands; exact distances of march; and the correct dressing, and covering of pivots.
1803 (title) The art of war epitomised; or, a compendious system of field tactics, according to the practice of the most celebrated generals and engineers.
1813 W. Wheeler Let. 7 Aug. (1951) 122 We..received a lecture from Genl. Inglis for following the enemy down the hill, contrary to the sound of the field-bugle.
1881 Daily News 29 Dec. 3/2 Some [officers] have aptitudes for learning languages, others for mathematics,..others again for field strategy.
1914 Times 30 Oct. 6/3 Here and there could be seen the light grey field kit of the German soldier.
1992 B. W. Menning Bayonets before Bullets i. 48 The revised document covered the general situation for field movements and corresponding issues of reconnaissance and security.
2003 B. Horn & M. Wyczynski Paras versus Reich viii. 167 The exercise provided the unit with an opportunity to integrate..the new reinforcements into the unit in a field setting.
(b)
field ambulance n.
ΚΠ
1836 United Service Mag. July 421 Whether as a fixed article of hospital matériel..or as a portable item of field ambulance, it appears to us well worthy of general adoption.
1846 Confessions of Homœopathist xiii. 260 The glorious principle of universal application..should be held in mind, in conducting the field ambulances for the wounded.
2009 Express & Echo (Exeter) (Nexis) 21 Apr. 2 A new fleet of..support vehicles..to carry out a range of tasks from field ambulances to ammunition supply.
field army n.
ΚΠ
1645 Moderate Intelligencer No. 1. 6 He takes Ordnance and other necessaryes for a field Army.
1789 tr. J.-C. Laveaux Life Frederick II II. 114 It is in these regiments that all the foreign recruits are placed on their arrival, and supplies are drawn from them to complete the field army.
1868 Times 11 Aug. 10/4 To take the right was to add to the toils of the siege the duty of withstanding any enterprises which might be undertaken by the enemy's field army.
2000 T. Clancy Bear & Dragon liv. 855 Make it a real field army rather than a theoretical expression on paper.
field battalion n.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > unit of army > [noun] > regiment > infantry regiment > division of
foot company1586
company1590
field battalion1714
section1863
1714 Earl of Balcarres Acct. Affairs Scotl. 104 Having drawn up his Field Battalions only three Men deep, which made a very long Front.
1875 G. P. Colley in Encycl. Brit. II. 596/1 An infantry regiment [in the Prussian army] has three field battalions.
2004 M. W. Charney Southeast Asian Warfare vi. 154 Each of Ayudha's nine field battalions included sixteen elephants kept in the rear.
field commander n.
ΚΠ
1606 T. Campion in B. Barnes Foure Bks. Offices sig. aj Th'art no Law-pronouncer mark't by fate, Nor field commander.
1771 J. Foot Penseroso vi. 286 Thy field commanders too, Britannia, claim The tribute of our song.
1868 Radical Feb. 386 In the pending battle, the strategy of the field commanders is just here open to criticism.
2003 National Post (Canada) 8 Apr. 17/1 A top British field commander estimated yesterday that Basra fell 25% thanks to combat and 75% through this ‘hearts-and-minds’ strategy.
field equipment n.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > [noun] > field equipment
train1523
train service1753
field equipment1787
supply train1788
field park1805
1787 W. Fullarton View Eng. Interests India 198 The most eligible position for a cantonment, where a strong force, complete in every circumstance of field equipment, should at all times be stationed.
1875 G. P. Colley in Encycl. Brit. II. 579/2 The war establishment of a field equipment troop is 6 officers and 233 men.
2002 R. M. Bassett And Wind blew Cold 7 We were ordered to fall out with full field equipment and sent double-timing to the rifle range.
field exercise n.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > drill or training > [noun] > type of drill or training
sham fight1598
field exercise1616
martinet1677
field evolutions1789
foot drill1795
goose-step1806
war-game1828
rope drill1833
field training1836
repetition training1859
skeleton drill1876
drill-down1889
Beast Barracks1896
basic training1898
monkey motion1909
assault course1915
TEWT1942
workup1971
Taceval1977
1616 J. Bingham in tr. Ælian Tactiks ii. 13 When field exercise through negligence and slouth was given over, armour began to growe heavy, because it was sieldome put on.
1768 J. Muller Treat. Artillery (ed. 2) vii. 159 When all the field exercises and that of small arms are over, and nothing to be done, a detachment of private men..should be ordered to attend the laboratory.
1908 Daily Chron. 16 Apr. 4/6 Some 200 of the London Scottish will be quartered at Aldershot for range work and field exercises.
2004 K. L. Lane Guadalcanal Marine ii. 30 We marched out into the countryside on a two- or three-day field exercise.
field force n.
ΚΠ
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. xvi. 652/1 With these field-forces the maime [sic] of the English estate in France was held together.
1787 W. Fullarton View Eng. Interests India 107 The first object of my command was to augment our field force, by battalions from Tanjore, Tritchinopoly, and Tinivelly.
1858 Observer 12 July 3/3 Without reckoning the troops employed in the various field forces and moveable columns, there are no less than 107 military posts and stations.
1991 T. Pakenham Scramble for Afr. xxvi. 474 As a commander, Baratieri knew the difficulties of supplying even a modest field force 150 miles from its base.
field furniture n.
ΚΠ
1633 tr. Great & Famous Battle of Lutzen 4 Their field furniture they left behind, believing they should returne to lodge in Naumbourg.
1765 H. Timberlake Mem. 52 This [sc. the tomahawk] is one of their most useful pieces of field-furniture, serving all the offices of hatchet, pipe, and sword.
1896 Med. Age 25 June 357/1 The folding field furniture issued by the Medical Department to-day, except the mess (operating) table..and the desk, is too bulky for transportation.
2007 S. D. Kassow Who will write our Hist.? vii. 281 The German army placed enormous orders for basic field furniture, brushes, mirrors, and so on.
field insignia n.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military organization > insignia > [noun] > of general officer
field insignia1823
1823 J. Badcock Domest. Amusem. 34 This stick, or baton..became the field insignia of a general.
1918 A. G. Empey Tales from Dugout 151 A tall, fair-haired Corporal, who wore..a little blue and red ribbon on the left breast of his tunic, the field insignia of the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
1993 G. L. Rottman Armies of Gulf War (2003) 62/3 (caption) Enlisted field insignia are black on khaki. Officer's field insignia are generally stencilled yellow.
field kitchen n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > equipment for food preparation > cooking establishment or kitchen > [noun] > field or army kitchen
field kitchen1796
trench kitchen1860
slum gun1917
soup gun1918
popote1928
society > armed hostility > military organization > logistics > [noun] > provision or procurement of supplies > supplies > ration > field kitchen
field kitchen1796
trench kitchen1860
popote1928
1796 J. Ebers New & Compl. Dict. German & Eng. Lang. I. 865/2 Feldküche, die, the Kitchin of the Suttler, a Field-Kitchin.
1832 United Service Jrnl. Nov. 379 The field-kitchens are all on one model, and kept exceedingly clean.
1915 ‘I. Hay’ First Hundred Thousand xiv. 191 We might..let the grooms and drivers go with..field kitchens.
2004 J. Ruppert One of Us p. xix As we lined up for noon chow in front of the field kitchen, a jeep pulled into the area.
field telegraph n.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telegraphy > telegraph > [noun] > types of
field telegraph1795
enunciator1847
needle telegraph1847
indicator-telegraph1875
multiple telegraph1876
harmonic telegraph1878
Fullerphone1917
telecon1946
1795 Times 4 Apr. 3/4 At Berlin, M. Aschard..has invented what he calls a Field Telegraph, on so light a construction, that it may be erected or taken down in a few minutes.
1875 G. P. Colley in Encycl. Brit. II. 597/2 The field telegraph detachments..are trained in peace time to everything connected with telegraphy.
1960 L. Naiswald Grape & Canister x. 250 Burnside used his field telegraph to advise Franklin that all the artillery he needed could be had from the batteries on the bluffs.
2001 I. F. W. Beckett Mod. Insurgencies & Counter-insurgencies ii. 35 Other technology that counted in the favour of the Europeans included..the field telegraph and steam power.
field telephone n.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > telephone equipment > [noun] > telephone > types of
microtelephone1879
field telephone1880
telephone extension1881
pay telephone1886
home telephone1893
substation1897
extension1906
railophone1911
dial phone1917
payphone1919
dial telephone1921
autophone1922
mobile telephone1930
viewphone1932
videophone1944
mobile phone1945
car phone1946
video telephone1947
speaker-phone1955
picture telephone1956
princess phone1959
touchtone telephone1961
touch-tone1962
touchtone phone1963
picture phone1964
Trimphone1965
princess telephone1966
vision-telephone1966
visiophone1971
princess1973
warbler1973
landline1977
cardphone1978
feature phone1979
smartphone1980
mobile1982
cell phone1983
Vodafone1984
cellular1985
mobile device1989
brick1990
satphone1991
celly1992
burner phone1996
keitai1998
burner2002
1880 Pall Mall Gaz. 30 Mar. 2/2 One army had a field telephone in full operation, while the other had a captive balloon.
1939 W. H. Auden & C. Isherwood Journey to War ix. 222 Soldiers installed a field-telephone.
1993 ‘A. McNab’ Bravo Two Zero (1994) iv. 64 We discussed the way we would communicate between the two groups—whether it would be by comms cord..or by field telephone.
field troops n.
ΚΠ
1712 Post Boy 7–9 Aug. 1/2 In the Places upon the Frontiers of Catalonia, where the Field-Troops are in Motion.
1875 G. P. Colley in Encycl. Brit. II. 595/2 Field troops [in the Prussian army] in peace time form the standing army.
2003 A. Mayor Gatekeeper xiv. 189 This is just the brass chasing its tail while the field troops are getting the job done.
c.
(a) (In sense 13).Some of the more established compounds of this type are treated separately.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > research > [adjective] > employed in the field
field1727
1727 J. Douglas Surveyor's Utmost Desire Fulfilled 28 In Field Operation, the Lines described upon the said Square, may not be hid by the Breadth of the visual Rulers.
1791 T. Milne in G. Adams Geom. & Graphical Ess. 316 For field surveying, when no uncommon accuracy is required, cutting a bit off any link..answers the purpose.
1898 W. James in University Chron. (Univ. Calif.) 1 301 The hunters and field-observers of living animals' habits.
1915 J. P. Williams-Freeman Introd. Field Archæol. p. viii A general introduction to Field Archaeology.
1949 M. Fortes Social Struct. p. vi Much as the theory owes to Durkheim, its emphasis on synchronic study and its rejection of conjectural history are the results of field experience.
1960 S. Kauffmann If it be Love ii. 24 It'd be a help if I had some of the field reports.
1984 Evolution 38 406 A greater proportion of intermediate individuals was observed in broods reared in laboratory conditions than was detected in the field sample.
1994 Jrnl. Kansas Entomol. Soc. 67 107 Adults from the field strain flew more frequently than those from the lab strain.
2007 Church Times 30 Mar. 10/2 I was on a field visit to Gandhian non-governmental organisations.
(b)
field archaeologist n.
ΚΠ
1871 A. Cunningham Archæol. Surv. India 1862–5 I. Introd. p. xix During James Prinsep's life-time, the materials collected by these ‘field archæologists’..were all made over to him.
1915 J. P. Williams-Freeman Introd. Field Archæol. p. xix Hampshire is..a happy hunting-ground for the Field Archaeologist.
1991 Antiquity 65 906/2 Careful trowelling by a field archaeologist of very great experience.
field biologist n.
ΚΠ
1910 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. July 500 Expert judgment in the matter of..coloration lies, not with the biologist, not even with the field-biologist, but with the student of color.
1978 R. Dawkins in Nature 9 Nov. 122/3 If the molecular neutralists are right, their kind of neutral mutation will forever be hidden from the field biologist and from natural selection.
2005 A. Burdick Out of Eden (2006) xxi. 271 He's a real field biologist; he's not a desk jockey.
field character n.
ΚΠ
1882 G. F. Becker Geol. Comstock Lode 57 Field character.—In the most important part of the District lying in the immediate neighborhood of the productive portion of the Lode, the hornblende-andesite is dark and fine-grained, and contains only small hornblendes.
1937 Brit. Birds 31 84 Field characters, habitat, song and ‘habits’ generally.
1993 M. W. Klemens Amphibians & Reptiles Connecticut vi. 268 Field characters include keeled scales and a distinctive pattern of yellowish hourglass shaped bands on a copper-colored dorsum.
field experiment n.
ΚΠ
1862 Q. Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 14 190 The magneto-electric apparatus employed in all the field experiments was Mr. Wheatstone's arrangement of six small magnets.
1922 Psychol. Rev. 29 301 A field experiment in this connection involves the observation of the degree of understanding which we derive from listening to conversation.
2002 B. Wrenn et al. Marketing Res. ii. 50 It is also possible to use more elaborate measurement techniques in a laboratory setting than in field experiments.
field geologist n.
ΚΠ
1837 Church of Eng. Q. Rev. Oct. 328 His deductions are of the utmost importance, but they are so only when in the hands, and under the guidance, of the field Geologist.
1901 Pop. Sci. Monthly Mar. 516 With such a map the field geologist can begin intelligently his geological work.
1997 Guardian 22 July i. 18/1 The high-school kid got a summer job as an apprentice lapidary, cutting and polishing stones; he was by then an accomplished field geologist.
field investigation n.
ΚΠ
1840 H. D. Rogers 4th Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv. State of Pennsylvania 9 I hope..to be able to complete nearly the whole of the field investigations, by the close of the next season.
1952 G. H. Dury Map Interpr. xii. 116 Field investigation is required..to prove that these valley-bottom villages are, in fact, sited on patches of low terrace.
2001 P. Springer Blood Stains vi. 67 They began going over the facts of the case and reviewing new information that had come in while they were conducting the field investigations.
field measurement n.
ΚΠ
1827 11th Ann. Rep. Board Public Wks. Virginia 31 Both..depend chiefly on the calculations and platting of the field measurement.
1907 Surveyor 31 July 124 The field measurements were carried out during the hottest part of each day.
2000 C. D. Whiteman Mountain Meteorol. iii. 28 Relative humidity can be determined in the field using humidity measurement instruments called hygrometers. The most popular instrument for field measurements is the sling psychrometer.
field naturalist n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > study > person who studies > [noun] > natural history
naturalist1600
natural historian1640
physiologist1653
naturala1682
field naturalist1789
physiophilist1804
natural scientist1872
naturist1925
wildlifer1963
1789 G. Montagu Let. 21 May in G. White Nat. Hist. Selborne (1877) II. 236 I was induced to take this liberty as you say you are a field-naturalist.
1904 Nature 31 Mar. 507/2 His work forms an excellent history of these beautiful birds, and is alike interesting to the field naturalist and the aviculturist.
2000 Seasons Autumn 14/3 An exciting opportunity for bird watchers and field naturalists to contribute critical information about..Ontario's nesting birds.
field observation n.
ΚΠ
1758 P. Callan Diss. Pract. Land-surv. Ireland 18 Entertainment is generally given to the Surveyor and his Horse during the Time he is taking his Field Observation, or otherwise detained abroad.
1857 J. B. Jukes Student's Man. Geol. i. vii. 245 Care must be taken, therefore, in field observations, not to rely too implicitly on mere bands of colour in slate rocks.
2007 Brit. Jrnl. Hist. Sci. 40 211 This must have made it easier for Fleming to move in that direction without conceding too much to the Huttonian geology he still regarded as insufficiently based on field observation.
field recording n.
ΚΠ
1934 Science 25 May 487/1 The improved techniques of field recording and of laboratory study.
1936 Pop. Sci. Monthly Aug. 18/3 More and more field recordings are constantly being made for sound collections.
2000 S. Broughton et al. World Music: Rough Guide II. i. 173/1 This beautiful disc features field recordings of the music of Kmhmu tribes.
field rep n.
ΚΠ
1919 Bull. Amer. Libr. Assoc. 13 510 Jones, Caroline L., field rep. A.L.A.L. War Service.
1943 Billboard 17 Apr. 3/3 The ASCAP auditors and field reps are mainly interested in switching them from per-program contracts to blanket licenses.
2001 Maritime Reporter & Engin. News Sept. 18 (advt.) The system gives field reps, at their laptops, accurate and up-to-date data for making decisions locally.
field representative n.
ΚΠ
1875 Baltimore Underwriter 6 May 348/2 Their field representatives are brought professionally together, and whatever benefits them can only redound to the benefit of the companies they represent.
1945 Public Admin. Rev. 5 100/1 When precedental decisions were in the making our headquarters staff had no communications from our field representatives.
2010 San Antonio (Texas) Express-News (Nexis) 14 Jan. nh5 The field representative may also be carrying a bag with a Census Bureau logo.
field research n.
ΚΠ
1892 Science 28 Oct. 248/1 The connection..is matter for field research, and cannot be decided in the closet upon general principles.
1937 R. H. Lowie Hist. Ethnol. Theory ix. 151 They lead to still another extension of traditional field research.
2009 Amer. Jrnl. Internat. Law 103 1 We are grateful for the financial support..which funded field research in Quito, Lima, and Bogotá.
field researcher n.
ΚΠ
1929 G. Heard Ascent Humanity i. 47 The first field-researchers, or rather collectors,..were compelled to inquire how the savage conceived the spiritual life.
1970 A. Ginsberg Let. 26 Nov. (2008) 358 My ‘tips’..were drawn from Senatorial statement backed by..field researchers on the spot.
2005 L. Leblanc Pretty in Punk i. 25 Field researchers must therefore rely chiefly upon methods of nonprobability sampling.
field sales n.
ΚΠ
1903 Daily Californian 30 Sept. 5/3 Edward Kelnmeier will look after the field sales in the future.
1978 Detroit Free Press 5 Mar. b13/5 The training course..consists of a month in field sales, four months in marketing research..and three months on merchandising and promotion.
2004 E. Roman & S. Hornstein Opt-in Marketing 135 The reality of field sales is that time is money.
field study n.
ΚΠ
1831 J. Rennie Montagu's Ornithol. Dict. (ed. 2) p. x In field study, we go at once to the fountain-head, and obtain our facts pure and unalloyed by the theories and opinions of previous observers.
1930 E. E. Hunt Audit of Amer. 8 We have as yet no method for summing up individual incomes into a family income, exc. that of direct field studies.
2004 National Geographic Feb. 84/1 So began a ten-year mission—the longest continuous field study of little-known Erythrocebus patas.
field survey n.
ΚΠ
1812 Estimates (Ireland) 2 in Parl. Papers CXXXVII. 94 Mr. Richard Griffith, junior, has also completed the general Field Surveys of the Bogs in the North-west of Mayo.
1932 H. C. Brearley Homicide in U.S. 10 There is need of a thorough field survey to determine how accurate are the homicide reports.
2000 N.Y. Times 15 Oct. xi. 1/2 The study..involved three and a half years of field surveys.
d. With reference to the performance of a dog in the field, esp. as opposed to when being shown (cf. bench n. 9).
ΚΠ
1860 J. P. Hamilton Reminisc. Old Sportsman II. xxxiv. 52 He..still declares that in field qualities she surpassed every dog he had ever shot to.
1883 Chambers's Jrnl. 305/2 Add to this, strong legs, good round cat-like feet..and we have the ‘bench’ and field properties of a greyhound.
1906 Recreation Apr. 360/1 When a man is buying [a dog] for field purposes, with show qualities a minor consideration.
1919 W. H. Miller Amer. Hunting Dog p. vi How to raise him from puppyhood to maturity; how to train him for staunch and efficient field service.
1998 D. Rice Brittanys 60/1 Many Brittanys are purchased with no intention of field competition, but rather for private weekend shooting expeditions.
C2.
a. Objective, as field-burning, field-making, etc.; field-tilling adj., etc.
ΚΠ
?1435 in C. L. Kingsford Chrons. London (1905) 86 (MED) The kyng..shulde..be compelled to haue made a ffelde..the whiche ffelde makyng hadde ben aventuryng off this lande.
1596 F. Sabie Dauid & Bathsheba in Adams Complaint sig. F Field-tilling Swains driue home their toiling teams.
1601 J. Weever Mirror of Martyrs sig. Evjv Feeld-purging Februarius.
1840 Farmer's Mag. Apr. 292/1 These three substances are incombustible, and by such a heat as is used in field-burning—unchangeable.
1871 M. S. Robinson Work Two Great Captains ii. 35 Roger was slow to believe that a farm could be brought under cultivation without field-clearing and wall-building.
1996 Q Jan. 60/2 Nachos. Erstwile repast of choice for moustachioed, field-tilling Mexicanos.
b. Instrumental and locative.
(a)
field-based adj.
ΚΠ
1961 Geogr. Jrnl. 127 248 There are also a number of essays on more geographically specific topics:..Gosling's, very worth-while and field-based, on the method of locating ‘problem areas’ in Malaya.
1983 N.Y. Times 19 Jan. b3/1 Theirs is a field-based job... The whole essence is to be out on the streets.
2005 C. Bazerman & R. A. De los Santos in R. A. Harris Rhetoric & Incommensurability x. 440 Ecology is anchored in the field-based study of systems over time, requiring statistical studies as well as qualitative observation.
field-collected adj.
ΚΠ
1920 Jrnl. Econ. Entomol. 13 132 A counted number of field-collected weevils was introduced into each jar.
1970 Jrnl. Gen. Psychol. 82 28 The differences in data gathered from laboratory bred and field collected animals.
2005 D. S. Ireland & K. T. Ho in P. J. den Besten & M. Munawar Ecotoxicol. Testing Marine & Freshwater Ecosystems x. 10 Maintaining the integrity of field-collected sediment during removal, transport, storage, mixing, and testing is extremely difficult.
field-faring adj. now rare
ΚΠ
1817 T. Forster Synoptical Catal. (new ed.) in Observ. Nat. Hist. Swallows (ed. 6) 72 Fieldfare. [Note] That is, field-faring bird.
1869 A. D. Whitney Hitherto III. iv. 81 Up above were the dust and hurry and toil of high roads and field-faring men; here it was holy holiday, always.
1875 R. Jefferies in Fraser's Mag. Sept. 382 (title) Field-faring women.
1928 N. Douglas Old Calabria viii. 62 I have known these field-faring men and women for thirty years, and have yet to hear a single one of them grumble at the weather.
field-grown adj.
ΚΠ
1834 ‘B. Moubray’ Pract. Treat. Domest. Poultry (ed. 7) xix. 350 The wheat intended for malt must not be field-grown or mow-burnt.
1937 Amer. Home Apr. 146/4 (advt.) 4 large, 2 year field grown rose bushes guaranteed to bloom, sent postpaid for $1.00.
1990 Amateur Gardening 7 Apr. 26/3 Walk past the field-grown wildflowers and you come to a demonstration area for the haymeadow seed mixtures.
(b)
field-dweller n.
ΚΠ
1575 in E. A. Bond Russia at Close of 16th Cent. (1856) Introd. 9 The..Tartars are barbarowse and fyilde dwellers.
1875 F. W. Newman tr. Sophocles Antigone in Fraser's Mag. July 92/1 O Love..Who sea-traversing roamest, Or where field-dwellers nestle.
1983 Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 26 Oct. The partridge and grouse, the first a field-dweller found in the eastern part of the province, the latter a forest bird.
C3. In the names of animals, often in the sense of ‘wild’, to indicate a species found in the open country (sometimes opposed to house or town).
† field-ass n. Obsolete a wild ass.
ΚΠ
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Jer. ii. 24 A feld asse [L. onager] vsid in wildernesse.
?a1425 (a1415) Lanterne of Liȝt (Harl.) (1917) 46 (MED) Þe pray of þe lioun is þe feelde-asse in wildirnes.
field bee n. (a) a wild bee, esp. one which lives in open countryside (now rare); †(b) spec. any of various bumblebees (genus Bombus) and mason bees (genus Osmia) (obsolete); (c) (in bee-keeping) a mature worker bee that forages for nectar (rather than working within the hive).
ΚΠ
eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in W. G. Stryker Lat.-Old Eng. Gloss. in MS Cotton Cleopatra A.III (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1951) 58 Adticus, feldbeo, dora.
OE tr. Medicina de Quadrupedibus (Vitell.) vi. 252 To eagena beorhtnysse, wudubuccan gealla gemencged wið feldbeona hunige [L. cum melle attico] & on gesmyred, seo beorhtnys him to cymð.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. xii. 1145 Some beþ feeld ben; and some beþ wode been.
1641 J. Day Parl. Bees sig. D2v A field Bee speak with me?
1769 J. Berkenhout Outl. Nat. Hist. Great Brit. & Ireland I. 168 [Apis] Rufa. Small Field Bee.
1807 Prize Ess. & Trans. Highland Soc. Scotl. 3 143 The large field bees feed on the coarser honey of the broad red clover.
1880 G. M. Doolittle in Amer. Bee Jrnl. 16 125/1 The bees..are all old, or field bees, and are wholly unfit to feed and nurse the embryo queens.
1918 D. H. Lawrence New Poems 10 As a field-bee, black and amber, breaks from the winter-cell.
2004 Frederick (Maryland) News-Post 2 June a11/5 Just before the new queens emerge, the old queen will take one-fourth or one-third of the field bees and scouts to find a new home.
field bug n. now rare any heteropteran bug living in open country (and hence distinguished from the bedbug); esp. any member of the large superfamily Pentatomoidea, which includes shield bugs and burrowing bugs.
ΚΠ
1787 G. Adams Ess. Microscope 693 The elytra of the cimeces, or field bugs, which are a very numerous tribe, afford a great variety of objects.
1800 E. Donovan Nat. Hist. Brit. Insects IX. 21 Cimex bicolor. Black and White Field Bug.
1840 J. Loudon & M. Loudon tr. V. Köllar Treat. Insects ii. 148 The painted field-bug..becomes a dangerous enemy to the different plants of the cabbage tribe.
1890 Cent. Dict. Field bug, a bug of the genus Pentatoma.
1914 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 205 128 A very definite and copious exudation of sugar..suffices to attract insects, more particularly a field bug, Odontopus sexpunctulatus.
field cricket n. any cricket of open country, esp. one of the widespread subfamily Gryllinae (family Gryllidae); (now spec.) Gryllus campestris of European grassland; cf. house cricket n. at house n.1 and int. Compounds 9.
ΚΠ
1600 tr. T. Garzoni Hosp. Incurable Fooles A iv Those field-Crickets..play the parrats so notably.
1682 tr. J. Goedaert Of Insects 114 I cut off the head of one of them; which after 2 dayes was wholy eaten by another Field Cricket.
1781 G. White Jrnl. 2 May (1970) xvi. 185 Field-crickets crink: this note is very summer-like, & chearful.
1864 Proc. Entomol. Soc. Philadelphia 3 44 They are light-brown with dark markings, not quite so large as the field-cricket (Acheta abbreviata Harris).
1969 D. F. Costello Prairie World vii. 132 The common field cricket (Acheta assimilis), found in every vegetation type in the United States, reaches its climax in numbers on the prairie in autumn.
1995 New Scientist 10 June 6/1 In 1991, the field cricket (Gryllus campestris) survived at just two places in Sussex.
† field duck n. [after post-classical Latin anas campestris (c1600 or earlier)] Obsolete the little bustard, Tetrax tetrax.
ΚΠ
1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. 179 The Field-Duck seems to us to be a bird peculiar to France... It is so called..because it sits on the ground like the Water-Duck.
1755 Philos. Trans. 1754 (Royal Soc.) 48 502 The coloured print..represents the otis minor, anas campestris, canne petiere, the field duck, which was taken in the west of England, and laid before the Royal Society about three years ago.
1862 C. A. Johns Brit. Birds Index 612/2 Field Duck, the Little Bustard.
field finch n. rare any of various small finch-like songbirds of open grassland.In quot. 1829: a Mexican bird with dark plumage, perhaps a siskin (genus Carduelis). In quot. 1918: the grassland yellow finch, Sicalis luteola (family Thraupidae) of South America.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > seed eaters > [noun] > family Emberizidae > subfamily Emberizinae (bunting) > genus Sicalis
field finch1829
seed finch1862
1829 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom VII. Pl. facing p. 304 The Field Finch. Fringilla campestris Pr. Musignano?
1875 ‘Ouida’ Signa I. xii. 266 The cicale buzzed in chorus in the tree-tops, and all the field finches strained in their pretty throats in rivalry.
1918 W. H. Hudson Far Away & Long Ago iv. 58 The field finch does not twitter or chirp and has no break or sudden change in his song.
field lark n. (a) the skylark, Alauda arvensis (now rare); (b) any of several pipits (genus Anthus); esp. the meadow pipit, A. pratensis (now rare); (c) U.S. regional a meadowlark (genus Sturnella).See also old-field lark n. at old field n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Alaudidae > genus Alauda > alauda arvensis (lark)
laverockeOE
larka1325
tiry-tiry-leerer1599
skylark1672
field lark1678
Our Lady's hen1701
1575 G. Turberville Bk. Faulconrie 172 There is a kinde of Larkes..whiche do not mounte as the long spurde fielde Larke doeth, but flee forheade before the Merlyn.
1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. ii. 207 Mr. Jessop suspects that there is yet another different sort of this bird, which may be called the lesser field-lark.
1713 J. Ray Synopsis Methodica Avium et Piscium 69 The common Field Lark, or Sky-Lark.
a1883 G. W. Bagby Old Virginia Gentleman (1910) 126 We hear his gun go off, and he comes back presently bringing a field-lark in his hand.
1939 C. A. Naether Bk. of Pigeon vii. 147 This pigeon derives its name from the European field lark, in that each one of its wing feathers has the characteristic ‘larking’, that is a small, dark brown or chestnut brown triangle which points toward the tail.
1999 W. H. Turcotte & D. L. Watts Birds Mississippi 413/2 The Eastern Meadowlark, or ‘field lark’, is a bird of open, grassy country.
field martin n. U.S. regional a kingbird (genus Tyrannus, family Tyrannidae); esp. the widespread eastern kingbird, T. tyrannus, which has a black head, grey back, and white underparts.
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1785 T. Jefferson Notes Virginia vi. 125 (table) Lanius tyrannus. Muscicapa coronâ rubrâ. Tyrant. Field martin.
1810 A. Wilson Amer. Ornithol. II. 66 [The] Tyrant Flycatcher, or King-Bird, Muscicapa Tyrannus,..is the Field Martin of Maryland and some of the southern states.
1875 Amer. Cycl. XI. 207/2 The fierce little king bird (sometimes called field martin).
1966–7 in Dict. Amer. Regional Eng. (1991) 405/2 Field martin.
field mouse n. any of various mice or other small mammals found in the open countryside and recognized as being distinct from the house mouse, now esp. mice of the Eurasian genus Apodemus or the American genus Peromyscus, or (now North American) voles of the genus Microtus; esp. (more fully long-tailed field mouse) the wood mouse, A. sylvaticus; (more fully short-tailed field mouse) the field vole, M. agrestis (now rare).See also old-field mouse n. at old field n. Compounds 2.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Rodentia or rodent > superfamily Myomorpha (mouse, rat, vole, or hamster) > [noun] > family Muridae > genus Apodemus (field-mouse)
mygalea1382
field mouse?1440
ranny1559
hardishrew1601
wood mouse1601
nossro1686
bean-mouse1766
St. Kilda mouse1899
Fair Isle1906
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) i. l. 918 (MED) As for the feeld mous..With affadille vp close her holis alle.
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Mygala, a felde mouse with a longe snoute, callyd a shrewe.
1577 Hill's Gardeners Labyrinth 31 Byrdes, Antes, Field Mice, and other spoylers of the Garden Herbes.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 542 Of Wilde Field-Mice... There is of these mice two kinds, a greater and a lesser.
1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors vii. 415 We saw also, neer Terki, a kind of Field-mice, which in the Arabian Language are called Jerbuah.
1766 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. i. 50 The short tailed Field Mouse.
1774 tr. J. von Stæhlin Acct. New Northern Archipel. 32 The speckled field-mouse (Mus Citellus), which they call Jewraschki or Suslik.
1824 P. Schmidtmeyer Trav. into Chile v. 88 The Chinchilla is a woolly field mouse, which lives under ground, and chiefly feeds on wild onions.
1861 C. Norton Lady of La Garaye iii. 69 The small field-mouse, with wide transparent ears, Comes softly forth.
1956 Jrnl. Mammalogy 37 297 The order of preference for..foods in the diet of field mice was concluded to be wheat, corn, oats and barley, and pumpkin seeds.
1997 Guardian 4 Jan. i. 15/4 A sudden glut of field mice is guzzling away at the crops.
field plover n. U.S. a plover or similar bird; esp. (a) the upland sandpiper, Bartramia longicauda; (b) the American golden plover, Pluvialis dominica.In quot. 1829: (apparently) the Eurasian golden plover, P. apricaria.
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1829 A. Wilson Amer. Ornithol. III. 162 Black-bellied Plover... This bird is known in some parts of the country by the name of the large Whistling Field Plover.
1844 Nat. Hist. N.Y., Zool. II. 247 The Grey Plover..is known under the various names of..Grass Plover, Upland Plover, and Field Plover.
1917 Birds of Amer. I. 257 Golden Plover, Charadrius dominicus dominicus..Other Names.—American Golden Plover;..Field Plover; Green-back.
1928 Auk 45 248 The Eskimo Curlew has been, practically, if not absolutely, exterminated and the Field Plover is rapidly following, being eagerly sought after as a table delicacy and a substitute for the Curlew.
field rat n. (originally) any of various rodents that frequent cultivated land, including voles (genus Microtus) and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus; esp. (in later use) any of several Asian and Australasian rats of the genus Rattus.
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1609 P. Erondelle tr. M. Lescarbot Noua Francia ii. xxiv. 275 The stalke & Corne taken greene, haue a sugar taste, which is the cause why the Mowles and field Rattes doe so couet it, for they spoiled me a plot of it in New France.
1755 F. Watson Animal World Display'd (ed. 2) i. xi. 113 There is also a Field-Rat, different from that about Houses; for its Tail is hairy.
1841 Penny Cycl. XX. 61/1 The Field Rats (Arvicola, Lácèp.), subdivided into the Ondatras.., the ordinary Field-Rats (Arvicola, Cuv., Hypudæus Ill.), and the Lemmings.
1904 W. V. Moody Fire-bringer ii. 46 Wolves, snakes, and field-rats, crept from out the flood For hunger and the hell-bred fog to rot!
1997 New Scientist 26 Apr. 4/3 Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam are interested in using it to control the field rat, which destroys rice crops.
field slug n. any of various terrestrial slugs; esp. (more fully grey field slug) Deroceras reticulatum (family Agriolimacidae), native to Europe and widely introduced in North America and elsewhere, which is an important pest of crops and garden plants.
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c1807 R. J. Thornton New Illustr. Sexual Syst. Linnaeus I. 33 It is the sweetness of this fluid in the seminal leaves of the turnip that invites the field slug (Limax agrestis).
1862 Recreative Sci. 3 321/2 The L. flavus, or variegatus..is twice the size of the field slug.
1924 Times 18 Feb. 18/4 The destructiveness of the field slugs is less obvious to sight, but they are equally voracious.
2009 Farmers Weekly (Nexis) 26 June Grey field slugs (Deroceras reticulatum) do the most damage. They are usually quite small..and are most active on the soil surface.
field sparrow n. any of several small songbirds; spec.: (a) a small New World sparrow, Spizella pusilla (family Emberizidae), of eastern North America; (b) Scottish and Irish English (northern) the dunnock, Prunella modularis.In quot. 1753 not clearly identified (perhaps the Spanish sparrow, Passer hispaniolensis).
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1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Passer The passer sylvestris, or field sparrow of Aldrovand..is of a dusky rust-coloured brown and has a broad streak running from the angle of its beak to its tail.
1792 W. Bartram Trav. N. & S. Carolina (new ed.) ii. x. 289 P[asser] agrestis; the little field sparrow.
1810 A. Wilson Amer. Ornithol. II. 121 Field Sparrow, Fringilla Pusilla.
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 28 Hedge sparrow,..Field sparrow, or Fieldie (Roxburgh).
1904 W. G. Stevenson Glen Sloken viii. 64 ‘There's a fieldy wi' three eggs,’ says the elder brother, and the younger never forgets the beautiful turquoise-blue of the field sparrow's egg.
1988 W. Berry Remembering v. 88 The field sparrow's song spiraling suddenly up into the light on the ridgetop.
1996 C. I. Macafee Conc. Ulster Dict. 124/1 Field sparrow, a bird: the dunnock.
field spider n. a spider which lives in fields or open countryside, as distinct from one commonly found in buildings or gardens; esp. (often with distinguishing word) any of various spiders of the family Araneidae.
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1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 60v The roote of Myrrhis dronken in wyne helpeth the bytynges of feldespyders.
1647 H. More Philos. Poems iv. vi Unlesse that wiser men make't the field-spiders loom.
1742 H. Baker Microscope made Easy ii. xxv. 201 There is a little white Field Spider with short legs, found plentifully among new Hay.
1866 J. Cundall Every-day Bk. Nat. Hist. 385 The Gossamer, or Field Spider is very minute... The insect may be seen ascending a blade of grass and throwing out lines of web in the direction of the wind.
1936 Folk-lore 47 366 The next jingle was addressed to a long-legged species of field spider.
1997 V. Carruthers Wildlife Southern Afr. (2000) 19 Hairy Field Spiders. Genera Neoscona and Araneus.
field titling n. English regional the tree pipit, Anthus trivialis.
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Motacillidae > genus Anthus > anthus trivialis
field titling1828
ground-lark1848
tree-lark-
1828 J. Fleming Hist. Brit. Animals 75 Anthus trivialis. Field Titling.
1864 J. C. Atkinson List Provinc. Names Birds Field Titling, Prov. name for the Tree Pipit, Anthus arboreus.
1907 J. Watson & B. Winder Woodlanders & Field Folk 47 A bird loved of the country folk, for they have many provincial names of their own, of which pipit-lark, field-titling, and tree-lark, are a few.
field tortoise n. rare †(a) a mole (obsolete); (b) a land tortoise.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > [noun] > order Insectivora > family Talpidae > genus Talpa (mole)
wanteOE
mouldwarpa1325
molec1400
talpec1440
blind-mouse1607
mowdie1656
field tortoise1694
Talpa1706
1694 P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais Pantagruel's Voy.: 4th Bk. Wks. vi. lxiii. 250 Rhizotome with the soft Coat of a Field-Tortoise [Fr. tortue de garrigue], alias eclip'd a Mole, was making himself a Velvet Purse.
1857 J. Bowring Kingdom & People Siam I. vi. 231 The field-tortoise is often hunted by dogs: both the flesh and the eggs of the animal are a favourite Siamese dish.
1912 Psychol. Clinic 5 126 A field tortoise was kept in the class room.
field vole n. a common Eurasian vole, Microtus agrestis, which inhabits grassland and is the principal prey of many predatory birds and mammals; also called short-tailed vole.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Rodentia or rodent > superfamily Myomorpha (mouse, rat, vole, or hamster) > [noun] > family Microtidae > genus Microtus > microtus agrestis (field vole)
meadow rat1781
meadow mouse1801
vole1805
field vole1828
campagnol1835
meadow vole1840
1828 J. Fleming Hist. Brit. Animals 23 The field vole is most destructive in gardens to seeds.
1868 J. G. Wood Homes without Hands xxxi. 598 The Short-tailed Field Mouse otherwise termed Campagnol or Field Vole (Arvicola arvensis).
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) I. xiii. 266 The field-vole is an enemy of the humble-bee and often burgles the nest, devouring the plump grubs.
2009 Guardian (Nexis) 31 July 32 The owl drops to the ground and disappears into the vegetation.., sometimes rising again in possession of its favourite prey—a field vole.
C4.
a. In the names of plants that grow in open grassland, or as weeds of pastureland, cornfields, etc.Frequently translating the specific epithets arvensis and campestris (cf. campestral adj.).field mallow, maple, pepperwort: see the second element.
† field ash n. Obsolete rare the rowan or mountain ash, Sorbus aucuparia.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > berry-bush or -tree > [noun] > mountain ash
quick treeeOE
wycheOE
quickena1400
foldc1420
rowan-tree1483
quickbeam?1537
wild ash1552
field ash1578
mountain ash1597
quicken berry1597
whitten1633
witchen1664
quickenberry tree1671
wicky1681
rowan1751
narrow-leaved service tree1793
sorb1796
bastard mountain ash1800
roundwood1846
fowler's service tree1859
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball vi. lxx. 748 Feelde Ashe.
1597 J. Gerard Herball iii. civ. 1290 Fielde Ash... Mathiolus maketh this to be Sorbus syluestris, or wilde Seruice tree.
1886 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names 181 Field Ash, Pyrus Aucuparia.
field balm n. either of two similar plants of the mint family ( Lamiaceae ( Labiatae)), catnip, Nepeta cataria, and ground ivy, Glechoma hederacea (which was formerly included in the genus Nepeta).
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1789 W. Aiton Hortus Kewensis II. 316 Field Balm, or Calamint.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. I. 118 Field balm, Calamintha Nepeta.
1935 W. C. Muenscher Weeds ii. 401 Nepeta hederacea... Ground ivy, Gill-over-the-ground, Creeping Charlie, Cats-foot, Field balm.
2001 Charlotte (N. Carolina) Observer (Nexis) 12 Aug. (Living section) 2 Catnip—Nepeta cataria—also known as catmint or field balm, is easy to grow in the home garden or in a flowerpot.
field basil n. any of several aromatic herbs of the mint family ( Lamaiceae ( Labiatae)); esp. wild basil, Clinopodium vulgare (formerly included in the genus Satureja); cf. basil n.1 2.
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1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball 242 The Herboristes do call this herbe Vaccaria..We may call it Field Basill or Cowe Basill.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. v. 87/2 Field Basil, or Beds foot flower, the leaves and stalk hairy.
1742 J. J. Dillenius Let. 13 May in J. Bartram Corr. (1992) 193 There is a Clinopodium (Field or Wild Basil) in Virg. Maryl. Pensylv. with a row of purple Leafes round the fine Yellow hooded Flowers.
1886 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names 27 Basil, Field, Stone, or Wild, book-names for Calamintha Clinopodium..and C. Acinos.
1922 Amer. Botanist 28 121 Several species of Satureia are also called ‘basil’. The one most frequently so named is S. vulgaris which is ‘wild basil’, ‘field basil’ and ‘stone basil’.
2007 G. Allen Herbalist in Kitchen 229 Clinopodium vulgare (sometimes called Satureja vulgaris or Calamintha Clinopodium): Basil, basilweed, dog mint, field basil, hedge basil, [etc.].
field bindweed n. a European bindweed, Convolvulus arvensis, which grows as a weed of arable land.
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1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. ccciii. 714 There is a kind of Bindweed that hath a rough root full of threddie strings, from which rise vp immediately diuers trailing branches, wherupon do grow leaues like the common field Bindweed.
1708 tr. J. P. de Tournefort Materia Medica i. §1. xiii. 45 The Leaves are ranked by one another, after the manner of the lesser Field Bindweed.
1861 A. Pratt Flowering Plants & Ferns Great Brit. IV. 17 Field Bindweed..is one of the most troublesome weeds.
1916 F. D. Gardner Successful Farming 368 If the land is planted to crops that can be cultivated very often throughout the growing season, field bindweed can be completely eradicated in two years.
2003 Which? May 40/2 If you find that controlling deep-rooted perennials like field bindweed, horsetail and creeping thistle is proving difficult, consider a systemic weedkiller.
field briar n. now rare any of several prickly scrambling shrubs found in hedgerows, esp. the field rose, Rosa arvensis.
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?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Paris) (1971) 518 Of the see brere and of þe feld brere.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. iv. 96/2 The flower white, of five leaves, with a thrum of yellow, which after turn to Black-berries growing altogether in a knot, bulbes like; there is the Garden Brier, which is sweet; and the Field Brier, which is not.
1790 W. Marshall Rural Econ. Midland Counties II. 114 The following are found in too great abundance... Prunus spinosa—shoethorn. Rosa arvensis—field briar. Rubus fruticosus..common bramble.
1895 Atlantic Monthly Nov. 633/2 Her hands hung helplessly. On the back of one, the right one, some field brier had left its mark,—a scratch, a smear of blood.
1992 P. Marren Wild Woods vii. 140 Yellow pimpernel, field briar, early purple orchid, sweet woodruff, wood millet and yellow archangel are common along the rides.
field bromegrass n. any of several European bromegrasses; esp. Bromus arvensis.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > weed > grasses perceived as weeds > [noun] > brome-grass
field bromegrass1762
rye brome1798
1762 W. Hudson Flora Anglica 39 Field brome-grass.
1802 G. V. Sampson Statist. Surv. Londonderry App. 15 Bromus Secalinus, field brome-grass; called by the farmers sturdy.
1830 J. Baxter Libr. Agric. & Hort. Knowl. 244 The..field brome grass..is found in some of the best pastures.
2002 Essent. Tools (Brooklyn Bot. Garden) 31 Winter rye and field bromegrass are two hardy crops that are often planted in the fall for winter cover and then turned under in the spring.
field chickweed n. a mouse-ear chickweed, Cerastium arvense, having white flowers and found in grassy or rocky habitats throughout Europe and in parts of North and South America.
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1775 H. Rose in tr. C. Linnaeus Elements Bot. App. 446 Caryophyllus arvensis umbelliferus... Field chickweed bearing the flowers in an umbel.
1853 A. Pratt Wild Flowers II. 165 The Field Chickweed thrives best on dry, sandy, and gravelly places, flowering in June. Its large blossoms of pure white are very pretty.
2001 E. Hay Student of Weather 353 ‘Field chickweed,’ he says of the tiny white flowers everywhere.
† field cypress n. Obsolete the ground pine, Ajuga chamaepitys (family Lamiaceae ( Labiatae)), a low-growing Eurasian plant with long narrow leaves and small yellow flowers; cf. cypress n.1 2b.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > labiate plant or plants > [noun] > bugle plant or bloom
thunder-cloverc1000
buglea1300
wood-browna1300
prunella1527
ground-pine1551
consound1578
field cypress1578
forget-me-not1578
middle comfrey1578
prunel1578
ajuga1640
ground-ivy1640
bugle-bloom1818
bugleweed1841
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball i. xviii. 28 Called..in English..Ground Pyne..and field Cypres.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Ive arthritique, Hearbe Iue, ground Pine, field Cyprues, Forget-me-not.
1710 W. Salmon Botanologia I. cccxxx. 466/2 We in English call it Ground Pine, also Gout Ivy, and Field Cypress.
1863 R. C. A. Prior On Pop. Names Brit. Plants 80 Field Cypress, the Ground pine, from its terebinthinate odour and divided leaves, Ajuga chamæpitys.
field elm n. a European elm, Ulmus minor, probably originating in southern Europe and formerly widespread across more northern areas, now rarely cultivated due to its susceptibility to Dutch elm disease.The taxonomic position of this species is disputed; it is highly variable and comprises several subspecies which some authors believe should be treated separately.
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1722 J. Miller Botanicum Officinale 459 Ulmus, the Elm-Tree... Campestris, the Field-Elm.
1847 Amer. Agriculturalist Aug. 250/1 The European, or Field Elm, has been sparingly planted in the Northern and Middle States, and forms a desirable tree in parks and lawns.
1975 Times 19 July 13/7 Planting 5,000 trees a year, it would take 200 years to replace half the equivalent of the original field elms in this country.
2005 New Phytologist 166 1026/1 The field elm U. minor, native from Europe was highly present in most natural floodplain landscapes before the DED outbreaks.
field forget-me-not n. a kind of forget-me-not, Myosotis arvensis, common in open grassland; = field scorpion grass n.
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1843 tr. Redbreast, & Other Tales 22 In this manner, the humble field forget-me-not will be of more value than gold.
1905 Jrnl. Hort. & Home Farmer 6 July 8/2 Our little field Forget-me-not was formerly the Scorpion-grass, and others in its genus were also esteemed as remedies for bites or stings.
1996 R. Mabey Flora Britannica 311/1 Garden annuals are usually the large-flowered form of field forget-me-not, M. arvensis, var. sylvestris.
field garlic n. either of two kinds of wild garlic, Allium oleraceum of northern Europe (also more fully streaked field garlic), and crow garlic, A. vineale, now considered a troublesome weed of pastureland in North America.
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1802 A. F. M. Willich Domest. Encycl. II. 365/1 The oleraceum, Streaked Field-garlic, or Wild Garlic, which is perennial; grows in pastures, meadows, and among corn.
1861 Illustr. Ann. Reg. Rural Affairs 99 Field Garlic or Wild Garlic, (Allium vineale.)—Nearly allied to the onion, and growing in many places extensively in meadows and pastures.
1911 J. Y. Bergen & O. W. Caldwell Pract. Bot. 471 Of the plants which give a bad taste to milk, field garlic or wild onion is the most important.
1996 R. Mabey Flora Britannica 419/1 Field garlic, A. oleraceum, and wild onion or crow garlic, A. vineale, are wiry, medium to tall perennials, with narrow, more or less cylindrical leaves.
field gentian n. a European dwarf gentian, Gentianella campestris, which typically has purplish or white flowers and grows on open grassland.
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1783 W. Curtis Catal. Brit. Plants 119 (table) Gentiana Amarella. Gentian autumnal. [Gentiana] campestris. [Gentian] field.
1861 A. Pratt Flowering Plants & Ferns Great Brit. IV. 6 Field Gentian..contains in every part of it some of the tonic bitter principle common to the tribe.
1903 Irish Naturalist July 197 The Field Gentian was in quantity, and looked lovely, surrounded by the scant and parched herbage of the rocky headland.
2005 Daily Tel. 9 May 8/1 Additions to the Government's Red List include the corn buttercup, prickly poppy and field gentian which were once found in abundance all over the country.
field kale n. now rare charlock, Sinapis arvensis, common as a weed of cornfields.
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1863 F. Burr Field & Garden Veg. 223 (heading) Field Cabbage. Field Kale for mowing. Chou à Faucher. Vil.
1901 N. Blanchan Nature's Garden 301 Another common and most troublesome weed from Europe is the Field or Corn Mustard, Charlock or Field Kale (Brassica arvensis)..found in grain fields, gardens, [etc.].
1940 E. R. Spencer Just Weeds iii. 129 One of the meanest weeds of small grain fields is what is known as Wild mustard, Field mustard, Charlock, Field Kale, Kedlock.., and Yellow flower. These are the names of the weed in different localities.
field madder n. †(a) rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis (see note) (obsolete); (b) a cornfield weed, Sherardia arvensis, of the madder family ( Rubiaceae), which is native to Europe, North Africa, and parts of Asia, and has small lilac flowers and bristly leaves arranged in whorls.In sense (a) only in apparently erroneous Old English and Middle English glosses of Latin ros marinus, rosmarinum rosemary, which, unlike Sherardia arvensis, is not used as a dye plant; no satisfactory explanation has been found for the apparent error.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Rubiaceae or Galiaceae (bedstraw, etc.) > [noun]
wild madderc1450
crudwort15..
Our Lady bedstraw1527
Our Lady's bedstraw1543
galion1548
maidenhair1548
purple goose-grass1548
cheese renning1578
crosswort1578
golden mugget1578
petty mugget1578
lady's bedstraw1585
maid's hair1597
cheese rennet1599
runnet1678
field madder1684
mugweed1690
rondeletia1739
Richardia1755
petty madder1760
madderlen1770
galium1785
Sherardia1785
joint-grass1790
mugwort1796
bluet1818
bedstraw1820
madderwort1845
hundredfold1853
honeywort1863
OE Brussels Gloss. in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 300 Rosmarinum, feldmædere.
lOE Durham Plant Gloss. 17 Rosmarinum, sundeav uel bothen uel feldmedere.
a1500 Agnus Castus (Laud) (1950) 201 (MED) Ros marinus is an herbe þat me clepuþ rosmarine or feld madere.
1684 R. Sibbald Scotl. Illustr. ii. i. 46 Small creeping Field-Madder.
1796 W. Withering Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 185 Sherardia arvensis... Little Field Madder. Little Spur-wort.
1894 Times 21 May 12/1 Amongst other weeds of arable land..are the little field madder and the tall-growing corn gromwell.
1996 R. Mabey Flora Britannica 340/1 A low, bristly annual of disturbed and cultivated ground on chalky soils, field madder has clusters of small flowers ranging from pale pink to mauve.
field marigold n. the corn marigold, Chrysanthemum sagetum (now sometimes placed in the genus Glebionis).
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1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. iv. 69/1 He beareth Sable, a wild Field Marygold slip, this is also termed, an Oxe-Eye if Yellow, and a Wild Daisie if White, the Seeds or Thrum in the middle, yellow.
1773 W. Hanbury Compl. Body Planting & Gardening II. 53/1 The Annuals that present themselves under this head, are, 1. Pot Marigold. 2. Field Marigold. 3. Jerusalem Marigold... 6. Æthiopian Naked-stalked Marigold.
1846 L. Hooper Lady's Bk. Flowers & Poetry 148 The Field Marigold is a native of most parts of Europe, and differs but little from the garden Marigold, except in being altogether smaller.
1996 Chiltern Seeds Catal. 41 Field Marigold. Surprisingly rarely available is this attractive little annual from the Mediterranean region.
† field marjoram n. Obsolete wild marjoram, Origanum vulgare.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > labiate plant or plants > [noun] > marjoram
organOE
marjorama1393
origanuma1398
origan?1440
organuma1450
orgament1552
grove marjoram1578
goat's marjoram1597
goat's organy1597
orgamy1609
field marjoram1640
origany1728
hop-plant1817
mastic1852
1640 J. Parkinson Theatrum Botanicum 12 The wilde or field Marjerome.
1728 R. Bradley Dict. Botanicum at Majorana sylvestris, The Wild or Field Marjoram, sendeth forth many brownish hard square Stalks.
1807 Med. & Physical Jrnl. June 565 Origanum... Wild, or field marjoram.
field mint n. a wild mint, Mentha arvensis, widespread in north temperate regions with clusters of pale pink to purple flowers; also called corn mint.
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eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in W. G. Stryker Lat.-Old Eng. Gloss. in MS Cotton Cleopatra A.III (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1951) 316 Mentasri, feldminte.
OE Brussels Gloss. in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 301 Mentarium, feldminte.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §518 We see that Water-mint turneth into field-mint and the Colewort into Rape by neglect.
1789 J. Pilkington View Derbyshire I. viii. 421 Field Mint... Not uncommon.—When eaten in large quantities by cows, from extreme hunger, it is said to prevent their milk from yielding curd.
1815 Farmer's Mag. Aug. 361 We think the field mint (Mentha arvensis) may be destroyed best by August culture, when its top is buried and its white roots exposed.
1922 Amer. Botanist 28 120 The only species [of mint] native to both sides of the ocean is Mentha arvensis which is known as field mint and corn mint for growing in cultivated fields.
1999 H. W. Phillips Central Rocky Mountain Wildflowers 41 Hikers and canoeists often smell the strong aroma of field mint, crushed underfoot, before they see it.
field mushroom n. the edible mushroom Agaricus campestris, found chiefly in north temperate regions growing in open grassland in late summer and often collected for eating but rarely cultivated; also called meadow mushroom.
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1683 Minute 27 June in T. Birch Hist. Royal Soc. (1757) IV. 211 Mr. Evelyn said, that he had a perfect mushroom petrified, which he took to be a field mushroom.
1768 London Mag. July 341/2 However various the species of esculent mushrooms are reckoned, there is but one with us of common use, viz. the field mushroom.
1832 E. Lankester Veg. Substances Food 331 The Field Mushroom..is the only species..cultivated in this country.
2007 Esquire Sept. 78/1 The Full Borough is a mouth-watering plateful of Ayrshire smoked bacon, Cumberland sausages, fried bread, black pudding, grilled tomatoes, field mushrooms and egg.
field mustard n. either of two cruciferous plants commonly found as weeds in Europe and North America, charlock, Sinapis arvensis and a wild form of Brassica rapa.
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1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. ix. 189 The tame or garden mustard, hath..long cods, slender and rough, wherein is conteined round seede.., of taste sharp and biting the toong, as doth our common fielde mustarde.
1727 B. Langley New Princ. Gardening vii. i. xxiii. 57 Of their several Seeds to make Mustard with for Sauce, the Field Mustard is the best.
1874 Jrnl. Hort., Cottage Gardener, & Country Gentleman 15 Jan. 71/1 Field mustard, which is a weed covering many a cornfield in some parts of the country, flowers about the same time as field beans.
1906 A. M. Dowd Our Common Wild Flowers lii. 98 We have found that they [sc. the cabbage and turnip] and can serve us, and so they are garden vegetables, while their sister, the field mustard, serves herself and is a troublesome weed.
2003 M. J. Chrispeels & D. E. Sadava Plants, Genes, & Crop Biotechnol. (ed. 2) xx. 531 To minimize this occurrence [sc. transgene escape], GM canola is not cultivated where its close relatives (such as field mustard, Brassica rapa) are dominant weeds.
† field nigella n. Obsolete the corncockle, Agrostemma githago.
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1587 T. Newton tr. L. Lemnius Herbal for Bible xlvi. 227 With this may be ioyned another kinde of weede called Githago, Nigelweede or fielde Nigella.
1678 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) Cockle, a Weed call'd Corn-rose, Darnel, or field-Nigella.
1886 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names Field Nigella or Field Nigelweed. Lychnis Githago.
† field nigelweed n. Obsolete = field nigella n.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > weed > [noun] > popple or cockle
popplea1400
nigella?a1425
field nigelweed1578
gith1597
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball ii. xi. 160 Cockle or fielde Nigelweede, hath straight..stemmes.
1886 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names Field Nigella or Field Nigelweed. Lychnis Githago.
field poppy n. the common wild poppy, Papaver rhoeas; (also) any of various other kinds of poppy found in cornfields, as P. dubium.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > poppy and allied flowers > poppy
poppyeOE
wild poppya1300
red poppya1400
mecop1480
corn-rose1527
field poppy1597
redweed1609
darnel1612
cockrose?1632
canker1640
tell-love1640
rose poppy1648
erratic poppy1661
corn poppy1671
headwark1691
cop-rose1776
headachea1825
thunderbolt1847
thunder-flower1853
Iceland poppy1870
Greenland poppy1882
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. cccxiii. 742 The flowers growe at the top of the stalks..hauing in the middle a bunched pointell, like the head of a fielde Poppie when it is yoong.
1665–76 J. Rea Flora 190 The Double Popy differeth only from the single field Popy in the doubleness of the flowers.
1792 C. Smith Desmond III. xi. 164 Last night I observed, mingled with them, a root of the field poppy, still in flower.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 842 The Field Poppy, P. Rhœas, one of the most brilliant of our wild plants.
2007 K. Smith Oh Garden of Fresh Possibilities xii. 96 The field poppies are single, silky-red blossoms with black blotches at their hearts.
field rose n. a European wild rose, Rosa arvensis, with scented white flowers and a scrambling growth habit.
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1796 T. Holcroft tr. F. L. Stolberg Trav. I. xxi. 145 I plucked a field rose, whose strong and fresh odour was invigorating; like that kind of aromatic perfume, which is only to be met with in high lands.
1869 Catholic World June 406/2 The field-rose (rosa arvensis) trails its long branches and clusters of white flowers all over Europe.
1942 Times 2 July 7/3 The field rose (arvensis) is usually a little later than the trailing dog rose in coming into bloom.
2004 Cornish Guardian (Nexis) 2 Sept. 48 In Cornwall..we have several wild varieties such as the dog and burnet roses, but the best, in my opinion is the field rose.
field rush n. now rare any of several rushes, chiefly of north temperate regions, which grow as weeds of grassland; esp. = field woodrush n.
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1777 W. Curtis Flora Londinensis I. following Pl. 140 (heading) Juncus campestris. Hairy Field Rush.
1860 A. Catlow Pop. Field Bot. (ed. 4) 53 Luzula campestris... Field-Rush. Its leaves greatly resemble grass, but are clothed with silky hairs.
1940 E. R. Spencer Just Weeds 71 No frequently used path in the United States and Canada is likely to escape a margin of Wire grass, Path rush, Field rush, Slender yard rush, or Poverty grass, its other names.
field scabious n. a tall perennial herb, Knautia arvensis (family Dipsacaceae), of dry ground in north temperate regions which bears leafless stems of rounded bluish pink flower heads.
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1652 N. Culpeper Eng. Physician 201 The common field Scabious groweth up with many hairy, soft, whitish green Leaves.
1714 Philos. Trans. 1713 (Royal Soc.) 28 58 The Leaves next the Root are whitish and jagged like the small Field Scabiose.
1893 G. E. Dartnell & E. H. Goddard Gloss. Words Wilts. 117 Pincushion, Scabiosa arvensis, L., Field Scabious.
2007 Ecologist July–Aug. 58/3 Along sunny hedgerows, look out for the pale mauve cushions of field scabious.
field scorpion grass n. = field forget-me-not n.
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1713 J. Petiver Catal. Ray's Eng. Herbal Water Scorpion-grass, Field Scorpion-grass, Small Scorpion-grass.
1861 A. Pratt Flowering Plants & Ferns Great Brit. IV. 48 Field Scorpion-grass..the whole plant is rough with spreading bristles.
1998 Western Morning News (Plymouth) (Nexis) 15 Apr. 6 The common forget-me-not we find in fields and roadsides is also called field scorpion grass, because the stem is curved like a scorpion's tail before it unfurls as the flowers open.
† field senvy n. Obsolete rare the mustard plant; cf. mustard n. 2, senvy n. 1.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > medicinal and culinary plants > medicinal and culinary plant or part of plant > [noun] > mustard plant
senvya1300
mustard1340
mustard seed?1523
field senvy1597
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 190 Common Mustarde, or fielde Senuie.
field southernwood n. an artemisia, Artemisia campestris, commonly found on open land.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Compositae (composite plants) > [noun] > Artemisia or mugwort
mugworteOE
artemisiaOE
mugweeda1400
motherwort1440
matricary1523
French wormwood1548
holy wormwood1548
sea-mugwort1548
sea-wormwood1548
tree wormwood1548
Roman wormwood1551
southernwood1577
garden cypress1578
mouse-wort1607
field southernwood1739
sage1805
hyssop1807
sage-bush1807
appleringie1808
absinth1841
sage-brush1850
1739 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. II. at Abrotanum Abrotanum campestre incanum, carlinæ odore... Hoary Field Southernwood, with a Smell like the Carline Thistle.
?1768–9 Encycl. Brit. (1771) I. 428/1 There are 23 species of artemisia, only 4 of which are natives of Britain, viz. the campestris, or field-southernwood [etc.].
1861 A. Pratt Flowering Plants & Ferns Great Brit. III. 262 Field Southernwood..is a very rare plant..The involucre is of a purplish-brown colour.
1980 R. Stark Bk. of Aphrodisiacs 89 Field Southernwood, Artemisia campestris, employed medicinally in much the same way as Southernwood, is not as potent.
field violet n. any of several wild violets found in grassland, esp. Viola arvensis, with white and yellow flowers, and the scentless dog violet, V. canina, with blue-purple flowers.
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1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. cxi. 366 The smallest Bell flower hath many round leaues, very like those of the common field Violet.
1740 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. (new ed.) at Viola Viola arvensis tota luteo... Field Violet, with a Flower all yellow.
1822 A. Eaton Man. Bot. (ed. 3) 515 Viola..arvensis (field violet)... Petals white, the lower one spotted with yellow.—Smith sets this down under V. tricolor, as one of it's varieties.
1918 House & Garden Sept. 37/1 The grass is powdered with drifts of bluets, mingled with the large blossoms of the field violet.
2008 Windsor (Ontario) Star (Nexis) 11 Oct. f8 Two types of violets can be found in lawns—field violets (annual) and sweet violets (perennial).
fieldweed n. North American (now rare) any of several similar plants of the family Asteraceae ( Compositae), commonly found as weeds of grassland in North America; esp. stinking chamomile, Anthemis cotula, and fleabane Erigeron philadelphicus.
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1828 C. S. Rafinesque Med. Flora U.S. I. 44 Anthemis cotula... Vulgar Names—May-Weed, Dog's Fennel, Dilly, Dilweed, Fieldweed, &c.
1859 J. Kost Domest. Med. 394 There are several species of erigeron that are possessed of nearly the same medicinal properties. They have been variously called, cocash, skevish, skabish..field-weed, &c.
1900 Ann. Rep. Secretary State Hort. Soc. Michigan 1899 311 Anthemis cotula L. Mayweed... Maywort. Dilly-dillweed. Fieldweed. Fieldwort... In yards, gardens, fields, and along roads. A common weed.
† fieldwood n. Obsolete rare a medicinal plant (not identified, perhaps a gentian).
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Gentianaceae (gentians) > [noun]
gentianOE
fieldwooda1393
baldmoney1393
caresweeta1400
felwort1526
calathian violet1578
crosswort gentian1578
harvest-bell1597
gentianella1633
blue violet1649
marsh gentian1690
vernal gentian1728
pennywort1817
meadow pink1827
soap-gentian1845
soapwort gentian1845
autumn-bells1863
windflower1866
willow gentian1883
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. l. 4039 (MED) Tho tok sche fieldwode and verveyne, Of herbes ben noght betre tueine.
field woodruff n. now rare a Eurasian plant, Asperula arvensis, with clusters of small blue flowers.
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1789 W. Aiton Hortus Kewensis I. 140 Field Woodroof.
1840 A. Pratt Flowers & their Assoc. 305 This is the field woodruff (Asperula arvensis), and it is by no means a common plant, being confined to a few small districts of our land.
1908 Nature Notes 19 87 On the Monkhams estate, recently dug up and partly built on, the casual, Stinking Groundsel (Senecio viscosus), and the aliens, White Melilot (M. alba), Common Flax (Linum usitatissimum), and Field Woodruff (Asperula arvensis).
field woodrush n. a European woodrush, Luzula campestris, commonly found as a weed of grassland; cf. field rush n.
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1824 J. E. Smith Eng. Flora II. 181 L[uciola] campestris. Field Wood-rush.
1912 J. E. Wing Meadows & Pastures 305 Fescues and bent were the chief grasses, with some sweet vernal, while plantain and field woodrush were the principal weeds.
1996 R. Mabey Flora Britannica 389/1 Field wood-rush, Luzula campestris..is a widespread species of all kinds of short grassland—lawns, village greens and downland.
† fieldwort n. Obsolete a gentian, probably the European autumn gentian, Gentianella amarella, common on grassland in Britain (cf. felwort n. a).
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OE tr. Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarium (Vitell.) (1984) xvii. 62 Ðeos wyrt þe man gentianam & oðrum naman feldwyrt nemneþ, heo bið cenned on dunum.
c1225 Worcester Glosses to Old Eng. Herbarium in Anglia (1928) 52 20 [Feldwyrt, herba gentiana] Feldwurt.
?a1450 Agnus Castus (Stockh.) (1950) 160 (MED) Genciana is an herbe þat men clepe gencian or feldworth [c1450 Bodl. 483 fyldeworte, a1500 Laud feldeworte, a1500 Harl. felwort] or baldmonye.
a1500 (?a1450) Treat. Gardening l. 176 in Archaeologia (1894) 54 166 (MED) Yn the moneth of Auerell Set & sow..Herbys..tansay & feldewort.
1597 J. Gerard Herball Suppl. Table Eng. Names Field wort is felwort, or Gentian.
b. In the names of plants cultivated in fields, in contrast to wild or garden types or those grown in greenhouses.
field bean n. any of several kinds of bean grown as field crops; esp. the broad bean, Vicia faba.
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1582 S. Batman Vppon Bartholome, De Proprietatibus Rerum xvii. lxiv. f. 292v (Addition) The wild field Beane serueth to no vse for man, that is wholesome, nor scarce good prouender for a horse, except with Wheate bran well baked and hard.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. vi. 104 The flower [of the lupin] is like to that of the Field Bean.
1757 T. Hale et al. Compl. Body Husbandry (new ed.) II. v. 314 The Season usual for the sowing of Field Beans is, from the Middle of February to the End of March.
1806 Times 1 Aug. 3/3 Field beans have fared somewhat better, and may be expected to yield tolerably well.
1916 C. V. Piper Forage Plants & their Culture xx. 479 The horse bean (Vicia faba) in some of its varieties at least, is known as tick bean, field bean, pigeon bean, broad bean, and Windsor bean.
2007 C. Foley How to plant your Allotment v. 127 The field bean (Vicia faba) is sown as a green manure. It will make a good mulch when dug in next spring.
field beet n. any of several varieties of the cultivated beet, Beta vulgaris; esp. the mangel-wurzel, used for feeding animals.
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1806 Jrnl. Nat. Philos. Mar. 268 It is most probable that this chemist made use of the common field beet, known in Germany by the name of mangel wortzel, the culture of which is spread through many cantons of Germany.
1924 T. B. Hutcheson & T. K. Wolfe Production Field Crops xlv. 453 Mangle-wurzel, sometimes called ‘cow beets’, ‘field beets’ or ‘mangels’, is considered a direct early descendant of the chard.
1995 Country Living May 160/1 Another relative, mangel-wurzel (B. vulgaris ssp. crassa), is a large, coarse, yellowish field beet that is used for animal fodder and in some beers.
field beetroot n. now rare = field beet n.
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1799 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 2 189 The runkelrübe, or the variety of the beta cicla, with leaves of a red colour, or pervaded by red veins, is the ground or field beet-root, which grows abundantly, but is very scarce in France.
1877 R. S. Burn Donaldson's Suburban Farming i. ii. 21 Field beetroot or mangel-wurzel is more milky than fleshy in the tendency as food for animals.
1963 Fruit Intelligence Sept. 13 There were increased loadings from field beetroot, swede turnips and leeks.
field corn n. North American any of various kinds of maize with a relatively low sugar content, grown principally as animal food or for processing rather than for eating as a vegetable; frequently contrasted with sweet corn.
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1808 Mem. Philadelphia Soc. for Promoting Agric. 1 214 It became a field corn, and continued spiral, in some degree, for several years, till it gradually mixed with the common corn, and the distinct species was lost.
1900 Minnesota Horticulturalist Oct. 396 The varieties of sweet corn differ from the field corn in that they contain a greater abundance of sugar.
2006 Indianapolis Monthly Sept. 139/2 About 40 percent of U.S. field corn is genetically altered, a process that uses genes from other living organisms..to improve the crop.
field pea n. any of several kinds of cultivated pea; esp. the variety Pisum sativum var. arvense (formerly considered a separate species), used chiefly as forage and as a source of peas for drying; cf. field pease n.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > pulses or plants producing pulses > [noun] > pea > other types of pea or pea-plant
rouncival1570
garden pea1573
field pease1597
vale-grey1615
rose pea1629
hotspur1663
seven-year pea1672
rathe-ripe1677
huff-codc1680
pigeon pea1683
hog-pease1686
shrub pea1691
field pea1707
pea1707
crown pea1726
maple rouncival1731
marrowfat1731
moratto1731
pig pea1731
sickle-pea1731
hog pea1732
maple pea1732
marrow pea1733
black eye?1740
egg-pea1744
magotty bay bean1789
Prussian1804
maple grey1805
partridge pea1812
Prussian blue1822
scimitar1834
marrow1855
fill-basket1881
string-pea1891
mattar1908
vining pea1959
1707 H. Sloane Voy. Islands I. Introd. p. cxxiv This Tumour is accounted of two sorts,..both are about the bigness of a small Field Pea, being almost round.
1785 G. Washington Diary 16 Apr. (1978) IV. 122 Sowed one Bushel & three Pecks of the Albany, or field Pea.
1858 I. S. Homans & I. S. Homans Cycl. Commerce & Commerc. Navigation at Peas The common garden pea (Pisum sativum), and the common gray or field pea (Pisum arvense), are the most generally cultivated.
2000 Oxf. Amer. Jan.–Feb. 118/1 He encouraged the use of field peas as fertilizer, and the plowing under of cotton and corn stalks to add more nutrients to soil.
field pease n. now rare = field pea n.In later use only as unmarked plural or as a mass noun.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > pulses or plants producing pulses > [noun] > pea > other types of pea or pea-plant
rouncival1570
garden pea1573
field pease1597
vale-grey1615
rose pea1629
hotspur1663
seven-year pea1672
rathe-ripe1677
huff-codc1680
pigeon pea1683
hog-pease1686
shrub pea1691
field pea1707
pea1707
crown pea1726
maple rouncival1731
marrowfat1731
moratto1731
pig pea1731
sickle-pea1731
hog pea1732
maple pea1732
marrow pea1733
black eye?1740
egg-pea1744
magotty bay bean1789
Prussian1804
maple grey1805
partridge pea1812
Prussian blue1822
scimitar1834
marrow1855
fill-basket1881
string-pea1891
mattar1908
vining pea1959
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. cdxcii 1044 The fielde Pease is so very well knowne to all, that it were a needlesse labour to spende time about the description.
1620 G. Markham Farewell to Husb. (1625) 137 The field Pease..are onely for boyling and making of leape Pease, or parching.
1709 J. Lawson New Voy. Carolina 77 All the sorts of English Pease..thrive..in Carolina. Particularly..the common Field-Pease.
1836 Agriculturist's Man. (P. Lawson & Son) ii. 68 When sown broadcast, with a mixture of about one-fifth of late grey field-pease, the seed required will be from five to six bushels.
1942 W. Faulkner Go down, Moses & Other Stories 157 A big pot of field pease et clean empty on the stove, and him laying in the back yard asleep.
field rhubarb n. †(a) any of several bulbous plants of the genus Ferraria (family Iridaceae) used medicinally as a purgative (obsolete); (b) common rhubarb, esp. as grown outdoors.
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1835 G. T. Burnett Outl. Bot. I. 452 F[erraria] cathartica and F. purgans declare their powers by their titles, and the expressed juice of these plants is, according to Martius, given as an aperient in Brazil under the name of Field Rhubarb.
1868 S. Hereman Paxton's Bot. Dict. (new ed.) 239/1 Field Rhubarb. See Ferraria cathartica and purgans.
1872 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 21 June 647/1 When the boiling is completed, the small pieces of wood..are quite soft, and of a dingy colour, not dissimilar in appearance to a piece of rather coarse field rhubarb after it has been cut up and baked in a pie.
2006 M. Goodman Food to live By ix. 341 While hothouse varieties have a longer growing season, field rhubarb is harvested in spring and early summer.
C5.
field-abbot n. historical (now rare) a lay person who is given charge of an abbey in return for military service.
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society > faith > church government > monasticism > religious superior > abbot > [noun] > field
field-abbot1833
1833 E. Henderson Buck's Theol. Dict. (new ed.) 2/2 The abbots..became a kind of military clergy, whose superiors bore, in the camp, the name of field-abbots.
1913 Everyman Encycl. I. 8/1 In the tenth century there were field-abbots (in Latin ‘Abbates Milites’), and abbot-counts.
field agent n. now chiefly U.S. an agent (now esp. an intelligence agent) who works away from a central office or headquarters.
ΚΠ
1773 A. Wedderburn Argument 6 Of this operation, as well as the other, weekly reports were made by the field-agents to Mr. Close.
1863 Evangelist 10 Sept. 8/2 Formerly a missionary in Turkey, now a delegate acting as Field Agent of the Christian Commission.
1936 H. Corey Farewell, Mr. Gangster ii. 14 During the heat on the bank robbers the field agents almost lost the habit of sleep.
1986 Toronto Star (Nexis) 29 May 7 The Ontario Humane Society..laid off one inspector and suspended its 60 volunteer field agents.
2002 E. L. Haney Inside Delta Force (2003) 160 Leather elbow patches on a tweed jacket, square-tailed knit tie... The man didn't look like the ace CIA field agent he actually was.
field-aligned adj. Physics (chiefly of an electric current) aligned with a magnetic field, esp. that of the earth or other celestial object.
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1959 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 45 1224 These radars..have proven very satisfactory in studies of echoes from field-aligned irregularities in the aurora.
1987 Jrnl. Atmospheric & Terrestr. Physics 49 542/1 The height integrated horizontal component of the field-aligned current is extremely small.
2010 L. Golub & J. M. Pasachoff Solar Corona (ed. 2) vii. 238 Twisting and braiding of the coronal magnetic field, which generates field-aligned electric currents.
field allowance n. an allowance granted to a soldier on active service, or (more generally) to any person serving or working away from home.
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society > armed hostility > military organization > [noun] > pay-allowances
allocation1658
field allowance1744
bat-money1793
proficiency pay1906
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > payment for labour or service > [noun] > pay of troops > soldier's pay > additional > types of
conduct-money1512
conduct1644
belt money1648
riding money1668
batta1680
clearing1689
table money1705
field allowance1744
marching money1837
command allowance1860
command pay1875
1744 Meddler 5 Jan. 4/1 The Rations and Portions of Land Officers are..diminished, the Superiors being to receive from the first of January only one third; and the Inferiors half of the Field allowance.
1853 J. H. Stocqueler Mil. Encycl. 105/1 Certain extra allowances are granted to them [officers], according to their several ranks, and these are denominated field allowances.
1917 J. C. Stimson Let. 28 Aug. in Finding Themselves (1918) 101 I received 18,000 francs..for my nurse mess, laundry, and field allowance for July.
1992 D. C. E. Chew Civil Serv. Pay S. Asia vi. 90 A field allowance was drawn in Nepal by staff working in the Hills and in the Terai.
2004 D. Morton Fight or Pay ii. 29 Privates..would earn $1.00 a day plus a field allowance of $0.10.
field artillery n. light ordnance fitted for travel and use in active operations.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > piece of artillery > [noun] > light pieces > collectively
field artillery1645
1645 Kings Cabinet Opened 42 The particulars of Armes that he desires, are 6000. Musquets, 1500. Horse-armes, and 20. pieces of field Artillery mounted.
1757 London Mag. Mar. 150/2 The first battalion of Prince Henry's regiment..was set upon the night before last by a body of about 4000 Austrians, attended with their field artillery.
1992 H. N. Schwarzkopf It doesn't take Hero xiv. 264 A newly developed rocket system..had revolutionized our field artillery.
field athlete n. a participant or competitor in field athletics; cf. track athlete n. at track n. Compounds 1c.
ΚΠ
1890 Lafayette (Easton, Pa.) 11 Apr. 146/2 The amount which is placed in the treasury by our trackmen is soon eaten up, either by foot-ball or base-ball, nothing being left for the enlargement of the field athletes.
1956 Times 28 Nov. 11/1 All this..leaves one in the dark as to some performances of the British field athletes.
1997 B. Paris Gorilla Suit (1998) 165 He..yelled to another well-built man who didn't look so much like a bodybuilder as he did a field athlete—like a discus thrower.
field athletics n. = sense 10d; cf. track athletics n. at track n. Compounds 1c.
ΚΠ
1879Field athletics [see sense 10d].
1890 Scribner's Mag. June 779/2 Field athletics, as distinguished from track athletics (which are running and walking races on a measured track), include jumping, vaulting, and the casting of heavy weights.
1960 D. Greene in C. C. O'Brien Shaping of Mod. Ireland 78 The sport which the G.A.A. built on in the beginning was neither hurling nor football, but field athletics.
1993 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) (Nexis) 3 Dec. 55 Former Broncos rugby league forward Bob Conway looks set for a career in field athletics as a javelin thrower.
field bar n. Optics (now rare) = field stop n.
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > instrument for distant vision > [noun] > telescope > border or limit of field
field bar1772
1772 Philos. Trans. 1771 (Royal Soc.) 61 538 Let ENWS..represent the field-bar of the telescope, EW and NS two wires intersecting each other at right angles.
1874 Monthly Microsc. Jrnl. 12 115 When we contract the field-bar of the eye-piece, the ‘central area’ continues to have all the rays..that reached that central area before contraction.
1968 E. J. Hartung Astron. Objects for Southern Telescopes 147 I have only seen the faint companion by shielding the brilliant white primary with a field bar.
field battery n. a battery of field guns; an emplacement where such guns are mounted.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > piece of artillery > [noun] > battery
battery1555
counter-battery1603
swallow's nest1604
field battery1742
radeau1753
guns en barbette1772
half-moon battery1794
sap battery1810
sunken battery1817
screw battery1848
wool-battery1852
masked battery1861
mountain battery1868
machine-gun battery1882
1742 B. Robins New Princ. Gunnery Pref. p. x There is a lower Flank, which is cut out of the substance of the Bastion, and has thereby a shoulder of considerable Thickness, to screen it from the Field-Batteries.
1834 J. S. Macaulay Treat. Field Fortification 113 A field battery consists of a parapet pierced with embrasures, with epaulments on the flanks, and traverses..to cover the guns from enfilade fire.
1995 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 541 176/2 He had mustered a force comprising 35 infantry battalions, one armored regiment..and a number of independent mortar and field batteries.
field battle n. a pitched battle; (formerly occasionally) spec. †a battle staged as a spectacle, a mock battle (obsolete).
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society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > a public show or spectacle > type of show or spectacle > [noun] > sham battles
field battle1572
naumachia1596
naumachy1606
1572 J. Sadler tr. Vegetius Foure Bks. Martiall Policye iv. xlv. f. 65v Your Gallyes muste be placed in araye not straighte as souldiours be in a fielde battell, but bowinge in, after the similitude of ye halfe moone.
1697 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) IV. 255 On Wensday next will be..a feild battle.
1801 J. Gordon Hist. Rebellion Irel. 97 The defence of this post, instead of a field-battle with the rebels, was now the object of the garrison.
2000 H. Afflerbach in R. Chickering & S. Förster Great War, Total War vi. 114 Verdun..was the longest field battle in history.
field beast n. now rare an animal used for draught or for ploughing; an animal of the fields, a wild animal.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > domestic animal > [noun] > work animals > draught animal
field beasta1382
plough-beast1454
ploughware1465
plough1505
worker1617
wheeler1813
poler1860
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > bos taurus or ox > [noun] > oxen or cattle
rothereOE
neateOE
orfOE
erf1154
nowtsc1175
field beasta1382
nolt1437
cattle1555
neat cattle1619
chattel1627
beefc1706
horned cattle1781
cows1869
bullamacow1887
beeves-
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1961) Num. xxxii. 26 Oure..feld beestys [a1425 Corpus Oxf. feeldbeestis] & hous bestys we sholyn leue.
1660 R. Coke Elements Power & Subjection 185 in Justice Vindicated A freeman who hath Field-beasts valued at thirty pence, shall pay a Peter-peny.
1836 T. C. Grattan Agnes de Mansfeldt I. vi. 198 Rational beings reduce themselves to the base level of field beasts.
1923 C. M. Doughty Mansoul (rev. ed.) iii. 68 Field beasts Deep-lowing mourned, with sons of men, that wept.
2004 C. S. Ross tr. Statius Thebaid v. 394 When Jupiter lets northern snowfalls lash Farmlands of crops, and all the field beasts [L. genus omne ferarum] perish Along the plains.
field bird n. a wild bird; esp. any bird that frequents, or nests in, fields or open countryside.
ΚΠ
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) 30b (MED) Be þe flesh chosen of wilde or felde briddes.
1558 W. Bullein Govt. Healthe f. xxxvi Fleshe of capons or henes, phesantes and patriches, pigions, and turtill doues, black birdes, and small fielde birdes.
1639 J. Woodall Surgeons Mate (rev. ed.) 361 All field-Birds, which are used to be eaten, excepting those which live upon the Water, as the Swan, Goose, Duck, Plover, Wigion.
1771 M. Peters Winter Riches 210 Lay it under a veer and ridge fallow during the winter, which will expose the yet unvegetated seed if any, to the field birds.
1895 F. M. Chapman Handbk. Birds Eastern N. Amer. 171 It [sc. the curlew] is more of a field bird than either of the two preceding species and frequents the dry uplands.
1999 Daily Tel. 3 Feb. 13/4 An estimated 150,000 ortolans, tiny Eurasian field birds, are trapped every autumn as they pass through south-west France.
field block n. Surgery injection of local anaesthetic into the tissues surrounding an operative field, in order to produce regional anaesthesia; an instance of this; cf. nerve block n. at nerve n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > anaesthetization, pain-killing, etc. > [noun] > anaesthetization > by blocking nerves
nerve-blocking1906
nerve block1912
field block1922
spinal block1928
saddle block1946
1922 Surg., Gynecol. & Obstetr. 34 399/1 The next important departure came with the circuminjection of the operative field in which a wall of anæsthesia is made to encase or isolate the operative area, a procedure known as field block.
1974 Ruminants (Inst. Lab. Animal Resources, U.S.) iv. 57 Field blocks are the simplest to perform once the anatomical locations are known.
2005 Knee 12 352/1 A rapid recovery protocol based on a day case anaesthetic and long acting local anaesthetic field block.
field blocking adj. and n. Surgery (a) adj. serving to produce a field block (rare); (b) n. the use of a field block (now rare).
ΚΠ
1915 Amer. Jrnl. Obstetr. 72 819 Operation, August 22, 1914, under preliminary hypodermics of morphia and scopolamine, nitrous-oxid-oxygen, and field blocking anesthesia.
1922 G. Labat Regional Anesthesia iv. 130 Local infiltration, or field-blocking, should be preferred to nerve-blocking for the removal of moles, nevi, cysts, and so forth.
1937 C. L. Hewer Rec. Adv. in Anæsthesia (ed. 2) xii. 134 Field blocking consists in creating walls of analgesia encircling the operative field.
field boot n. a knee-high boot, originally designed for military use, and usually laced from the foot to mid-calf.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > boot > [noun] > reaching to knee > types of
Wellington1816
field boot1856
1856 J. S. C. Abbott tr. Napoleon Will in Confidential Corr. Napoleon & Josephine 378 My field boots, which I used in all my campaigns.
1926 T. E. Lawrence Seven Pillars (subscribers' ed.) xciii. 493 Dawnay..was our best card, with his proved military reputation, exquisite field-boots, and air of well-dressed science.
1999 S. D. Price Amer. Quarter Horse iv. 191 Some riders prefer field boots that are laced in front to the top of the ankle.
field boundary n. a boundary marking the edge of a field, esp. a sports field.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > place for sports or games > [noun] > boundary marker
meta1587
field boundary1812
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > edge, border, or margin > boundary > [noun] > land-boundary
thresholdeOE
randeOE
markeOE
mereOE
limiting1391
march1402
confrontc1430
bourne1523
limity1523
mereing1565
mark-mere1582
ring1598
land-mere1603
limit1655
field boundary1812
landimere1825
section-line1827
wad1869
1812 J. Evans Beauties Eng. & Wales XVII. i. 323 Nothing perhaps marks more strongly the rural management of any district, than the mode of fencing, and the state of its field boundaries.
1850 Era 7 July 6/3 One of the Albert hitters, spurred by the ardour for fame, and in the plenitude of his muscular power, sent the ball at a flying pace against the new church, several rods beyond the field boundary.
1994 D. Ominsky & P. J. Harari Soccer made Simple 106 Goal line, the field boundary running along its width at each end.
2001 Furrow Mar. 13/2 The computer produces maps that pinpoint field boundaries, acreage, and problem areas that need to be ground-checked.
field-breadth n. the breadth of a field; occasionally used more generally to denote a short distance.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > [noun] > a short distance
wurpc950
stepc1000
footc1300
furlong wayc1384
stone-casta1387
straw brede14..
tinec1420
weec1420
field-breadth1535
field-broad1535
pair of butts1545
straw-breadth1577
stone's throw1581
way-bit?1589
space1609
piece1612
littlea1616
spirt1670
a spit and a stride1676
hair's breadth1706
rope's length1777
biscuit throw1796
a whoop and a holler1815
biscuit toss1836
biscuit cast1843
stone-shot1847
pieceway1886
stone-put1896
pitch-and-putt1925
pieceways1932
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Kings v. 19 He was gone from him a felde bredth in the londe.
1778 Hist. Cheshire I. 83 A field breadth, south from the town, is the church.
1872 Hist. Berwickshire Naturalists' Club 6 427 This bird seldom travels a field-breadth from the sea.
1986 E. MacColl & P. Seeger Till Doomsday in Afternoon 114 Just aboot a field-breadth fae his hoose was the hoose that the laird used tae bide in.
† field-broad n. Obsolete = field-breadth n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > [noun] > a short distance
wurpc950
stepc1000
footc1300
furlong wayc1384
stone-casta1387
straw brede14..
tinec1420
weec1420
field-breadth1535
field-broad1535
pair of butts1545
straw-breadth1577
stone's throw1581
way-bit?1589
space1609
piece1612
littlea1616
spirt1670
a spit and a stride1676
hair's breadth1706
rope's length1777
biscuit throw1796
a whoop and a holler1815
biscuit toss1836
biscuit cast1843
stone-shot1847
pieceway1886
stone-put1896
pitch-and-putt1925
pieceways1932
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Gen. xxxv. D Whan he was yet a felde brode from Ephrath.
field camera n. a camera used or designed for use outside a studio; (Photography) a folding large-format film camera used on a tripod, and generally having a limited range of rear and front standard movements and interchangeable lenses linked to the camera by means of bellows.
ΚΠ
1840 Palmer's New Catal. 56 Portable Field Cameras, £3. 3s.
1899 Photo-miniature Nov. 375 A square-bellows field camera is preferable to a hand camera.
1996 L. Coe Wireless Radio 121 The video signal from the field camera was transmitted to the eighty-fifth floor of the Empire State Building.
2001 W. L. Fox View Finder i. 5 Mark is already down the road setting up on a tripod his 4x5 field camera.
field camp n. (a) a place of temporary accommodation for soldiers, researchers, etc., in the field; (b) a residential programme of scientific fieldwork, esp. for students.
ΚΠ
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. xv. 634/1 The field Camps very much subject to fluxes, wherewith many of his [sc. the king's] souldiers were as yet infected.
1813 E. Hoyt Rules & Regulations iv. §15. 248 The instructions that have been given for the general conduct of guards..in field camps.
1888 Bull. Nat. Hist. Soc. New Brunswick 7 6 The summer field camp was commenced in 1883. It has continued its meetings, and yearly adds to the success of the society.
1903 Amer. Monthly Rev. of Reviews Aug. 194/1 During the harvest scores of women worked in the field camps as cooks.
1981 L. W. Price Mountains & Man (1986) Pref. p. xvii Ashbaugh..had the foresight and courage to allow me to teach the geography field camp.
2005 N. Johnson Big Dead Place iii. 43 At the field camp, paper-thin tents shudder beneath katabatic blasts of freezing wind.
field cannon n. a light cannon for use on a battlefield.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > piece of artillery > [noun] > light pieces
falcon1496
falconet15..
field piece1544
fowler1548
fielding piece1565
falcon shot1598
field cannon1638
field gun1645
field culverin1659
galloper1746
Napoleon1862
1638 J. Roberts Great Yarmouths Exercise sig. Bv By the violence of the Field Cannon, the Pioners (maugre all opposition) advanced their Works.
1865 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia V. xix. v. 505 With only field-cannon.
2001 E. D. Brose Kaiser's Army v. 96 Machine gun enthusiasts..claimed that Maxims could replace field cannons.
field cap n. any of various types of cap worn by soldiers on active service; any cap resembling these, esp. a soft cap with a broad peak.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > cap > types of > denoting office or profession > military
Monmouth cap1577
watering cap1746
muff-cap1809
shako1816
chaco1826
forage-cap1827
foraging-cap1830
bearskin1843
field cap1845
kepi1861
busby1870
czako1891
forager1891
Brodrick1905
watch cap1909
gorblimey1919
split-arse cap1931
beret1948
piss-cutter1949
1845 J. Birch tr. R. F. Eylert Characteristic Traits & Domest. Life Frederick William III 40 In his grey coat and field-cap pacing the quiet streets of Potsdam without attendant.
1885 Illustr. Naval & Mil. Mag. 2 Feb. 106/1 On service and in the field, the Russian..carries only one head-covering. It is a field cap of black cloth.
1941 Pop. Sci. Monthly June 94/2 (caption) For the other extreme of climate is the winter field cap.
2005 R. Crawford in D. Stevens & J. Reeve Navy & Nation vii. 137 Japanese troops with field caps prominently displaying the rising sun motif.
field capacity n. the maximum amount of water which can be retained by soil.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > [noun] > water in or percolating through soil > specific water content of soil
chresard1905
field capacity1908
wilting coefficient1912
1908 R. H. Loughridge Distribution Water in Soil (U.S. Dept. Agric.) 15 Sometimes the grit layer at depths of 8 or more feet was found to be very moist to an extent beyond natural field capacity.
2002 Oecologia 132 332 550 mm mean annual precipitation, roughly the boundary..at which soils commonly fill to field capacity in summer and carbonates are leached.
field carriage n. a gun carriage for use with a field gun.
ΚΠ
a1582 W. Bourne Inuentions or Deuises (?1590) Contents sig. A The 52. Deuise is, as concerning the making of draught or field carriage, to lade them backwards behinde the men.
1640 Inducements Guiana in J. Lorimer Eng. & Irish Settlement River Amazon (1989) 439 His majestie is to send 100 peeces of Ordenance..with feild Carriages.
1792 T. Forrest Voy. Calcutta 52 The king..ordered two small field carriages to be brought into the hall.
1995 W. S. Dunn Soviet Econ. & Red Army viii. 174 In spring 1941 [he] proposed using antiaircraft guns on field carriages as antitank guns.
field church n. historical in later use (esp. in the early English church) a church or place of worship set up in the fields; a country chapel.
ΚΠ
OE Laws of Cnut (Nero) i. iii. §2. 282 Griðbryce..medemran mynstres mid cxx scillingum.., and feldcyricean [lOE Harl. feldcyrice], þær legerstow ne sig, mid xxx scyllinga.
1618 J. Selden Hist. Tithes (new ed.) ix. 266 Those other churches which in his [sc. Edgar's] and K. Knouts Laws are spoken of, that is, Churches without buriall places, feldcyrican, or field-Churches, are only what at this day we call Chappels of ease, built and consecrated for Oratories.
1763 R. Burn Eccl. Law I. 214 Chapels at first were only tents or tabernacles, sometimes called field churches, being nothing more than a covering from the inclemency of the seasons.
1840 Penny Cycl. XVII. 265/1 In the Saxon times..the characteristics which distinguished a parish church from what were called field-churches, oratories, and chapels, were the rights of baptism and sepulture.
2000 N. J. G. Pounds Hist. Eng. Parish (2004) i. 29 The number of parish churches which derived in one way or another from minsters must have been relatively small, and that of their daughter or field churches not a great deal larger.
field club n. (a) British a mutual insurance association at a colliery, which covers contributing workers against accident or sickness (now historical); (b) an association for the study of natural history by observation in the field.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > study > person who studies > [noun] > natural history > association for the study of
field club1836
1836 2nd Ann. Rep. Poor Law Commissioners Eng. & Wales 387 Against accidents of a temporary nature, the mining labourers..have in these parts insured for themselves. The clubs which are established for these purposes are called field clubs.
1847 Daily News 1 Sept. 3/5 (heading) Tyneside Naturalists' Field Club.
1875 G. C. Davies (title) Rambles and adventures of our school field-club.
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining 243 Stoppages, deductions from miners' wages, such as rent, candles, blacksmith's work, field club, etc.
1994 Mod. Lang. Rev. 89 29 Loans were made by individuals and colliery field clubs.
2000 M. A. Salmon Aurelian Legacy ii. 84 Naturalists and natural history societies, field clubs and school societies all benefited from the new-found freedom of travel.
field coil n. Electrical Engineering = field winding n.
ΚΠ
1877 Rep. Secretary Navy (45th U.S. Congr., 2nd Session) 197 Probably a better result could be reached by using coarser wire on the field-coils.
1930 Pop. Sci. Monthly Nov. 144/2 No changes are made in the armature, but the field coil is rewound in a special way.
2002 S. Gibilisco Physics Demystified xiv. 364 In some motors, the field coils are replaced by a pair of permanent magnets.
field colours n. Military colours used by an army, regiment, etc., when in the field; (formerly sometimes) spec. †small flags used to mark out the positions to be taken up by particular regiments, etc. (cf. camp-colour n.) (obsolete).
ΚΠ
1635 D. Person Varieties v. 27 Some of the Citie Ensignes or field Colours were observed to sweate blood.
1673 Rel. Re-taking Sta. Helena 3 We..Ordered 200 Men, with Field-Colours and Officers, appointed to be put on Board a Vessel, out of which they might be Landed.
1698 E. D'Auvergne Hist. Campagne Flanders 1697 88 To divide the Posts for the Army in case of an Alarm, which the Quarter-masters mark'd the next morning with Field-colours, for every Regiment to know his post.
1721 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. Field Colours, small Flags carried along with the Quarter Master General, in marking out the Ground for the Squadrons and Battalions of an Army.
1800 I. James Providence Displayed 127 They..hauled down their white Flags of Truce, and let fly their English and Field Colours.
1855 Times 27 Oct. 8/1 During the engagement they took from the Turks 14 flags and some field colours, and spiked or dismounted several pieces of artillery.
1992 P. Englund Battle that shook Europe (2006) xxv. 225 Efforts were made to try to solve the problem of the shortage of officers in the infantry. Field colours carried by irremediably weakened companies were to be burnt.
field course n. †(a) a right of way through a field or fields (obsolete rare); (b) Agriculture a system of crop rotation suitable for a field; a crop used in such a system (cf. course n. 31); (c) a practical course of study that takes place in the field, rather than in a laboratory, classroom, etc.
ΚΠ
1696 S. Carter Lex Custumaria xxii. 210 Custom is, That the Lord hath a Field-course for five hundred Ewes, over the Lands of the Copy-holder, from Michaelmas till Lady-day.
1764 J. Randall Semi-Virgilian Husbandry 308 The tenth article requires us to consider the difference between the Field Course and the Inclosed Course of deep light soils.
1851 Parl. Gaz. Eng & Wales III. 507/2 Potatoes..were adopted only about 35 years ago as a field course in Norfolk.
1887 Amer. Naturalist Sept. 821 In the first field course..the instructor always accompanies the class.
1992 E. Kerridge Common Fields of Eng. iii. 56 Some of these were grouped with others into shift fields that formed units for the rotation of field-courses.
2007 Irish Times 14 July 12 She encouraged innovation and was a passionate advocate of fieldwork that took her staff and students on field courses all over Ireland and abroad.
fieldcraft n. skill in the field (in various senses, as battle, hunting, etc.).
ΚΠ
1826 J. Banim Boyne Water I. vii. 198 There go two gallants who may be found in the next convenient glen, with skeins at each other's throats; a brawl about field-craft, I reckon.
1899 Times 11 Sept. 6/2 The mounted infantry of to-day can shoot: but in horsemanship and in knowledge of field craft they are inevitably far inferior to the Boer irregulars.
1967 Observer 14 May 2/5 American troops are poor at fieldcraft.
2004 Sporting Gun Mar. 55/1 What's more, you still have to use fieldcraft and decoys properly to make anything of a bag.
field culverin n. now historical a culverin (culverin n.) for use on the battlefield.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > piece of artillery > [noun] > light pieces
falcon1496
falconet15..
field piece1544
fowler1548
fielding piece1565
falcon shot1598
field cannon1638
field gun1645
field culverin1659
galloper1746
Napoleon1862
1659 Mercurius Politicus No. 596. 918 I have got from them 26 brass Guns and iron Guns,..a long field Culverin, and many other Brass Guns.
1834 J. H. Mancur Henri Quatre I. iii. 40 A skilful tongue is like a large field culverin, which proves victor over the bloom and chivalry of youth.
1996 B. E. Burgoyne Enemy Views 174 They also lost fourteen cannons, one howitzer, and one field culverin.
field curvature n. Optics curvature of the focal surface of a lens or other optical system; (Photography) an aberration caused by the use of a lens with a curved focal surface in capturing an image on a flat surface, the edges of the image being out of focus when the centre is in focus (and vice versa).
ΚΠ
1892 U.S. Patent 474,833 1/1 Causing the center of focus to fall on the centre of the sensitized plate and causing the field curvature of the lens to be brought equally in contact with said plate.
1949 Pop. Mech. Aug. 203 The performance of the altered glasses is excellent, the only fault being an increase in the field curvature.
2003 Amer. Photo July–Aug. 59/2 The 19-element 70–200mm SSM [lens] incorporates four aspheric elements..that reduce aberrations and field curvature.
field dance n. a dance (traditionally) performed outdoors; (also) an outdoor social gathering for dancing.
ΚΠ
1712 T. Cave Let. 20 Sept. in M. M. Verney Verney Lett. 18th Cent. (1930) I. xiii. 242 You'l be glad to hear I'me now capable of taking a Feild-Dance with you.
1786 J. C. Walker Hist. Mem. Irish Bards 75 The Rinkey or field dance, of the ancient Irish, was governed by..a more simple kind of Bagpipe.
1854 Putnam's Monthly Mag. Jan. 58/2 From the regular balls in the city down to the lowest field dances, two thirds, or even a greater proportion of the people of Hayti must be engaged in dancing.
2005 Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Jrnl. Sentinel (Nexis) 30 Apr. b6 The idea..was to draw a line from West African rural traditions through 19th-century American field dances to club dancing in the 1940s.
field defect n. Medicine (a) Medicine loss of vision in a particular part of the visual field; more fully visual field defect (cf. hemianopsia n., quadrantanopia n.); (b) Embryology a defect in an embryonic field (sense 15d), resulting in malformation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > disordered vision > [noun] > limited visual field
hemiopia1811
scotoma1821
concentric contraction1858
hemianopia1882
hemianopsia1883
field defect1884
quadrantanopia1909
quadrantanopsia1910
macular sparing1940
tunnel vision1949
1884 Med. Times & Gaz. 5 Apr. 500/1 This form of visual field defect is to be distinguished from another in which there is limitation of the field in all meridians.
1981 Cleft Palate Jrnl. 18 188 (title) Congenital alar field defects: clinical and embryological observations.
2004 Jrnl. Pediatric Surg. 39 773/1 Malformation or maldevelopment of the region represents a developmental field defect frequently involving number of adjacent structures.
2007 T. P. Grosvenor Primary Care Optometry (ed. 5) vii. 128/1 In the early stages of open-angle glaucoma, the field defect may occur in the form of a vertical extension of the blind spot.
field deputy n. (a) Military a person acting in the field as the deputy for a commander-in-chief, etc. (now historical); (b) chiefly U.S. a person who works in the field (rather than in an office or central headquarters) as the deputy to an official.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > others concerned with military affairs > [noun] > representative of king or government
field deputy1706
1706 London Gaz. No. 4280 Messieurs Van Collen and Cuper, two of their High Mightinesses Field-Deputies.
1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India II. iv. viii. 283 They sent to the army two members of council, as field deputies, without whose concurrence no operations should be carried on.
1867 Bangor (Maine) Daily Whig & Courier 25 Apr. Appointed..Field Deputy for Somerset County.
1922 Q. Jrnl. Univ. N. Dakota July 318 These field deputies are for the purpose of assisting the county superintendent in visiting schools.
2000 J. Hoppit Land of Liberty? (2002) iv. 115 The field deputies wished to utilize defensive lines, build secure fortresses and edge forwards away from the Republic's borders.
2003 M. J. Brodhead Isaac C. Parker ii. 45 Supervising the deputy marshals..included not only the field deputies, but also those who worked in his office.
field derrick n. U.S. (now rare) a derrick used to manipulate hay or other crops.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > harvesting equipment > [noun] > machine for stacking hay
field derrick1867
stacker1875
stacking-elevator1890
1867 U.S. Patent 71,749 (heading) Improvement in field-derrick.
1956 Alton (Illinois) Evening Tel. 6 Aug. 3/5 The tops in the field stacking of hay came many years ago when the field derricks that operated on cables reached this section of the country.
† field-devil n. Obsolete (in biblical contexts) a demon believed to inhabit the desert. [After German Feldteufel (from 1523 in Luther's translation of the Bible (earliest in the book of Deuteronomy) as felt teuffel, feldteuffel), which renders two distinct Hebrew words: (1) sĕʿīrīm, plural of sāʿir satyr, demon (e.g. Leviticus 17:7, 2 Chronicles 11:15; King James Bible: ‘satyrs’), probably < sēʿār hair, i.e. lit. ‘the hairy one’; (2) šedīm (plural noun) demons (e.g. Deuteronomy 32:17, Psalm 106:37; King James version: ‘devils’), of unknown origin, but apparently taken by Luther as related to Hebrew šĕdēmāh field (of unknown origin).]
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > [noun] > false or heathen god
devileOE
demonOE
false goda1175
field-devil1530
puppetries1610
1530 Bible (Tyndale) Deut. xxxii. f. lviiiv They offered vnto feldedeuels and not to God.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Chron. xi. 15 He founded prestes to ye hye places, & to feldedeuels.
1883 Foreign Church Chron. & Rev. 7 242 The Israelite invaders, having come into Palestine without any religion at all, picked up there a worship of field-devils, which first prevailed over Baal worship.
field dinner n. (a) a meal eaten in the fields; a picnic (now rare); (b) Military a meal eaten by a soldier engaged in combat or military manoeuvres.
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1842 W. Howitt Rural & Domest. Life Germany ii. 30 These boys had nothing to drink, and said they were accustomed to have nothing to drink to their field dinners, not even water.
1862 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia III. xii. x. 307 That the King's frugal field-dinner was shot away, from its camp-table near Pampitz (as Fuchs has heard), is evidently mythical.
1905 Donahoe's Mag. July 28/2 A joyous meal is that field dinner when—the boys and girls seated on the grass in a circle, in shadowy hollow—the cans are opened, and the cloths spread.
2003 T. Willard Sword of Valor (2004) 144 A high-protein field dinner, each unit consisted of a main course, a portable heating element.., and other condiments.
field diversion n. now rare = field sport n.
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a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1683 (1955) IV. 341 This made the King more earnest to render Wi<n>chester the seate of his Autum<n>al field diversions for the future.
1731 T. Gurdon Hist. High Court Parl. I. 113 The Nobility being prevented from their Field-Diversions.., such of them as were fond of Sporting, applied to the Kings for Licence to inclose Parks in their own Demeans.
1829 Imperial Mag. Aug. 751 The mere sportsman, who looks no further than his field diversion.
1911 L. Cazamian Mod. Eng. (1912) iii. v. 265 Both travelling and field diversions have considerably multiplied the points of contact between man and wild nature.
field driver n. North American regional (chiefly New England) an official responsible for impounding animals which stray into public places; cf. hog reeve n.
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society > authority > office > holder of office > public officials > [noun] > official in charge of stray animals
pindera1500
pinner1499
hog reeve1636
pound-keeper1671
field driver1694
hog constable1710
hog mace1792
poundmaster1897
1694 in Town Rec. Manchester (Mass.) (1889) I. 56 John Elathorp & william Allen sen: weare chosen hawards or feld Drivers as ye Law Directs.
1702 in Acts & Laws Connecticut 108 The Hayward or Field Driver, or any person may take up and impound such Swine.
1835 1st Rep. Commissioners Munic. Corporations Eng. & Wales App. iv. 2109 in Parl. Papers (H.C. 116) XXV. 1 The Field Drivers [of Bedford] perform the duties of a hayward.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. xlviii. 229 Hog-reeves (now usually called field drivers).
1974 Compar. Stud. Society & Hist. 16 230 The town meeting..nominated delegates of municipal authority such as field drivers, highway surveyors, constables and other officials.
field editor n. †(a) an editor responsible for the section of a periodical dealing with hunting and related subjects (obsolete rare); (b) an editor of a periodical who is based away from the main office.
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1870 Turf, Field & Farm 3 June 342/4 Your other question will be answered next week, when our Field Editor arrives in town.
1887 T. Armitage Hist. Baptists 884 He also employed paid contributors and a field editor.
1923 H. M. Swetland Industr. Publishing 54 On a paper covering a wide territory there may be an assistant editor (sometimes called field editor) stationed at each important center.
1992 Backpacker Oct. 5/1 They man our three field-editor positions in different parts of the country.
field-effect transistor n. Electronics a transistor in which the current flows along a channel whose effective resistance can be controlled by a transverse electric field applied across a gate region surrounding the channel (the gate and the channel being of opposite conductivity types); abbreviated FET.Cf. MESFET n., MOSFET n. at M n. Initialisms 1.
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the world > matter > physics > solid state physics > semiconductivity > transistor > [noun] > field-effect transistor
field-effect transistor1952
MOST1965
1952 W. Shockley in Proc. IRE 40 1365/2 The field-effect transistor was conceived as consisting of a thin layer of semiconductor separated from another conducting electrode by a layer of dielectric.
1970 J. Earl How to choose Tuners & Amplifiers ii. 33 Trend is towards field effect transistors in the f.m. front-end.
2009 Nature 16 Apr. 846/1 Their chemically reduced nanoribbons are in principle suitable for making field-effect transistors.
field emission n. Physics the emission of electrons from the surface of a conductor under the influence of a strong electric field as a result of the tunnel effect.
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the world > matter > physics > quantum theory > quantum mechanics > [noun] > penetration of barrier > result of
field emission1928
1928 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 119 173 As the higher temperatures, at which ordinary thermionic emission begins, are approached, the strong field emission does become sensitive to temperature and finally blends into the thermionic.
1965 New Scientist 17 June 781/1 Field-emission diodes could prove very useful at microwave frequencies if they were placed in a superconducting cavity.
2006 A. G. Lyne & F. Graham-Smith Pulsar Astron. (ed. 3) xx. 233 The emission from the surface, which may be thermal or field emission.
field emission microscope n. Electronics now chiefly historical a type of electron microscope in which field emission is utilized to form an enlarged image of the emitting surface on a fluorescent screen.Invented by E. W. Müller (1911–77), German-born physicist, in 1936. Müller also invented the field ion microscope and the atom probe.
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > magnification or magnifying instruments > [noun] > microscope > electron microscopes
microscope1907
electron microscope1932
field emission microscope1941
field ion microscope1952
scanning electron microscope1953
SEM1968
stereoscan1968
transmission electron microscope1969
STM1982
1941 B. Chalmers & A. G. Quarrell Physical Exam. Metals II. vi. 250 Field emission microscopes are simple microscopes in that no lenses are used, but the electrons producing the image are excited in a different manner.
1965 C. S. G. Phillips & R. J. P. Williams Inorg. Chem. I. x. 374 The use of the Field Emission microscope and the Field Ion microscope has shown that diffusion at the surface of metals is considerable at temperatures as low as 0·2Tm.
2001 R. W. Cahn Coming of Materials Sci. vi. 232 The instrument was called a field-emission microscope and depended on the field-induced emission of electrons from the highly curved tip.
field engineer n. (a) Military a military engineer specializing in work on the battlefield, such as the construction of fortifications, the demolition of infrastructure during retreat, etc.; (b) a civil engineer who works away from a central office or headquarters.
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society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > soldier with special duty > [noun] > engineer
engineer1757
field engineer1758
craftsman1942
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > engineer > [noun] > other types
millwright1387
field engineer1758
chemical engineer1838
mechanical engineer1840
industrial engineer1849
structural engineer1867
civil1873
sanitary engineer1873
radio engineer1910
stress analyst1916
ack emma1917
stressman1919
roboticist1940
systems engineer1940
environmental engineer1947
terotechnologist1970
knowledge engineer1981
1758 C. Vallancey tr. L. A. de la M. Clairac (title) Field Engineer.
1768 J. C. Pleydell Ess. Field Fortification Pref. p. xii It is not requisite that an officer who would wish to become a field-engineer, should employ any of his time in the study of mathematics.
1878 Van Nostrand's Eclectic Engin. Mag. Aug. 177/1 Between the field engineer and the final draughtsman there should be few, if any, middlemen to compile and replot the work.
1988 J. Grey Commonw. Armies & Korean War vi. 104 The British were left to provide the artillery staff, field engineers, the bulk of the divisional signals, and the Royal Army Service Corps column.
2001 J. Franzen Corrections 353 The draftsmen..tended these files and liaised with the field engineers who kept the railroad's nervous system healthy.
field entry n. (a) an entry in a field book (field book n. 2a) (now rare); (b) Computing a piece of data entered in a field (sense 19); the action of entering data in a field.
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1610Field-entries [see sense 13].
1883 Papers connected with Reorganization Patwari Staff Central Provinces (Bombay) (1886) 19 If his map was fairly accurate to start with, he should easily be able to write up 500 field entries a day.
1923 Jrnl. Mammalogy 4 266 Doctor Nelson's field entry for the type reads ‘Sierra Nevada Mts., Cal., near Mammoth at head of Owens River’.
1964 F. P. Fisher & G. F. Swindle Computer Programming Syst. 471 Columns 29–34 state the name of the field to be inserted in the line whose specification immediately precedes the field entry.
2003 R. C. Boston et al. in J. A. Novotny et al. Math. Modeling in Nutrition & Health Sci. 24 To help guide users with field entry, we provide local ‘entry tips’ concerning the nature of entries anticipated in each field.
field equation n. Physics an equation which describes the properties of a field; spec. (a) one of Maxwell's equations (see Maxwell n.2 1e); (b) one of a series of equations established by Einstein which describe the curvature of space-time produced by the presence of matter.
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the world > matter > physics > relativity > [noun] > Einstein's general theory > equation of
field equation1889
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrically induced magnetism > [noun] > field > equation, formula
field equation1889
Maxwell's equation1907
Poynting vector1913
1889 H. W. Watson & S. H. Burbury Math. Theory Electr. & Magn. II. xxiii. 170 As a simple example of the application of the field equations to such a problem, we will take the case of an infinite plane conducting sheet.
1922 E. P. Adams tr. A. Einstein Meaning of Relativity 52 Repeated application of the field equations.
1924 H. H. L. A. Brose tr. M. Born Einstein's Theory Relativity v. 154 Maxwell's ‘field equations’, as they are called, constitute a true theory of contiguous action or action by contact.
1959 Listener 27 Aug. 320/3 The steady-state cosmological theory..modifies Einstein's field equations.
1998 J. V. José & E. J. Saletan Classical Dynamics ix. 561 Maxwell's equations are an important example of field equations derived from a Lagrangian density.
2001 S. Hawking Universe in Nutshell iv. 120 (caption) The de Sitter solution of the field equations of general relativity represents a universe that expands in an inflationary manner.
field event n. originally U.S. any of various sporting events (involving jumping, throwing, etc.) which typically take place on an athletics field, as distinct from races run on a track; usually in plural.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > athletics > [noun] > specific athletic sports other than running
field event1887
1887 Atchison (Kansas) Daily Globe 3 Dec. Committees were appointed to..examine grounds, with a view to leasing for field events.
1899 Windsor Mag. 9 243/1 Irishmen..have established a monopoly in what are described as field events of late years.
1902 N.Y. Times 5 Oct. 17/5 The discus was the only field event but there were eight track events.
1955 R. Bannister First Four Minutes v. 60 To raise the standard of British athletic achievement, particularly in field events.
2000 Nature 14 Sept. 132/1 The pole-vault..is almost entirely white, as are field events such as discus, javelin and shot-put.
field evolutions n. now somewhat archaic manoeuvres executed by soldiers in the field (see evolution n. 1).
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society > armed hostility > drill or training > [noun] > type of drill or training
sham fight1598
field exercise1616
martinet1677
field evolutions1789
foot drill1795
goose-step1806
war-game1828
rope drill1833
field training1836
repetition training1859
skeleton drill1876
drill-down1889
Beast Barracks1896
basic training1898
monkey motion1909
assault course1915
TEWT1942
workup1971
Taceval1977
1789 Oracle 18 July The new Recruits..went through a course of Field Evolutions, in and about the Ring.
1876 F. H. Mason 42nd Ohio Infantry 58 The entire battalion practised field evolutions in a broad meadow in the valley below.
1920 P. A. Bruce Hist. University of Virginia II. 117 The course which he was to cover was to embrace field evolutions, manoeuvres and encampments.
1995 J. J. Gallagher Battle of Brooklyn iv. 51 His experience was confined to what fighting he had done in the wilderness: a series of disjointed skirmishes with no opportunity to exercise field evolutions and deployment.
field extension n. [after German Körpererweiterung (1904 or earlier)] Mathematics a field of which a given field is a subfield.
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1937 Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 41 255 The equations..have a non-trivial solution (in a suitable extension field of K).]
1945 Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 57 1 The multiplicity of the origin O in the intersection of two curves f(X, Y) = 0, g(X, Y) = 0 may be defined to be the degree of the field extension K((X, Y))⁄K((f, g)).
1956 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 248 407 In this paper we..discuss the existence of a number of field theoretical algorithms in explicit fields, and the effective construction of field extensions.
2006 F. Lorenz Algebra I. iii. 26 Let E/K be a field extension and suppose α ∈ E is algebraic over K.
field fight n. a fight in the open, a pitched battle.
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society > armed hostility > armed encounter > [noun] > battle or a battle > pitched battle
pitched battle?1530
main battle1569
just battle1578
field fight1598
pitch-field1613
pitch battle1673
ranged battle1680
stricken field (rarely battle)1820
1598 R. Barret Theorike & Pract. Mod. Warres iv. 94 The conduction of our warres now a dayes, doth consist more in surprises, assaults, and batteries, then open field fight.
1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. 129 Rather a competent guard for defence of the campe, then a sufficient power to maintain a field-fight.
1783 W. Huntingdon Skeletons 145 This hope is an anchor in deep waters, but in a field-fight it is an helmet.
1873 D. Masson Drummond of Hawthornden xvii. 407 Fairfax and Cromwell [had] followed up their great success at Naseby, in field-fights here, sieges there, and sometimes terrific stormings of Royalist strongholds.
2005 E. J. Hess Field Armies & Fortifications Civil War ii. 31 The battle was an open field fight with no earthworks involved.
field-fleck n. rare a tiny piece of open land.
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1892 J. Barlow Irish Idylls iii. 32 A meagre field-fleck and a ramshackle shanty on the hill's wan grey slope.
1904 J. Barlow in Gael Feb. 44/3 How would she ever get home again to her cabin on the knockawn's side, her field-fleck, her turf-stack, her few hens and her old kid?
field folk n. people engaged in work in the fields; countrypeople.
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the world > food and drink > farming > farmer > [noun] > farm worker > collectively
workfolkc1425
field labour1661
field folk1863
1863 Chambers's Edinb. Jrnl. 2 May 281/2 Those alone who can sit still upon the bank or felled trunk in the glade..can see what field-folk see.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles II. xxxii. 149 The fatalistic convictions common to field-folk and those who associate more extensively with natural phenomena than with their fellow-creatures.
1920 Yale Rev. 9 153 Over the hill-encircled plain of the Batak..most melodious the voice of the wind as he sings his song to the field folk.
1998 M. Cadnum In Dark Wood xxi. 127 As to the common folk, don't worry about your reputation among the good field folk of this shire.
† field-foot n. Obsolete rare (perhaps) the right foot (of a hawk).
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1681 London Gaz. No. 1610/4 Lost..a Tarsell Gentle with..the hind Pounce of the Field-Foot lost.
field fort n. a fort erected on or near the battlefield; (also) a fort constructed in open country.
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society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > [noun] > temporary fortification or field-work
field fortification1648
field fort1686
fieldwork1686
1686 R. Blome Gentlemans Recreation i. 182/1 It hapneth but seldom, that a Regular Fortification is newly raised, unless it be some small Field Forts, or Cittadels.
1849 N. C. Brooks Hist. Mexican War vi. 91 They broke ground..for the principal intrenchment, a strong field-fort with six bastions.
2001 J. Thompson Texas & New Mexico on Eve of Civil War 23 He felt that plans to build a field fort, similar to what he had constructed at Fort Brown, would serve no real purpose.
field fortification n. the construction of fieldworks; concrete a fieldwork.
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society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > [noun] > temporary fortification or field-work
field fortification1648
field fort1686
fieldwork1686
1648 Earl of Monmouth tr. G. Gualdo Priorato Hist. Late Warres xv. 21 The field Fortifications be now unpenitrable.
1876 G. E. Voyle & G. de Saint-Clair-Stevenson Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) 341/2 In field fortification, the materials used for the revetments are gabions, fascines, sandbags [etc.].
2005 Roanoke (Virginia) Times (Nexis) 14 Oct. 4 [He] received instruction in the fundamentals of engineering support for combat units, including the procedures for building and repairing bridges, roads and field fortifications.
field fowl n. = field bird n.
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1741 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman May Pref. p. viii Keep off the Damage of Field-fowls from Turnep-seed, new-sown Corn, or Fruit-trees.
1837 tr. H. L. H. von Pückler-Muskau Semilasso in Afr. I. 284 Jackals, wild pigeons, field-fowls, and hares, were likewise seen in abundance on the Hammal.
2004 Leicester Mercury (Nexis) 25 June 11 In the wild, they [sc. owls] would eat worms, small birds, insects, field mice, field fowl and chicken eggs.
field-free adj. Physics of a region of space: that does not contain a significant electromagnetic or gravitational field; (also) relating to or involving such a region.
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1923 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 104 482 Electrons are accelerated from an incandescent filament to a nearby ‘grid’, after which they pass into a field-free space between the ‘grid’ and a ‘plate’.
1955 O. Klein in W. Pauli Niels Bohr & Devel. Physics 116 The field-free Dirac equation.
2001 W. H. Cropper Great Physicists xiv. 221 The ‘equivalence’ here is between an accelerating system in field-free space and an inertial system in a gravitational field.
field game n. any game or sport played on a field; (Eton College) a form of football played with a round ball by two teams of eleven players, allowing no use of the hands but employing a scrimmage and an offside rule preventing forward passing; cf. wall-game n. at wall n.1 Compounds 2a.
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1650 Briefe Rel. Some Affaires & Transact. No. 45. 673 Here shall be kept a Banquet in Tents built up in the Field for that purpose; afterwards a Field-game is to be played by persons that are matched.
1798 Sporting Mag. Nov. 87/2 Playinge at the caitche or tennise, archery, palle-malle, and such like other faire and pleasant field-games.
1856 Bradford Observer 24 Apr. 6/5 In our villages and small rural towns, field games will keep the labourer from the public-house.
1874 W. W. Wood Sketches of Eton iii. 36 Those lovers of football who, being in physique like Hamlet, are unable to move with rapidity in the ‘field game’.
1997 A. Barnett This Time vii. 244 ‘Heads down, bully and shove’ is a slogan from the winter-term Field Game played at Eton.
2010 Los Angeles Times (Electronic ed.) 24 Mar. 1 Hurling, sometimes called the world's fastest field game.
field general n. now chiefly U.S. (a) a general who commands troops on the field of battle; (b) (in extended use) a person who organizes and directs a sports team on the field of play; esp. = quarterback n. 2a.
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society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > leader or commander > officer or soldier of rank > [noun] > field-officer
officer of the field1535
field general1621
field officer1642
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > [noun] > player > types of
striker1699
kicker1829
non-striker1842
feeder1844
stopper1847
defender1851
hand-in1875
hand-out1875
back1880
attacker1884
field general1895
ball carrier1902
ball-handler1912
ball-winner1972
shotmaker1974
1621 T. Middleton Honorable Entertainments sig. B8 The Vertues are, Valour and Watchfulnesse, And both shine cleare now in thy present State, Field-Generall, and City-Magistrate.
1759 W. Harte Hist. Life Gustavus Adolphus II. 43 The post of a field-general was very great; for the commander of one army had only a lieutenant-general under him, who was probably..general of artillery.
1873 T. D. Whitney Other Girls iii. 19 She..hastened on, making up her mind instantly, like a field general, to her own best manoeuvre.
1895 Outing Mar. 93/2 Baird was unfortunate in being kept out of most of the games by an injury. As a field general and tackle Lyman is perhaps a shade the better.
1943 Esquire Nov. 69/1 First of all there was Albert, a superb ball-handler, a magician with the ball, and a gifted field general.
1996 Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo) 29 Apr. 17/2 He's our field general, a good passer and a good 3-point shooter.
2008 C. Johnson Pursuit xi. 211 The reason such a brave, skilled field general was assigned to the desk job command of Fortress Monroe was that the war was over.
field grey n. and adj. [after German feldgrau, adjective, Feldgrau, noun (c1900)] (a) adj. of the dark grey colour of the uniform worn from 1910 by the infantry of the Imperial German army; (b) n. this colour.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > [noun] > field grey
field grey1911
feldgrau1934
1911 Encycl. Brit. XXVII. 590/1 The new service dress is a loose-fitting ‘field-grey’ uniform, except in Jägers, machine-gun detachments and Jägers zu Pferd, who wear grey-green field dress.
1914 Cook County (Illinois) Herald 25 Dec. ‘Well, my man,..you were not badly hurt?’ ‘No,’ the man in the field gray answered.
1921 V. B. Shore Heritage 142 Passing them was a field-gray car, in which sat a slim, well-gowned woman.
1976 Times 1 May 14/1 He..put on the field grey uniform of the Swiss army.
2009 Independent (Nexis) 30 May 42 A Brit who has dressed himself up in German field grey plus rifle and bayonet.
field guide n. a book for the identification of animals, birds, flowers, or other things in their natural environment; (also in extended use) a book (often with many illustrations) used for the identification of non-natural objects; an explanatory or practical text on a particular topic.
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1877 Hardwicke's Sci.-gossip 13 211/1 To practical botanists it [sc. the New London Flora] is invaluable, as it serves all the purposes of a field guide.
1922 Elem. School Jrnl. 22 789 The book is published in pocket size with limp leather cover, which will add to its usefulness as a field guide.
1984 Listener 7 June 25/2 It is less of a field guide to the social classes than Fussell's own vision of human (well, American) society.
1996 G. L. Foster (title) A field guide to trains.
2007 Canad. Geographic July 84/1 By the early 1990s, he had..struck out on his own with a folksy, yet thorough and authoritative field guide to the butterflies of Alberta.
field gun n. a light mounted gun suitable for use on a battlefield.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > piece of artillery > [noun] > light pieces
falcon1496
falconet15..
field piece1544
fowler1548
fielding piece1565
falcon shot1598
field cannon1638
field gun1645
field culverin1659
galloper1746
Napoleon1862
1645 R. Laugharne True Rel. 4 Major Generall Stradlinge, and Major Generall Egerton, drew forth out of Haverford with four hundred and fifty Horse, eleven hundred Foot, and four field Guns into Colby Moor.
1828 J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner 179 The detachments for the service of heavy ordnance are told off and numbered in precisely the same manner as for field-guns.
1907 Westm. Gaz. 16 May 7/2 The men of the ‘Victory’..give field-gun displays.
2002 J. Corbin Al-Qaeda (2003) xxiii. 305 With their mobile field guns and thirty weeks of intensive training, 45 Commando were raring to get stuck into the fight.
field gunner n. a person operating a field gun.
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1856 Calcutta Rev. 27 98 The ranges of Field Guns must be increased proportionally with those of rifles, before, in future warfare, there will be any safety for field gunners.
1955 Yale Law Jrnl. 64 793 During World War II, Spencer served as a field gunner in the Royal Artillery in Burma.
2004 L. Hughes Biggest Boat I could Afford i. 15 My first posting to an artillery regiment landed me in command of a troop of field gunners.
field hand n. a labourer working in the fields; (formerly sometimes) spec. a slave working on a plantation.
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the world > food and drink > farming > farmer > [noun] > farm worker
hindc1230
land-tiliec1275
fieldera1425
fieldmana1425
land-tiller?a1500
field labourer1610
scullogue1665
fieldworker1691
field hand1774
spalpeen1780
land-worker1782
farmhand1794
field woman1813
grass comber1825
cowman1828
chamar1858
guajiro1901
shamba boy1907
cowman-gardener1908
tractorman1946
hoggler1986
farm worker2017
the world > food and drink > farming > farmer > [noun] > farm worker > (semi-)slave
serf1761
field hand1774
predial1836
society > authority > subjection > slavery or bondage > [noun] > slave > slave on plantation
field hand1774
1774 E. Long Hist. Jamaica I. iii. 450 The remainder of the able field hands might therefore be occupied about other necessary work.
1835 J. H. Ingraham South-West II. xxxix. 254 The third and lowest class consists of those slaves, who are termed ‘field hands’.
1858 Times 6 Feb. 9/1 The falling off in the old supplies of field hands causes a grumble in most agricultural districts as harvest comes round.
1936 M. Mitchell Gone with Wind‎ xxii. 373 You'll go or I'll sell you down the river. You'll never see your mother again..and I'll sell you for a field hand too.
2003 National Geographic June 15/1 (caption) Musahar women, many of whom work as field hands, have begun to agitate for better living conditions.
field hat n. any of various types of hat worn by soldiers or agricultural labourers; (now esp.) = campaign hat n. at campaign n. Additions.
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1859 Leisure Hour 27 Oct. 686/2 His shako, or field hat, is sometimes a thick, black, shining leather pannikin.
1914 Drama Feb. 127 Strong farmer lads in brown, wearing wide field hats and carrying scythes.
1925 Washington Post 16 Aug. 5/4 The campaign or field hat, of soft felt,..has been readopted by the marine corps.
2004 S. Keller Marine Pride 13 General Pate..directed that field hats be worn by all recruit drill instructors, and the hat has since become the symbol of Marine Corps recruit training.
field hay n. hay made from a mixture of crops grown specifically for the purpose; (also) hay harvested directly from a field, rather than being stored in a barn.
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the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > crop or crops > [noun] > hay crops
fenage1610
field hay1833
new-land hay1843
1833 Ipswich Jrnl. 6 July With respect to rye-grass and trefoil, and what is called field hay in general, there is every gradation.
1895 C. J. Cornish Wild Eng. Today 242 ‘Field-hay’, as the produce of the rye-grass, sainfoin, clover, and trefoil is called, is a new feature in the country.
1931 Hamilton (Ohio) Evening Jrnl. 17 Aug. 11/2 The little demand which developed last week was for barn hay... No interest at all was shown in field hay of any kind.
2002 Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey) (Nexis) 19 Dec. 78 There's a lot of other stuff that makes a good mulch... But stay away from field hay. It's full of weed and grass seeds.
field hockey n. chiefly North American = hockey n.2 1a; contrasted with ice hockey.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > hockey > [noun]
hockey1527
bandya1672
field hockey1895
1895 Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Sentinel 13 Jan. 13/7 Field hockey is less common and is a slightly different game... It is much easier than ice hockey, because anyone can run after the puck; whereas it takes skill to skate after it and maintain a balance while you swing your stick to hit it.
1958 Times 2 Apr. 4/2 Field hockey they call the game at home, to differentiate from a more popular pastime.
2006 A. Robbins Overachievers vi. 145 College Park, where the field hockey team was playing in the state championship game.
field holler n. chiefly U.S. a melodic call with abrupt or swooping changes of pitch, which originated among slaves on Southern plantations as a type of work song and is frequently viewed as a predecessor to blues music; cf. holler n.1
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1929 H. W. Odum Wings on my Feet xi. 192 I starts yodelin' my corn-field holler, walkin' 'bout an' actin' like monkey again.]
1942 Checklist Recorded Songs Eng. Lang. Archive Amer. Folk Song to July 1940 (Libr. Congress, Music Division) III Arkansas... Gould [County]... Field holler (2).
1950 Billboard 16 Sept. 44/3 There is little offered here that wasn't covered in the two LP's covering religious and secular Negro folk music—field hollers, work songs, rural blues, folk ballads, gospel music, sermons.
1989 C. S. Murray Crosstown Traffic viii. 186 The result was something infinitely more daring and dangerous; a jazz which abandoned key centres, bar lines and regular beats; field hollers for the big city.
2005 S. Yanow Jazz Introd. p. xxv Spirituals were the predecessor to gospel music, just as field hollers preceded blues.
field ice n. marine ice in the form of a large expanse (cf. sense 18c).
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the world > the earth > water > ice > body of ice > [noun] > ice-field or pack-ice
ice field1694
field1695
ice-island1750
field ice1772
ice isle1777
pack1791
stream1817
ice pack1835
pedregal1839
pack ice1842
stream-ice1856
1772 J. Cook Jrnl. 15 Dec. (1969) II. 60 Mountains of Ice were seen within this Field ice.
1850 De Bow's Rev. Nov. 547 The vessels then proceed to the field-ice, pushing their way through the openings, or working to windward of it.
2001 Daily Record (Glasgow) (Nexis) 11 July To the west lies the ice cap, to the east the solid field ice from the Polar Sea, which obstructs navigation for about seven months of the year.
field-induced adj. induced by an electric or magnetic field.
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1896 D. C. Jackson & J. P. Jackson Alternating Currents & Alternating Current Machinery Index 722/2 Field induced pressure, induction motor, 625.
1971 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 322 476 The field-induced current greatly exceeded the ion collection current during the first 10 μs.
2005 R. E. Newnham Properties of Materials xvi. 177 A secondary ferroic effect arising from field-induced electric polarization.
field ion microscope n. [after German Feldionenmikroskop (E. W. Müller 1951, in Zeitschr. f. Physik 131 136)] Electronics an electron microscope that works on the same principle as the field emission microscope but using ions produced at the surface of the emitter or in a surrounding gas, rather than electrons.Invented by E. W. Müller, who also invented the earlier field emission microscope (see the note at field emission microscope n.) and the later atom probe.
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > magnification or magnifying instruments > [noun] > microscope > electron microscopes
microscope1907
electron microscope1932
field emission microscope1941
field ion microscope1952
scanning electron microscope1953
SEM1968
stereoscan1968
transmission electron microscope1969
STM1982
the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > ion > [noun] > current of ions > device using
field ion microscope1952
1952 Sci. Abstr. A. Mar. 216/1 (heading) The field ion microscope.
1979 Pop. Sci. Oct. 4/3 Müller used the field ion microscope (FIM) that he invented to take the first black-and-white still photographs of individual atoms.
2004 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 101 7874/1 The adsorbate performs a random walk on the surface, as observed by using the field-ion microscope.
field judge n. †(a) Agriculture an official who supervises field trials (field trial n. 1) (obsolete); (b) Athletics a person who officiates at field events; (c) American Football a judge positioned on the sideline approx. 20 yards downfield of the line of scrimmage, with various responsibilities including monitoring the play clock and ruling on interference and the legality of catches.
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1855 Notts. Guardian 23 Aug. 6/2 The private trial of the selected machines shall take place under the immediate superintendence of the Stewards, the Field Judges, and the Consulting Engineer.
1888 Turf, Field & Farm 27 Apr. 359/2 The following gentlemen have consented to act as officials at the Cedarhurst Amateur Athletic Meeting on May 12:..Field Judges, W. G. Hegerman and Cyril Robinson; Track Judges, A. H. Wheeler [etc.].
1915 Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide 137 The officials of the game shall be a Referee, an Umpire, a Linesman and a Field Judge.
1992 P. Kirkpatrick in A. Armenti Physics of Sports i. 4/2 In measuring the length of a javelin throw..this is the way it is always done by field judges.
2003 N.Y. Times 8 Jan. d3/5 When the season is over, the league determines the statistically best officials in the seven positions: referee, umpire, head linesman, line judge, field judge, side judge and back judge.
field keeper n. a person employed to take care of a field or its contents (originally by driving away birds from crops).
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the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > sowing and planting equipment > [noun] > bird-scarer
scarlec1440
scare1530
blencher1531
shail1531
fray-boggard1535
crow-keeper1562
malkinc1565
clacket1594
scarecrow1606
clap-mill1613
field keeper1620
shaw-fowl1621
bean-shatter1639
clapper1660
dudman1670
clack1678
hobidy-booby?1710
worricow1711
cherry-clapper1763
flay-crake1788
potato-bogle1815
cherry-clack1824
feather-piea1825
flay-crow1824
gally-baggar1825
gally-crow1825
bogle1830
tatie-bogle1838
shewel1888
scare-string1889
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > [noun] > driving away birds > bird-scarer
crow-keeper1562
field keeper1620
bird-boy1786
crow-herd1805
bird-minder1828
crow-minder1837
rook-boy1856
crow-boy1868
tenting-lad1877
tent-boy1888
tending boy1898
scarer1930
1620 G. Markham Farwell to Husbandry xiii. 86 The only..meanes to preuent this euil, is to haue euer some yong boy with bow and arrowes to follow the seedsman and Harrowes, making a great noise..; and these seruants are called field-keepers or Crow-keepers.
1772 T. Simpson Compl. Vermin-killer 19 Field-keepers are necessary just before the corn is ripe.
1890 K. P. Wormeley tr. H. de Balzac Sons of Soil i. viii. 165 Vaudoyer..was only fit, like most field-keepers, to stalk about, and gossip, and let himself be petted by the poor of the district.
1989 San Diego Union-Tribune (Nexis) 22 Aug. b1 Field keepers complained that rock fans had severely damaged the unprotected turf [of the stadium].
field-kirk n. English regional (northern) and historical (now rare) = field church n.
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society > faith > artefacts > sanctuary or holy place > church or place of worship > [noun] > in country
field-kirk1831
1831 J. Hunter South Yorks. II. 147/2 Another church was planted in this wapentake in the first century after the Conquest... The site..is still literally the Field Kirk, a church in the fields... This I take to be true etymology of the name Felkirk.
1857 E. C. Gaskell Life C. Brontë I. i. 6 It is probable that there existed on this ground a field-kirk..in the earliest times.
1940 K. L. McCutcheon Yorks. Fairs & Markets ii. 16 The Field-Cock Fair at Howley..grew out of the association of the ‘field-kirk’, or local chapel with a holy well, to which pilgrims were naturally attracted.
field labour n. agricultural labour done in the fields; (also occasionally) field labourers considered collectively.In quot. 1661 in extended use.
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the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > [noun]
earth-tilthOE
earth-tillingOE
tilling?c1225
delving1377
laboura1393
land-tillingc1420
culturec1450
tilthing1495
labouring1523
manurea1547
manuring1550
digging1552
cultivation1553
tilth1565
manurance1572
agriculture1583
nithering1599
culturation1606
gainor1607
delvage1610
agricolation1623
gainage1625
cultivage1632
manurementa1639
groundwork1655
fieldwork1656
proscission1656
field labour1661
manuragea1670
subduing1776
management1799
subjugation1800
geopony1808
clodhopping1847
agriculturism1885
the world > food and drink > farming > farmer > [noun] > farm worker > collectively
workfolkc1425
field labour1661
field folk1863
1661 M. Stevenson Twelve Moneths 42 The Hogs..are become the Plowers of the Corn-fields;..the wind-falls are gathered to fill the Pies for the Houshold, except the old Sow return by chance from her Field-labour, and eat them raw.
1764 J. Grainger Sugar-cane iv. Argt. sig. R2v Negroes should be habituated by gentle degrees to field labour.
1883 Jrnl. Hort. 5 93/2 It is, however, now very difficult to obtain female field labour.
2003 P. P. Mollinga On Waterfront v. 145 Field labour is not done by female family members.
field labourer n. a person labouring in the fields; = field hand n.
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the world > food and drink > farming > farmer > [noun] > farm worker
hindc1230
land-tiliec1275
fieldera1425
fieldmana1425
land-tiller?a1500
field labourer1610
scullogue1665
fieldworker1691
field hand1774
spalpeen1780
land-worker1782
farmhand1794
field woman1813
grass comber1825
cowman1828
chamar1858
guajiro1901
shamba boy1907
cowman-gardener1908
tractorman1946
hoggler1986
farm worker2017
1610 Bible (Douay) II. Ecclus. xxxviii. 13 With an irreligious man treate not of holiness, and..with the field labourer of al worke.
?a1764 W. Rider New Hist. Eng. XLIV. 107 They alledged that malt-spirits..were..absolutely necessary for preserving the field-labourers from agues.
1853 H. B. Stowe Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin 17/1 We ask..whether this does not show that this poor field-labourer had..a true mother's heart?
2008 Caribbean Rev. Bks. May 35/2 He worked at Monteath's Kep estate,..first as a ‘house boy’ in the great house, then, as he approached adulthood, as a field labourer.
field lacrosse n. chiefly North American lacrosse played outdoors, as contrasted with indoor or box lacrosse.
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1932 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald 31 Jan. (Sports section) 10/5 Toronto and Montreal, which had been only tolerant, turning out crowds of 1,000 people or thereabouts for the field lacrosse games, went wild over box lacrosse last summer.
1976 B. Scott Lacrosse (1978) 4/1 Continuous action and physical contact highlight the box game, and in its general makeup it is more similar to ice hockey than to field lacrosse.
1996 Lacrosse Talk Nov. 7/1 All this with the intention of getting boys and girls excited about field lacrosse.
field law n. Physics a physical law which describes or relates to a field (sense 15a); spec. = conservation law n. at conservation n. Compounds 2.
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the world > matter > physics > [noun] > specific concepts or principles of > theoretical principle deduced from fact > specific
principle1770
Archimedes' law1874
conservation law1900
Archimedean property1908
field law1916
square law1921
anthropism1987
1916 Astrophysical Jrnl. 44 90 The work shows the presence of very interesting satellites which follow a different field law from the regular components.
1928 A. S. Eddington Nature Physical World xi. 236 The field laws—conservation of energy, mass, momentum and of electric change..are not controlling laws. They are truisms.
2006 C. R. Paul Introd. Electromagnetic Compatibility (ed. 2) 928 Since these frequencies are not strictly dc, how can we apply the static field laws?
field lens n. Optics (in a telescope or microscope) the lens of a compound eyepiece which is nearest to the objective; = field glass n. 2; contrasted with eye lens n. (a) at eye n.1 Compounds 4.
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the world > the universe > cosmology > science of observation > astronomical instruments > observational instruments > [noun] > telescope > part of
rete1665
field lens1817
hour-circle1837
seeker1892
1817 A. Rees Cycl. (1819) XXXV. at Telescope Fig. 5 gives the arrangement of the lenses in a terrestrial achromatic telescope with a triple object-glass; in which A is the object-glass, B the eye-lens, and C the amplifier, or field-lens of the eye-piece BC.
1907 E. T. Whitaker Theory of Optical Instruments iii. 62 The resulting chromatic error being..removed by substituting achromatic combinations for the simple field-lens and eye-lens.
2005 R. B. Thompson & B. F. Thompson Astron. Hacks iv. 302 Remove the barrel from the Plössl eyepiece to reveal the field lens and field stop.
field line n. Physics an imaginary line in a field of force (esp. an electric or magnetic one), the direction of which at a particular point is the direction of the force at that point.Field lines are typically rendered such that the magnitude of the force at any point is proportional to the local density of the field lines.
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1888 Telegr. Jrnl. & Electr. Rev. 5 Oct. 370/1 If the coil is moved towards the magnet the lines due to the current are thrust in at the right side, which again produces an opposite effect to the motion, which thrusts the field lines in at the left side.
1940 Physiol. Zool. 13 228 In all of the electric-field exposures, the capillaries were arranged..with long axes perpendicular to the field lines.
2008 P. Plait Death from Skies! ii. 41 Things get complicated if the magnet is not a simple shape. If you bend a bar magnet, the field lines will bend as well.
field location n. (a) the action or practice of surveying or marking out a site at first hand (cf. location n. 4a) (now rare); (b) a place where (scientific) fieldwork is done.
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1880 W. F. Shunk Field Engineer Pref. p. v The chapter on field location is believed to include all the problems likely to occur.
1894 Surveyor 7 Mar. 66 This is performed by the Field Location, in which the line is permanently staked, and the various blocks of land required for its construction surveyed and dealt with.
1910 C. A. Cofoid Biol. Stations Europe iii. 106 A receptacle of liquid carbon dioxide at the field location is connected by a small copper tube with the registering apparatus in the laboratory.
1917 Amer. City May 458/1 Field location is solely fitting a paper location to the ground.
2003 J. Hendry in T. C. Bestor et al. Doing Fieldwork in Japan 57 The first part of my fieldwork experience was not only to find a field location, but also to enlist some local academic support.
field lore n. knowledge gained from the fields; knowledge about rural matters.
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1826 Inspector 1 147 He is decently educated, and deeply skilled in field lore.
1890 Literary World 3 Oct. 260/1 Mr. Watson is already known to lovers of field-lore on birds, beasts, and fishes.
2001 Buffalo (N.Y.) News (Nexis) 25 Nov. c10 ‘Hunting Superbucks’..combines field lore and biologists' research.
field magnet n. a permanent magnet which provides a stationary magnetic field in an electrical apparatus, esp. a motor or dynamo.In a dynamo the field magnet provides the magnetic field through which the conductors are moved, so that an electric current is produced in the conductors.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrically induced magnetism > [noun] > magnet > for creating magnetic field
field magnet1878
field1889
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > dynamo > [noun] > magnet
field magnet1878
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > magnetism > magnetic devices or materials > [noun] > a magnet > field magnet
field magnet1878
1878 C. Brush Brit. Patent 2003 9 This device, which I have called a ‘teaser’, is used in connection with field magnets..for the purpose of..increasing the magnetic field.
1940 Pop. Sci. Monthly July 190/1 The outer field magnets are wound with about twelve feet of wire, and the same length is used to wind the two legs of the armature or rotor.
1973 L. C. Robinson Physical Princ. Far-infrared Radiation iv. 191 (caption) Electrons from a cathode are wound into helical motion in a helical field magnet and a mirror field.
2005 M. E. Brumbach Industr. Electr. (ed. 7) xvi. 359/2 If an electromagnet is used in place of the permanent field magnet, the field strength can be increased.
field manual n. (a) a book used to identify plants, animals, or other things in their natural environment; = field guide n.; (b) an explanatory or practical text on a particular topic, esp. military techniques or protocol.
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1834 Caledonian Mercury 19 Apr. This is the most comprehensive and useful botanical field manual which has ever appeared.
1862 H. Coppée (title) The field manual for battalion drill. Containing the exercises and manœuvres in the school of the battalion.
1890 J. G. Murphy (title) Practical mining. A field manual for mining engineers.
1921 Mining & Metall. Dec. 47/1 A textbook for a year's work in the study of minerals and rocks, and also a field manual of convenient size and scope.
1996 Denver Post (Electronic ed.) 16 May e1 The only pieces of equipment considered essential [in birdwatching] are an illustrated field manual and a pair of binoculars.
2007 M. Otterman Amer. Torture 96 Unlike previous editions, the new field manual explicitly banned the use of all physical and mental torture.
field margin n. an uncultivated strip of land around the edge of a field.
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1854 Country Gentleman 13 Apr. 230/3 In field margins, along the roads and waste places.., is found every year the parsnip.
1904 Times 27 Aug. 10/1 The flowers have sprung into life from every field margin, every ravine, and every ruined wall.
2005 F. Danks & J. Schofield Nature's Playground 88/1 On an expedition to a harvested cornfield, a gang of children gathered cut straw and some of the finer grasses growing along the field margin.
field master n. (a) Military an officer who is in charge of troops on the battlefield (now historical); (b) Hunting a person who is in charge of the field during a day's hunting; cf. sense 9b.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > hunter > [noun] > master of hounds
huntsman1600
field master1648
huntsmaster1691
Common Hunt1700
master1781
skirter1827
1648 Earl of Monmouth tr. G. Gualdo Priorato Hist. Late Warres xiv. 401 Boccapianola (a Neapolitan, and Field-Master) was there slaine.
1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed i. xiii. 40 The Caidsidibir or Field-Master..manages or orders the battle.
1859 H. H. Dixon Silk & Scarlet iv. 275 Few men knew better about the work of hounds than ‘the Parson’..but not content with being field-master, he constituted himself a sort of standing counsel to the huntsman.
1916 E. F. Buckley tr. L. Batiffol Cent. of Renaissance 398 The regiments were commanded by Field Masters or Marshals.
1922 Blackwood's Mag. Feb. 207 Dicky was deep in a discussion with one of the field masters on the interesting question of the matrimonial future of that official's blood-mare.
2002 Daily Tel. 7 Oct. 25/5 He was field master of the Heythrop Hunt for 12 seasons under Captain Ronnie Wallace.
field monument n. Archaeology a monument which constitutes a feature of the landscape (as distinct from a building), as a burial mound, earthwork, standing stone, etc.
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society > communication > record > memorial or monument > [noun] > others
ossuary1872
palimpsest1876
war memorial1912
field monument1923
time capsule1938
1923 Antiquaries Jrnl. 3 397 Dr. Almgren's work on the ‘fixtures’ or field monuments of Sweden appears after an interval of nineteen years.
1950 S. Piggott Prehist. India i. 13 The fact that the earlier British settlements were in Bengal..gave little impetus to the study of field monuments of Indian antiquity.
2002 Amer. Jrnl. Archaeol. 106 121/2 Linear earthworks—probably the least studied and perhaps least understood of field monuments.
field Negro n. now chiefly U.S. a black field labourer, esp. a black slave working on a plantation (now historical); (in extended use) an African American having a confrontational attitude towards the establishment; cf. house Negro n. at house n.1 and int. Compounds 10.The extended use was popularized by the African-American political activist Malcolm X (1925–65) in a speech made in 1963.
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1730 Let. to Bishop of London from Inhabitant of Leeward-Caribbee Islands 22 The Liberty of Marketting has been granted every where to the Field-Negroes.
1840 D. Turnbull Trav. in West 51 We shall see how very differently the unhappy field negro is treated.
1921 Atlantic Monthly Feb. 171/2 The average field negro of to-day is likely to be something of a brute in his own family.
1943 Pittsburgh Courier 21 Aug. 7/2 A Negro newspaper, including this type, which..regards the present setup of Negro leaders as stooges—as the field-Negroes regarded the house-Negroes.
1965 Malcolm X Speaks i. 11 [Transcription of speech made 10 Nov. 1963 in Detroit] You've got field Negroes in America today. I'm a field Negro. The masses are the field Negroes.
1972 Guardian 9 June 10/5 Othello and Iago represent contrasting black stereotypes: what Malcolm X called the House Negro, who totally accepts his master's system of values, and the Field Negro who is a congenital revolutionary.
1998 Callaloo 21 794 He insists that he's a black man, a descendant of field Negroes, and that he's a field Negro.
field nigger n. U.S. (now chiefly historical) = field Negro n.Usually considered offensive; see note at nigger n. 1.
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1833 Age 6 Oct. 319/3 Dem two field-niggers tupid.
1909 The Word Aug. 301 I'll make a field nigger of her pretty soon and keep her there till she's ready to go down on her knees and beg my pardon.
1959 A. Anderson Lover Man 76 Field niggers walk like they ain't got a care in the world and house niggers is nervous and prissy-like, most like a white man.
1967 Ebony Aug. 61/1 This shuffling ‘house nigger’ approach produces a complex set of polka dot politics wherein Negro college administrators prostitute themselves off for ‘field nigger’ stakes.
2008 D. Barber Hard Rain Fell 48 The Panthers self-consciously saw themselves as organizing the ‘field niggers’, Malcolm X's term for the most downtrodden working-class and unemployed blacks.
field notes n. notes recording observations made in the field by a surveyor, naturalist, sociologist, etc.
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society > communication > record > written record > [noun] > notes > specific
field notes1687
note1693
aide-mémoire1846
lecture note1892
bordereau1897
worksheet1925
FYI1986
1687 J. Taylor Thesaurarium Mathematicae 226 Prick off all the Angles..as you find them in your Field notes.
1771 Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 1 90 I shall here insert the field notes, before I proceed to draw the conclusions from them.
1862 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 1861 189 In the field notes of the late Dr. C. B. R. Kennerly, I find the opinion expressed that they [sc. eastern and western forms of the American dunlin] are distinct.
1961 Amer. Speech 36 201 Numerous allophonic variations, the accurate transmission of which from informant to fieldworker to field notes..produces certain problems in communication.
2001 High Country News 17 Dec. 5/1 Her field notes reveal a wilderness laced with eroding trails.
field office n. (a) Military a position or placement as a field officer (now rare); (b) a subsidiary office located in the field, away from a main office or headquarters.
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1813 J. Armstrong Let. 11 Feb. in D. D. Tompkins Public Papers (1902) III. 250 Swatwout,..who was under your command last summer, is a candidate for a field office in the Army.
1857 A. S. Waugh Let. 29 July in Proc. Royal Geogr. Soc. (1858) 2 37 Surveyor-General's Field Office, Deha Dun.
1903 Session Laws State Washington 317 Whenever a vacancy shall exist in any field office in any regiment or battalion not part of a regiment, the vacancy shall be filled in the manner herein provided.
1949 Bull. Atomic Scientists Aug.–Sept. 224/2 In the latter part of 1948, responsibility for clearances was largely decentralized into the field offices.
1992 Economist 22 Aug. 77/3 All such sites have field offices, known as genba, where architects and builders work together.
field park n. Military a depot where equipment and supplies for the use of an army in the field are held.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > [noun] > field equipment
train1523
train service1753
field equipment1787
supply train1788
field park1805
1805 in Papers E. India Affairs (House of Commons) (1806) 246 There is a complete battering train and field-park, with a sufficient number of bullocks, at Agra.
1807 J. Barlow Columbiad vii. 260 Batteries and field-parks and platoons of fire, In mingled shocks their roaring blasts expire.
1920 Blackwood's Mag. Oct. 450/2 Later you pass an engineer field park, with coils upon coils of barbed wire, bundles of pickets, dumps of explosive.
1999 E. A. Lund War for Every Day iii. 105 The actual equipment of the train can be divided into the field park of support equipment and the guns themselves.
field pattern n. the way in which the emitted power from a source (as an aerial ), or the sensitivity of a detector (as a microphone), varies in different directions from it.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > [noun] > radiation field > pattern
field pattern1929
radiation pattern1930
1929 Technol. Rev. 31 467/2 Radio beacon field-patterns and aberrations.
2002 R. W. P. King et al. Cylindrical Antennas & Arrays iii. 75 The horizontal field pattern of the tuned full-wave parasitic array.
field pay n. extra pay granted to a soldier on active service, or (more generally) to any person serving or working away from home.
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1656 J. Harrington Common-wealth of Oceana 191 The Lord Strategus Marching, is upon another accompt to have Field Pay as Generall.
1795 Analyt. Rev. Oct. 448 They..had been desirous of making remonstrances, with the other officers, on the inadequacy of the field-pay.
1895 Littell's Living Age 2 Feb. 285/1 The men had been getting 6d. per diem extra as field pay.
1951 Amer. Jrnl. Nursing 51 308/3 The field pay of a nurse ranges from $50 to $100 a month depending on the church board which sends her out.
2006 D. R. Woodward Hell in Holy Land 30 A soldier recuperating..was put on half pay and lost his field pay.
field physics n. Physics the branch of physics concerned with fields (cf. sense 15a).
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1922 Monist 32 262 The doctrine is carried through more and more of a pure ‘field-physics’, which recognizes neither bare undifferentiated space by itself nor matter by itself subsequently entering into this finished space.
1951 Brit. Jrnl. Philos. Sci. 2 48 The concept of causality as contact-action is closely connected with the ideas of space and time as given by field physics.
2006 P. Graneau & N. Graneau In Grip of Distant Universe viii. 178 Field physics relies much more on intuitive assumptions and imaginative models.
field piece n. = field gun n.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > piece of artillery > [noun] > light pieces
falcon1496
falconet15..
field piece1544
fowler1548
fielding piece1565
falcon shot1598
field cannon1638
field gun1645
field culverin1659
galloper1746
Napoleon1862
1544 in E. Lodge Illustr. Brit. Hist. (1838) I. 105 Bastard culverins..besides other small field pieces, falcons, and bases.
c1650 J. Spalding Memorialls Trubles Scotl. & Eng. (1850) I. 167 Felt Marshall Leslie..marchit from Abirdene with the foot army south, and the field peces also.
1762 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy V. xix. 82 'Tis a pity..that we have not a couple of field pieces to mount in the gorge of that new redoubt.
1898 Cosmopolitan July 344 A pneumatic gun, weighing no more than a light field-piece..was tried before an army and navy board more than a year ago.
1944 Fortune Mar. 89/1 (advt.) If we had put the heat on Congress to..teach a million kids every year how to be handy with a field piece or a bayonet.
2003 Evening Standard (Nexis) 20 Mar. 8 One barrage came from a forward position occupied by British artillerymen using AS90 self-propelled guns, the largest field piece in the Army's arsenal.
† field place n. Obsolete rare a place in the fields, a level open place; cf. fieldy adj.
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the world > the earth > land > landscape > level land > [noun] > level place or plain
fieldeOE
wong971
field landOE
woldc1220
flat1296
plainc1325
field placec1384
champaign?a1400
floor?a1400
smeethc1440
plain-land1487
weald1544
champian1589
camp1605
level1623
campaign1628
planure1632
campania1663
esplanade1681
flatland1735
vlakte1785
steppe1837
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Luke vi. 17 Jhesu..stood in a feeld place [L. in loco campestri].
field plot n. (a) a plan of a field or piece of land drawn to scale; (b) a plot of open land.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > tract > [noun] > small
plotlOE
plat1435
particlec1460
specka1552
patch1577
pick1585
field plot1659
the world > the earth > earth sciences > geography > map-making > map > [noun] > plan or scheme
survey1610
plant1624
plane1639
scheme1649
field plot1659
plan1700
1659 T. Burton Diary (1828) IV. 470 All original maps, field-plots, and field books.
1810 W. Pitt Gen. View Agric. County Worcester vii. 92 In the neighbourhood of Bromsgrove and elsewhere, are large field plots, well- managed and kept clean.
1817 G. Colman Hist. Elsmere & Rosa II. vii. 210 Let us step back..to a little angle which we have omitted in the field-plot.
1914 C. V. Piper Forage Plants & their Culture vii. 153 17 improved strains were compared in fieldplots with commercial timothy.
2002 P. Motzafi-Haller Fragmented Worlds, Coherent Lives iii. 68 The majority of the village landholders..claimed that their field plots were either too small or too depleted for crop production.
† field pondage n. Obsolete rare (apparently) a system for distributing water through fields and pastures.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > preparation of land or soil > irrigation > [noun]
field pondage1612
pondage1612
irrigation1626
floating-trench1649
masterwork1652
floating1669
catchwork1794
warping1799
watering1799
basin irrigation1903
sprinkler irrigation1908
sprinkling irrigation1910
spray irrigation1931
spray line1961
trickle irrigation1969
chemigation1981
1612 S. Sturtevant Metallica xiii. 92 Field Pondeage, is a kinde of Pipeage, which..conueigheth..water into seuerall pastures..and fields, and..leaueth a pond of water for cattle and beasts to drinke in.
field practice n. practice in the field, in various senses; (formerly esp.) military exercises carried out in the open field in preparation for battle.
ΚΠ
1794 Gentleman's Mag. 76 Suppl. 1174/2 That operations of consequence can seldom be performed on the scene of action, every man conversant with field-practice must confess.
1817 J. Williams et al. Hist. Acct. Rise & Progress Bengal Native Infantry 275 Leaving the battalion formation of ten companies for field practice, or service, undisturbed.
1844 F. Chamier Mysterious Man II. xi. 198 There was hardly a hamlet but had its haunted house, known by its broken windows, which furnished eternal field-practice for the boys.
1913 Laws State Delaware XXVII. xxxi. 61 For the National Guard of Delaware for field practice. Eight Thousand Dollars.
1985 P. A. Hutton Phil Sheridan & his Army xvi. 350 Troops should always march when practical since it provided an opportunity for field practice.
2009 Austral. Libr. Jrnl. (Nexis) 1 Aug. 330 The authors aim to present both an overview of field practice and a conceptual framework for knowledge organisation [in libraries and information centres].
field-programmable adj. able to be reprogrammed or reconfigured by the user.With reference to semiconductor devices, often contrasted with mask-programmable adj. at mask n.3 Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1968 U.S. Patent 3,383,478 2 A rotary field programmable switch with several electrically separate switches.
1978 Adv. in Electronics & Electron Physics 47 77 This led to the development of field programmable devices such as the fusible link bipolar PROM.
1988 J. I. Kostanoski in J. T. Turner Handbk. Hosp. Security & Safety vii. 157 The electronic tape dialer..offers a verbal message and field programmable telephone numbers that can be changed at will.
2002 M. Sipper Machine Nature vi. 120 Buy an off-the-shelf configurable device, most probably a so-called field-programmable gate array.
field punishment n. summary punishment as administered in the field to slaves or soldiers; a punishment of this kind.
ΚΠ
1831 Christian Observer Feb. 128 The prohibition of field punishments [for slaves].
1901 C. V. F. Townshend Mil. Life Field-Marshal George First Marquess Townshend 79 (heading) Field punishments under Cumberland.
1997 T. Sitton & D. K. Utley From Can See to Can't vi. 213 Lincecum's family finally lost patience with his bad picking and began to administer field punishments.
2006 P. Dornan Last Man Standing iv. 46 He had been sent to the battalion for field punishment.
field ranger n. (a) an official responsible for patrolling an area of countryside or parkland; a game warden; (b) British colloquial a speculative builder or building subcontractor (usually with the implication of poor workmanship or the use of inferior materials); a jerry-builder (now rare).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > gamekeeping > [noun] > gamekeeper
warrener1297
ranger1327
walker1482
underkeeper1502
browser1538
tineman1577
waterkeeper1590
gamekeeper1645
rider1647
preserver1749
garde champêtre1814
field ranger1835
warden1835
velveteens1857
keeper1863
game warden1876
pisteur1936
society > authority > office > holder of office > public officials > [noun] > forest or park officials
forester1297
ranger1327
paler1464
paleman1503
bow-bearera1552
palester1574
agistor1594
Warden of the Forest1598
gist-taker1626
rider1647
agister1677
gavellerc1692
field ranger1835
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > builder > [noun] > builder of houses > speculative
developer1863
speculative builder1868
field ranger1876
private developer1911
land developer1961
1835 Times 14 Oct. 2/5 Two sporting dogs..were seized by a field ranger, for a supposed breach of the game laws.
1876 Jrnl. Jurispr. 20 491 Some sub-contractor of scanty capital, like the ‘field-rangers’ of the London suburbs, anxious to run through a job at the smallest possible cost.
1912 C. Watney & J. A. Little Industr. Warfare (1913) xiii. 188 Much of the work done by the ‘field-rangers’ is done piece-work.
1956 N.Y. Times 17 Mar. 3/3 (headline) Field ranger killed in Kenya.
1999 R. Emslie & M. Brooks Afr. Rhino ix. 67/2 Field rangers form the vital last line of defence and often risk their lives protecting rhino and other wildlife.
field-ranging n. British colloquial (now rare) the building work done by field rangers.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > a house > types of house > [adjective] > badly built
field-ranging1881
1881 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 4 Mar. 292/2 The painting and decorating firms in this country were not limited to those who were connected with jerry builders and field ranging, as it was called.
1921 Times 1 Jan. 3/3 (advt.) General Foreman or Agent required to take charge of large housing scheme in London; must be competent and have good experience of field-ranging work, particularly cottage property building.
field rank n. Military the rank of a field officer (field officer n. 1); any of the ranks above captain and below general officer; cf. field grade n.
ΚΠ
1783 Let. 21 Apr. in Corr. Select Comm. Fort St. George (1784) 52 We desire you will take the most expeditious method of joining the main army, as there are with it at present, but very few Company's officers of field rank.
1868 C. E. Trevelyan Brit. Army in 1868 39 Officers of the three field ranks are employed on the staff and in a great variety of administrative and other situations.
1943 Billboard 26 June 8/4 One former staffer is now a commander in the navy; 12 in the army hold field rank.
2002 S. Sandler Ground Warfare 720/1 The one rank that can be either general officer or field officer, depending on the army, is brigadier. In the U.S. Army, it is a general rank. The British consider it a senior field rank.
field reeve n. now historical an official responsible for overseeing a field or fields, esp. on behalf of a number of owners.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > delegated authority > one having delegated or derived authority > [noun] > steward or bailiff in charge of another's property > other types of steward
multure-ward?a1300
multure grieve1301
surveyor1485
field reeve1617
sea-reeve1855
sea-grave-
1617 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1889) IV. 354 Ouerseers of the feild or Field Reeues.
1828 Times 2 Aug. 3/3 The field-reeve rings a bell, and the pigs, and hogs, and cows, and such, go on, and eat the common.
1993 J. M. Neeson Commoners (1996) v. 138 Fieldsmen—field tellers, eveners, field reeves, haywards—were responsible for the day-to-day business of the common fields.
field regulator n. Electrical Engineering = field rheostat n.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > dynamo > [noun] > magnet > device controlling
field rheostat1888
field regulator1889
1889 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. 127 165 The dynamos should either be compound wound or the field regulators adapted to increase the electro-motive force of the machine as the load increases.
2001 W. Drury Control Techniques Drives & Controls Handbk. xii. 269/2 The master motor field current is held constant by a thyristor-controlled field regulator.
field return n. U.S. Military (now historical) an official report detailing the current strength of a body of troops in the field.
ΚΠ
1743 Rep. Comm. S.-Carolina Assembly Exped. against St. Augustine 29 The Field-Return was Three Hundred and Seventy-eight Men, besides Field Officers, Voluntiers and Cadets.
1891 N. Amer. Rev. Mar. 276 After calling from each corps commander for a field return of the number of his troops, the discussion turned on the probabilities of the morrow.
1996 N. C. Hughes Bentonville xiv. 222 Seated in comfortable armchairs, armed with field returns, we know Sherman's strengths and we know Johnston's weaknesses.
field rheostat n. Electrical Engineering a variable resistor for controlling the strength of an electromagnet in a motor or dynamo.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > controlling device or process > [noun] > rheostat > applied to field magnets
field rheostat1888
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > dynamo > [noun] > magnet > device controlling
field rheostat1888
field regulator1889
1888 Proc. National Electric Light Assoc. 1887 478 Each dynamo should have its separate field rheostat to make up for any slight difference in speed of engines.
1938 Motion Picture Sound Engin. (Acad. Motion Pict. Arts & Sci.) viii. 119 Field rheostats for each motor are located in one place.
2005 S. J. Chapman Electric Machinery Fund. (ed. 4) ix. 627 The field rheostat is allowed to vary from 0 to 30 Ω.
field roller n. a roller which may be drawn over a field, typically in order to crush the clods and level the ground after ploughing.
ΚΠ
1756 T. Hale et al. Compl. Body Husbandry vi. xli. 311 It seems..to have been contrived between the Garden and the Field Roller, being a small Stone Garden Roller.
1869 Monthly Packet Jan. 65 A great lumbering field-roller, that came making such a noise along the road, drawn by four horses.
2001 C. Kurtz Pract. Guide Prairie Reconstruction v. 21 (caption) The use of a harrow will level the soil and break up clods while a cast iron field roller or cultipacker will compact the soil to give a firm seedbed.
field room n. †(a) room in which to move freely; open or unobstructed space; (figurative) freedom, unrestricted scope (obsolete); (b) Agriculture space on farmland in which to grow or dry crops.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > [noun] > unobstructed space
room1517
field room1575
field-roomth1612
vacation1743
open1771
1575 G. Gascoigne Noble Arte Venerie ii. 248 The slowest dogge yt euer ranne wil ouertake a Fox if he haue field roome.
1619 E. Bert Approved Treat. Hawkes vi. 65 Hauing field-roome & sight whether to carry it in safety, she [sc. a hawk] wil remoue.
1633 tr. Math. Recreations lxx. 117 Because there was not field roome thereabout to nourish and retaine the Citizens of that place, Alexander was wise not to entertain the designe.
1730 tr. N. Heinsius Life Mirandor I. 17 My father had then field Room, and exercised his Arm so freely..that he soon made my Backside in a piteous Condition.
1771 A. Young Farmer's Kalendar 240 The barley crops should generally have good field room.
1854 ‘G. Greenwood’ Haps & Mishaps ii. 30 The great writers are crowded into a narrow corner [of Westminster Abbey]; while the great fighters have every where plenty of sea room and field room to set up their immortal battle show.
1870 Field Q. Mag. & Rev. Nov. 352/1 Fine weather is very important after the crop is cut, as it requires considerable field room.
1998 N.Y. Times 25 Oct. xiv. 20/4 Farmers usually grow them as a cash crop for sale at this time of year, but only if they have the field room to spare.
† field-roomth n. Obsolete rare = field room n. (a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > [noun] > unobstructed space
room1517
field room1575
field-roomth1612
vacation1743
open1771
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion xii. 204 Falling backe where they Might field-roomth find at large, their Ensignes to display.
1622 M. Drayton 2nd Pt. Poly-olbion xxii. 41 The King from out the towne, who drew his Foot and Horse, As willingly to giue full field-roomth to his Force.
† field-sconce n. Fortification Obsolete a type of detached earthwork (see sconce n.3 1).
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society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > earthwork or rampart > [noun] > outwork > other outworks
field-sconce1639
redan1684
horseshoe1698
lunette1704
1639 R. Norwood Fortification 134 Of small Forts or Field Skonces, and marking them out Mechanically, and first of a Skonce of foure sides.
1688 J. S. Fortification 122 Upon this Line..are to be placed Redoubts, Long Squares, with Tenailles, Triangles,..Star-Works, Field-Skonces, and others Forts with Ramparts.
field season n. †(a) Agriculture the time of year in which ploughing takes place (obsolete); (b) the period of time during which fieldwork, now esp. archaeological or anthropological research, is carried out.
ΚΠ
1846 Amer. Farmer Feb. 226/1 Horses may not be detached from the plough during the busy field season.
1851 R. Smyth & H. L. Thuiller Man. Surv. India 580 Surveyors are amply provided for starting their work at the commencement of each Field season.
1889 Science 17 May 382/2 This investigation, conducted from time to time, as opportunity offered, throughout the field-season of 1885, included experiments upon the geysers and hot-springs.
1898 E. Young Kingdom of Yellow Robe x. 210 Two curious ceremonies take place each year in connection with the agricultural operations. One is held in connection with the opening of the field season.
1923 Condor 25 39 The data we have gathered during recent field seasons may possibly be of interest.
1995 J. Shreeve Neandertal Enigma (1996) ii. 34 Toward the end of the field season, Dubois discovered the skull-cap of a humanlike creature in a stream bank in Java.
† field-separation n. Obsolete (in the Scottish church during the late 17th cent.) the body of separatists who attended field meetings (see field conventicle n.); cf. separation n. 4.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > observance, ritual > meeting for observance > [noun] > in open air > attender at > collectively
field-separation1680
1680 G. Hickes Spirit of Popery Pref. 1 Scottish-Nonconformists, especially those of the Field-Separation.
field sequential system n. Television (now historical) a colour television system in which successive fields (sense 14d) of a different primary colour are used to form a single frame.Alternative colour television systems are the dot sequential system and the line sequential system.
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society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [noun] > colour systems
field sequential system1949
SECAM1962
1949 Electronics Dec. 68/1 The field-sequential system suffers from flicker unless the field rate is high.
1957 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 912 n/2 Presenting the colours in such rapid succession to the eye that persistence of vision merges them into a single sense impression. The last method is employed in the field-sequential system.
2001 Electronic Media (Nexis) 12 Nov. 14 CBS had found an awkward solution to the compatibility question by demonstrating a newer version of its Field Sequential System that could switch back and forth between color and black-and-white.
field service n. †(a) a military engagement (obsolete); (b) military service in the field, active service; frequently attributive in later use.
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society > armed hostility > military service > [noun] > type or manner of service > active
field service1596
active service1658
active duty1801
colour service1877
1596 Z. Jones tr. M. Barleti Hist. G. Castriot vii. 256 Field seruices consist most in loose and light skirmishes.
1600 C. Edmondes Obseruations Fiue Bks. Caesars Comm. ii. iv. 70 This vse the Romaines had of a Testudo in field seruices, and only by the benefit of their Target.
1650 R. Stapleton tr. F. Strada De Bello Belgico vii. 55 Those huge Muskets..which..were first brought in use for Field-Service by the Duke of Alva.
1702 F. Povey Sea-gunners Compan. 51 There is much more trouble in your Duty on Field-Service.
1825 N. L. Beamish tr. F. W. von Bismarck Instr. Field Service Cavalry Pref. p. viii According to these principles has the following ‘Field Service Instruction’ [Ger. Felddienst-Vorschrift] been compiled.
1899 G. J. Younghusband Philippines & Round About xv. 201 The forage cap..is shaped like our field service cap, but with a couple of streamers behind.
1915 F. H. Lawrence in Home Lett. of T. E. Lawrence (1954) 660 I am sending a field service post card at the same time as this letter.
1999 A. Mallinson Close Run Thing (2000) vi. 135 The Tarleton had been disliked for field service (it was almost as cumbersome as the hussars' mirleton).
field show n. an exhibition or display staged on a field, esp. a parade or agricultural show.
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society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > a public show or spectacle > type of show or spectacle > [noun] > other shows or spectacles
raree-show1718
cattle-show1815
flower-show1845
baby show1854
trade show1854
horse-show1856
dress parade1870
field show1870
bottle show1883
medicine show1903
aquacade1937
icecapade1940
talent show1955
1870 Christian Ambassador 8 247 On a review or a field-show, when the military pageant passes before our eyes.
1924 Ada (Okla.) Evening News 9 Oct. 1/5 [He] will be a speaker on the program at..the sixth field show of the American Shorthorn Breeders association.
2007 L. D. March Erwin & Unicoi County 83 (caption) The Erwin High School Band..proved its marching prowess at a halftime field show during a 1933 home game.
field sketching n. sketching while in the field, originally as a technique of military reconnaissance.
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the world > the earth > earth sciences > geography > map-making > [noun] > methods
field sketching1834
iconometry1898
palinspastic1945
1834 J. S. Macaulay Treat. Field Fortification 229 It is presumed that the beginner in field-sketching has already learned to copy plans.
1898 Pall Mall Gaz. 23 June 2/1 The man is in my wing and is a good Urdu scholar, and has a certificate for field sketching.
1903 Engin. Mag. Dec. (News Suppl.) p. v/2 To facilitate field sketching, there has been placed on the right-hand pages..a protractor..ruled in thin, red lines.
1991 G. Albert & R. Wolf Basic Drawing Techniques iv. 65/2 Field sketching helps you to see those details, remember them—and then depict them faithfully.
field slave n. now historical a slave who works in the fields; contrasted with house slave.
ΚΠ
1730 Let. to Bishop of London from Inhabitant of Leeward-Caribbee Islands 46 No Attempts that I know of were ever made in any of our Sugar-Colonies to hinder the Field-Slaves from Labouring on their own Account on the Lord's Day.
1818 Boston Recorder 23 June 104/2 The field-slaves are peculiarly exposed to the lashes of their merciless drivers.
1909 D. de Leon tr. E. Sue Casque's Lark 6 During the reign of the Emperor Vitellius, a poor field slave like our ancestor Guilhern set himself up as the messiah.
2008 Wall St. Jrnl. 22 Jan. a6B/2 Class has divided American blacks ever since slave owners divided blacks into field slaves and more favored house slaves.
field spaniel n. (originally) a spaniel of a type trained to retrieve game on land (cf. water spaniel n.); (in later use) spec. a variety of spaniel closely allied to but larger than the English cocker spaniel.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > other types of dog > [noun] > spaniel > land or water > varieties of
springer1749
King Charles1780
English springer1808
Marlborough dog1822
cocker spaniel1829
Marlborough1831
Blenheim1839
Norfolk spaniel1845
King Charles1848
Sussex spaniel1856
field spaniel1859
clumber1865
Norfolk1867
Japanese spaniel1880
Welsh springer1903
Tibetan spaniel1905
Brittany spaniel1936
Brittany1945
1859 ‘Stonehenge’ Shot-gun ii. ii. 135 Field spaniels, as distinguished from water spaniels and toy dogs, are divided into springers and cockers.
1897 Earl of Suffolk et al. Encycl. Sport I. 319/2 There are four varieties of field spaniels,..the Clumber, the Sussex, the Black, and the any-other-colour.
1960 Times 2 Jan. 9/3 Two varieties now much in a minority are the Sussex and field spaniels.
2002 J. Cunliffe Encycl. Dog Breeds (new ed.) 203/2 Built for activity and endurance, the field spaniel is ideal for rough shooting or as a companion for the country dweller, but not suited to city life.
field staff n. now historical = linstock n.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > equipment for use with firearms > [noun] > fuse
portfire1629
fuse1647
match1653
field staff1705
port-feu1802
mouse1867
1705 tr. G. Guillet de Saint-Georges Gentleman's Dict. ii. at Gunner He carries a Field-Staff and a large Powder-Horn in a string over his Left Shoulder.
1783 in G. T. Landmann Adventures & Recoll. (1852) I. iv. 92 The gunners carried field staffs about two feet longer than the halberds, with two linstock cocks, branching out at the head.
1809 W. Nicholson Brit. Encycl. III. at Gunner In the Tower of London..this officer carries a field staff, and a large powder horn.
1982 M. Barthorp Jacobite Rebellions 37/1 The men were divided into gunners, equipped with a linstock or field staff and a powder horn for priming, and matrosses, or gunners' assistants.
field station n. (a) Military a post, camp, or garrison located in an outlying area or an area where a military campaign is under way; (later also) a temporary medical station providing first aid to those wounded on the battlefield; (b) a research station located in the field.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > places for the sick or injured > [noun] > hospital or infirmary > military or field hospital
field station1610
field hospital1690
military hospital1747
general hospital1775
ambulance1800
station hospital1827
base hospital1864
clearing-hospital1914
clearing-station1915
MASH1950
society > armed hostility > military organization > logistics > quartering > [noun] > quarters > at some distance from headquarters
field station1610
out-quarter1645
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 789 Some of them had their field-stations within the Barbarian ground, for defence of the lands.
1790 Calcutta Chron. 28 Jan. On the 11th instant Colonel John White arrived at Futta Ghur, when the command of the troops at that field station was delivered over to him.
1834 P. J. Begbie Malayan Penins. iv. 162 Malacca is a field station, and..her troops are supposed to march in any direction at an hour's notice.
1868 R. S. Williamson On Use of Barometer on Surv. & Reconnaissances ii. 83 The relative heights of the field stations would be independent of any small error in the one so used.
1877 T. Longmore Gunshot Injuries ix. i. 459 Each field station is..placed closely in rear of the regimental combatants, and is provided only with the most limited personnel and amount of surgical matériel.
1910 Sci. Amer. Suppl. 10 Sept. 163/1 Subsidiary to these there are six important field stations..where salmon eggs are collected and hatched.
1988 Times of India 20 Jan. 8/5 The so-called peace stations have become field stations because of the army's frequent deployment for internal security duties.
1992 M. S. Reynolds Hemingway: Homecoming (1999) iii. 34 An Italian priest anointed him at the field station as he lay on his stretcher, seriously wounded.
2007 K. Hochstetler & M. E. Keck Greening Brazil iv. 156 The Institute for Research on the Amazon (INPA) in Manaus, with field stations throughout the region, was set up..in 1952.
field stop n. Optics a stop (stop n.2 12) placed in or close to the image plane in an optical instrument, which has the effect of restricting the field of view.
ΚΠ
1889 Amer. Monthly Microsc. Jrnl. 10 265 A metal frame is used as a carrier for the dark-field stop.]
1910 J. P. C. Southall Princ. & Methods Geom. Optics xiv. 550 The actual stop that is thus responsible for the limiting of the field of view of the object may be called the field-stop;..it is the material stop or lens-fastening that subtends the smallest visual angle.
1979 J. Muirden Sidgwick's Amateur Astronomer's Handbk. (ed. 4) iii. 36 The apparent angular field (α) is the angular diameter of the field stop in the ocular as seen through the ocular from the observing position.
2007 A. M. Gandorfer et al. in F. Kneer et al. Mod. Solar Facilities i. 74 In the primary focus a field stop is placed, a heat rejection wedge with a hole that defines the useable field of view, corresponding to 148 000 km on the solar surface.
field strength n. Physics the intensity of a field (sense 15a), as measured by the force it exerts on a unit entity.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > solar radiation > [noun] > intensity
field strength1885
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > area of influence > [noun] > intensity of
field strength1885
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > magnetism > [noun] > magnetic field > intensity of
field strength1885
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrically induced magnetism > [noun] > field > intensity of
field strength1885
magnetic field strength1931
1885 U.S. Patent 313,247 4/1 The speed slightly increases, circuit is closed..and the movement of the arm B causes an increase in the field strength.
1962 F. I. Ordway et al. Basic Astronautics iv. 164 Sunspot field strengths up to several thousand gauss have been observed.
1989 Synthese 81 355 Use pendulums..as reliable, low cost, and easily transportable instruments for determining variation in gravitational field strength.
2006 P. Woit Not even Wrong i. 32 Make magnets with twice the field strength.
field system n. the system adopted within a particular community for the subdivision and utilization of its agricultural land (sometimes spec. with reference to the open-field system: see also open field adj. 1).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > [noun] > enclosed land or field > field systems
allotment system1801
field system1811
1780 A. Young Tour Ireland i. 130 The mischiefs of our open field system in England.
1804 J. Evans Lett. Tour S. Wales 189 The best method..is the four-field system: 1st, manure for wheat; 2d, barley ; 3d, summer fallow, turnips; 4th, barley, manure for wheat again.]
1811 W. Gooch Gen. View Agric. County Cambr. vii. 99 Under the field-system it is almost universally allowed the lands are impoverishing.
1851 Jrnl. Hort. Soc. 6 211 The turnip crop forms the basis of the field system of cultivation.
1915 H. L. Gray (title) English field systems.
1935 Proc. Prehistoric Soc. 1 10 The archaeological investigation of ancient field-systems.
2003 Oxoniensia 67 33 Priestend..was a separate manor in its own right, with its own field system.
field teacher n. (originally) †a person giving instruction in military exercises (obsolete); (in later use) a teacher working in the field (in various senses).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > soldier with special duty > [noun] > instructor
field teacher1623
officer instructor1859
schoolie1946
1623 J. Bingham tr. Lipsius Compar. Rom. Manner Warre in tr. Xenophon Hist. X ij b Where are our Field-teachers? Where is our daily meditation of Armes?
1796 J. Towers Tracts II. 306 They would make an example of Tabernacle preachers, by enacting a law to cut out their tongues; and also, by the same authority, to cut out the tongues of all field-teachers.
1896 Proc. 13th Ann. Meeting Lake Mohonk Conf. 10 The Commissioner writes an interesting paragraph with regard to field matrons and field teachers.
1991 Backpacker Aug. 42/1 Cathy Sakas, host of the PBS series ‘The Coastal Naturalist’ and a field teacher for Wilderness Southeast.
field test n. a test carried out in the natural environment, as opposed to a laboratory; a trial of a product, device, etc., in the environment in which it is to be used.
ΚΠ
1857 New Eng. Farmer 9 407/1 The field test Wednesday was probably the finest exhibition of Mowing Machines ever witnessed.
1938 Nature 16 Apr. 682/2 A field test is now in progress of the virus of myxomatosis, as an agent in reducing rabbit population.
2005 High Times Mar. 18/3 Six different devices for testing saliva are currently undergoing field tests.
field-test v. transitive to test (a product, device, etc.) in the natural environment, as opposed to a laboratory; to try out in the environment in which it is to be used.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > trial or experiment > trial, test, or testing > try or test [verb (transitive)] > in specific conditions
static-test1922
field-test1938
reality-test1958
production-test1960
1938 Sewage Works Jrnl. 10 308 The generator units were completely shop tested and later field tested.
1991 G. Chesbro Fear in Yesterday's Rings vi. 98 He's got himself a bigger and better bioweapon, and he's here to field-test it on a lot of innocent people.
2009 Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville) (Nexis) 4 Dec. a1 In 2010-11, the state plans to field test a biology end-of-course exam.
field-tested adj. that has been tested in the natural environment, as opposed to a laboratory; that has been subjected to a field test.
ΚΠ
1940 Sewage Wks. Jrnl. 12 10 (advt.) Every installation is based on tried and proved methods and field tested materials.
1983 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 29 May vii. 19 The field-tested volume includes poetry written for adults..as well as works composed especially for young readers.
2005 Amer. Cowboy Nov.–Dec. 7 (advt.) Field-tested and cowboy approved, Rocky Big Mountain Tested work gear is built to stand the test of time.
field tile n. a hollow tile of a type used in the construction of a field drain; (as mass noun) tiles of this kind.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > tile > [noun] > other types of tiles
semi-tilea1525
quarrel1601
head1703
travers tile1703
astragal1725
fire tile1798
sole1843
field tile1856
fish-scale tile1881
quarry tile1908
hollow tile1914
tile-and-a-half tile1940
1856 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 6 June 497/2 A two-inch field-tile, made four inches square instead of being round.
1906 J. J. Cosgrove Princ. & Pract. Plumbing 63 A line of field tile is laid around the outside of the foundation wall below the foundation footings.
1965 G. J. Williams Econ. Geol. N.Z. xx. 364/2 Similar deposits [of clay]..are used for making bricks, field-tiles and refractories at Kamo.
2009 Soybean Digest (Nexis) Apr. 20 Adding or improving field tiles can promote better drainage and create aeration.
field train n. Military the equipment, supplies, etc., carried behind the main body of troops or maintained in readiness for use by them in the field of battle; the troops charged with maintaining this.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > branch of army > [noun] > administration and supply branches
baggage1603
field train1692
Corps of Wagoners1802
wagon-corps1810
subsistence department1820
baggage-train1841
rear echelon1852
Control Department1867
Army Service Corps1869
A.S.C.1871
pay corps1876
Q1916
echelon1922
1692 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) II. 372 The feild train of artillery in the Tower for Flanders..are to consist of 23 pounders, 10 sakers, and 8 demiculverins.
1757 tr. J. N. Moreau Conduct Late Ministry xii. 189 Form a second field train, with good officers and soldiers.
1864 J. H. Burton Scot Abroad I. iv. 156 A field-train of unusual strength for those times.
2003 Boston Herald (Nexis) 7 Apr. 4 [They] fired off three RPG rounds at Blue Platoon, providing security to the company's field train outside one enemy base.
field training n. (a) originally Military practical training carried out in the field, rather than in a classroom; (b) (an instance of) the training of a dog in hunting activities such as retrieving, tracking, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > drill or training > [noun] > type of drill or training
sham fight1598
field exercise1616
martinet1677
field evolutions1789
foot drill1795
goose-step1806
war-game1828
rope drill1833
field training1836
repetition training1859
skeleton drill1876
drill-down1889
Beast Barracks1896
basic training1898
monkey motion1909
assault course1915
TEWT1942
workup1971
Taceval1977
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping dogs or cats > [noun] > keeping or affinity with dogs > dog-training
field training1836
unmuzzling1898
obedience training1936
1836 United Service Jrnl. Jan. 6 The very able and judicious superintendence of Colonel Pasley, for the field training of the Engineer Department.
1842 Fraser's Mag. Jan. 25/1 He had undergone a field-training; and was as sprightly a young dog as ever flushed a woodcock.
1945 D. Bolster Roll on my Twelve 134 The Petty Officer responsible for gun drill and Field Training.
1998 C. C. Pinney Vizslas 49/1 Field training will be needed as well to mold and enhance certain behaviors and hunting patterns in your dog.
2002 R. M. Stewart Archaeol. 319/1 In planning your education, field training, and career you need to be aware of the realities of both the academic world and professional practice.
field trash n. the dried or decayed leaves and stems of sugar canes; cf. trash n.1 2.
ΚΠ
1791 Philos. Trans. 1790 (Royal Soc.) 80 356 The field trash, when dry, burns with great rapidity.
1882 C. G. W. Lock et al. Sugar Growing & Refining i. 68 If the rainy season be near at hand, all the field-trash, consisting of decayed leaves, should be buried with other manure about the roots of the plants.
2009 I. Thomson Dead Yard iv. 51 Among their other duties, the workers must clear the land for irrigation canals, cut cane, cut bush and gather field trash for fuel.
field trip n. a trip or expedition in which a researcher or student collects specimens, gathers data, or carries out other work in the field.
ΚΠ
1885 Ann. Rep. Board Regents Smithsonian Inst. 1883 80 Professor Clarke, during the summer, made several mineralogical field trips and secured abundant material for future investigation.
1940 Murrelet 21 10 Nineteen of these birds were seen within a short time on a field trip on Nov. 27, 1939.
2002 Guardian 25 May i. 13/1 Researches and field trips across the globe to investigate languages ranging from Faroese..to Banawa.
fieldwalking n. (a) the action of walking through fields, esp. as part of a recreational walk; (b) Archaeology the process or technique of finding or studying archaeological sites by walking systematically across a ploughed field collecting artefacts on the surface.
ΚΠ
1853 Independent (N.Y.) 8 Sept. 142/3 I should think less of one's judgment and delicacy who, after a fair trial of either dress, in an excursion requiring much field walking was not heartily converted to the theory of Bloomerism.
1972 Times 26 Apr. 8/6 The survey was made by intensive weekend field-walking by volunteers who collected surface pottery and flints.
1997 P. Biggs & S. Biggs Discov. Walks in Derbyshire 36 Short section of field walking with one moderate hill climb.
2003 Oxoniensia 67 15 Fieldwalking in 1998 in the vicinity of College Farm revealed concentrations of Romano-British pottery close to the east-west trackway.
† field-ware n. Obsolete that which grows in or has been harvested from the fields; vegetation, esp. crops.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > crop or crops > [noun]
wastumc888
tiltha1100
estrea1300
madder-cropc1300
gainage1390
cropa1400
yieldingc1405
emblement1495
burden?1523
increase1535
field-ware1546
gather1555
esplees1598
husbandrya1616
glebe1660
warea1661
récolte1669
tilling1680
tillage1681
stuffa1687
growing1722
bearing1747
raccolta1748
the crops1789
plant1832
raising1857
cropping1861
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue sig. K iiiiv Feelde ware might synke or swym.
1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farming xliii. 362 Their Ashes..have been found to be a most excellent Dressing for any sort of Garden or Field Ware.
1858 Harper's Mag. May 843/2 The May-pole was, as you truly suggest, only a piece of wood; the flowers were dandelions and other coarse field-ware, if not positive paper.
field-watch n. [after German Feldwache (early 18th cent. or earlier)] Military a body of troops appointed to keep watch; a lookout post.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > group with special function or duty > [noun] > for guard duty
guarda1513
counterguard1523
stand watch1525
presidy1529
body of guard1579
court of guarda1592
perdu1622
sentry1705
field-watch1797
watch-post1852
1797 T. Arnold N. Bailey's Dict. Eng.-German & German-Eng. (German ed. 9) II. at Feldwache Field-watch.
1834 tr. C. Spindler Jesuit xviii. 308 Our field-watch has marked a cloud of dust.
1870 Glasgow Herald 4 Aug. 5/2 With the aid of a good glass, a field watch may..be discovered half way up the hill.
1901 A. E. W. Mason Ensign Knightley 120 He..tramped out into the belt of ground between the French outposts and the Prussian field-watch.
1986 T. Scott Freiburg & Breisgau vi. 176 The beginning of the second decade of the sixteenth century..saw him settled in the Breisgau acting as a field-watch for the village community of Lehen.
field whore n. (a) rare (derogatory) a prostitute; (b) [chiefly after German Feldhure] a woman made use of as a prostitute by soldiers on active service, prison guards, etc., a camp prostitute.
ΚΠ
1846 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words I Field-whore, a very common whore.
1914 E. M. Lamond tr. M. Luther in E. M. Lamond tr. H. Grisar Luther III. xvii. 271 The ‘archdevil's whore’..compared with whom..‘common city whores, field whores [Ger. Feldhuren], country whores and army whores’ may well be deemed saints.
1958 L. Uris Exodus xxv. 146 A pink badge was worn by homosexuals, a black badge by field whores.
1978 H. Wouk War & Remembrance xcviii. 1026 Field whores for the Wehrmacht, also for SS brothels, were recruited from this camp.
1995 Daily News (N.Y.) (Nexis) 13 June 37 The aged Korean and Filipino women once forced to serve as field whores for Japanese troops.
† field wife n. Obsolete (a) a peasant woman; (b) a woman who is taken from the field and treated as a wife (spec. in regard to sexual relations, with allusion to the rape of Dinah in Genesis 34:1–2); (c) a woman who spends her time in the fields.Sense (b) apparently represents an isolated use.
ΚΠ
?a1500 Nominale (Yale Beinecke 594) in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 794 (MED) Hec rustica, a fyldwyfe.
1591 H. Smith Preparatiue to Mariage 35 Not a street-wife, like Thamar, nor a field-wife, like Dinah; but a house-wife.
1617 S. Rowlands Bride sig. Ev Shee scornes to be a streete-wife (Idle one,) Or field wife ranging with her walking mates.
field winding n. Electrical Engineering a coil which encircles the field magnet of a motor, dynamo, etc.; a series of such coils connected to form a single circuit; cf. winding n.1 8b.
ΚΠ
1888 Electr. Engineer Mar. 84/1 The field winding is composed of a number of coils separated by spaces, to allow a free circulation of air.
1944 Sci. Monthly Apr. 277/2 In designing large generators..it has been found desirable in many cases to use aluminium field windings.
2004 V. A. W. Hillier & P. Coombes Hillier's Fund. Motor Vehicle Technol. (ed. 5) I. vii. 497/2 All of the current that is supplied to the motor must pass through the field windings.
field woman n. a woman who works in the fields; cf. fieldman n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > farmer > [noun] > farm worker
hindc1230
land-tiliec1275
fieldera1425
fieldmana1425
land-tiller?a1500
field labourer1610
scullogue1665
fieldworker1691
field hand1774
spalpeen1780
land-worker1782
farmhand1794
field woman1813
grass comber1825
cowman1828
chamar1858
guajiro1901
shamba boy1907
cowman-gardener1908
tractorman1946
hoggler1986
farm worker2017
1813 Z. Macaulay Let. 21 Apr. in J. Marryat Exam. Rep. Berbice Commissioners (1817) 43 The Commissioners have observed with considerable interest, your statement respecting the removal of those persons whom you call field-women, from town to Sandvoort.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles I. xiv. 171 A field-man is a personality afield; a field-woman is a portion of the field.
1989 B. Courtenay Power of One i. 7 All that day the field women brought gifts of food.
field word n. (a) (in plural) words of encouragement before a battle (obsolete); (b) a watchword for use in the field, a battle cry (now historical).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > armed encounter > [noun] > battle or a battle > battle-cry or slogan
descryc1450
ensign1487
escry1489
senyea1510
slogan1513
cry1548
larum1555
hubbaboo1596
field wordc1625
celeusma1680
tecbir1708
war-whoop1739
war cry1748
scalp yell1792
banner-cry1810
battle-cry1815
battle-word1815
hurrah1841
rebel yell1862
on-cry1899
c1625 T. Heywood tr. Ovid De Arte Amandi i. 9 With my field words he shall his armie cheare.
1650 E. Williams Virgo Triumphans To Parl. sig. B God hath subscribed to all your Heroick and Christian undertakings with..his owne field word, Go on and prosper.
1785 Hist. & Antiq. York I. 328 The Field-Word given by the Prince was God and the King.
1893 ‘E. Lyall’ To right Wrong (1894) xxxv. 429 He could almost have fancied that he heard the familiar field-word, ‘God our strength!’ shouted by his own men.
2003 K. Roberts First Newbury 1643 66 The Parliament field word was ‘Religion’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

Fieldn.2

Brit. /fiːld/, U.S. /fild/
Origin: From a proper name. Etymon: proper name Field.
Etymology: < the name of Edward Field (died 1908), of London, British engineer, who designed the water tube for Merryweather and Sons (originally of Clapham, England).
Now historical and rare.
attributive. Designating a type of vertical water tube designed by Field; designating a boiler using such tubes.The water tube comprises an outer tube having a closed lower end and containing an inner tube open at both ends and with a flared top; the water to be heated passes down the inner tube and up the space between the tubes.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > boiler > [adjective]
low pressure1816
tubular-flued1840
multitubular1849
tubulous1860
Field1865
Stirling1889
double-flued1895
1865 Civil Engineer & Architects's Jrnl. 28 365 The ‘Field’ steam boiler; examples of application of the ‘Field’ tubes to stationary, portable, marine and Cornish boilers.
1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 498/1 Tubes of this kind (called Field tubes) are used..where it is necessary to get up steam with the least possible delay.
1920 F. W. Sterling Marine Engineers' Handbk. iv. 341 Porcupine boiler. A vertical shell from which water-tubes of the Field type extend on all sides..and around which the gases pass as they ascend.
1992 D. Gerr Nature of Boats (1995) viii. 54/1 Steam boiler types..came in bewildering variety... Submerged-tube, Merryweather, Mumford, and Field boilers, to name just some of the fire-tube options.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

fieldv.

Brit. /fiːld/, U.S. /fild/
Forms: 1500s–1600s feild (Scottish), 1500s– field.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: field n.1
Etymology: < field n.1 Compare slightly earlier fielding n.1
†1. Originally and chiefly Scottish.
a. transitive. To fight (a person). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > armed encounter > contending in battle > fight (a battle, etc.) [verb (transitive)] > contend with
acounterc1330
bargainc1375
battlec1399
rencontre1455
field1529
pallc1540
cope with1582
combata1592
to grapple witha1616
to give against ——1646
fight1697
contest1764
1529 D. Lindsay Compl. 355 Euerilk lord did stryue for stait..And feildit vther, in land and burgh.
c1540 J. Bellenden tr. H. Boece Hyst. & Cron. Scotl. iv. ix. f. 44v/2 It was defendit..to feild ye Romanis with plane battall.
1739 A. Nicol Nature without Art 28 Blind Cupid did challenge, in Battle to field me; I thought nothing of it, but yet I must yield me.
b. intransitive. To fight. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > war > wage war [verb (intransitive)] > go to war
to take the plainc1380
to go to war or warsc1450
to take the field1482
to go (etc.) on warfare1483
to pass (forth) in warfare1483
field1535
to go out1548
to go to the war(s)1600
to be (also go) on the warpath1841
to wash one's spears1892
society > armed hostility > armed encounter > contending in battle > contend in battle or give battle [verb (intransitive)]
fightc900
to bid, offer, refuse, accept, take (arch.) battle1297
to do battle1297
to give battle1297
strive13..
battle1330
to instore a battle1382
fettlec1400
pugnec1425
toilc1425
to deliver battle1433
conflict?a1475
bargain1487
mellaya1500
liverc1500
to come out1511
field1535
combat1589
to manage arms1590
sway1590
1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 598 How King Malcolme and the Danis feildit agane.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. vi. sig. R5v Who soone prepard to field his sword forth drew.
2. Cricket and Baseball.
a. intransitive. To act as a fielder; to attempt to catch, stop, or retrieve the ball and return it after it has been hit. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > fielding > field [verb (intransitive)]
stop1744
scout1786
to watch out1786
field1798
to look out1836
to fag out1839
to seek out1840
1798 Sporting Mag. 12 312 A grand single match of cricket was played on Towen Green, five miles from Hertford, Fennex, with two men to field, against three of Herts, for Five Hundred Guineas.
1823 Lady's Mag. July 390/2 How well we fielded!
1880 S. B. Lakeman What I saw in Kaffir-land 57 They fielded for the cannon-shot..as though they were cricket-balls.
1900 W. A. Bettesworth Walkers of Southgate 41 Mr. R. D. Walker, who was fielding in a nondescript sort of place for a half hit, brought off a brilliant catch.
1968 R. Coover Universal Baseball Assoc. v. 148 Partridge was throwing gopher balls and his..teammates were fielding like a bunch of bush-leaguers.
2000 Times 7 Aug. (Sport Monday section) 5/1 The home side..bowled and fielded with an intensity that caused Warwickshire a nervous flutter or two.
b. transitive. To catch, stop, or retrieve and return (the ball).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > characteristics of team ball games > play team ball games [verb (intransitive)] > act as fielder
field1833
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > fielding > field [verb (transitive)]
field1833
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > characteristics of team ball games > play team ball games [verb (transitive)] > actions or manoeuvres
pass1865
to throw in1867
work1868
centre1877
shoot1882
field1883
tackle1884
chip1889
feed1889
screen1906
fake1907
slap1912
to turn over1921
tip-in1958
to lay off1965
spill1975
1833 J. Nyren Young Cricketer's Tutor 48 The fieldsman..should not wait and let the ball come to him, but dash in to meet it, fielding it with his right hand.
1883 Daily Tel. 21 Aug. The ball being sharply fielded at cover-point.
1915 St. Nicholas Sept. 1018/2 The moment it is fielded, and the throw started to first, the runner dashes for the plate, and often reaches it in safety.
1951 P. Rizzuto in M. Child How to Play Big League Baseball vi. 101 The most difficult play..for any shortstop is to field a ball hit far over to the right.
2009 Sunday Mirror (Nexis) 15 Feb. 56 Players will have to be careful not to twist ankles or get balls bobbling into their faces when they go to field the ball.
c. intransitive. Cricket. With out. To be or remain in the field as a fielder or as the fielding side. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1842 Bell's Life in London 21 Aug. After winning the toss he gave his opponents the choice whether to go in or field out.
1888 R. H. Lyttelton in A. G. Steel & R. H. Lyttelton Cricket (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) vi. 280 An eleven that is really A1 in fielding very rarely has to field out for 300 runs.
1944 E. Blunden Cricket Country 11 Someone was bowling, someone batting, the rest fielding out.
1992 F. McLynn Hearts of Darkness iv. xv. 320 There an old woman, in a stooping attitude with her hands on her knees, like a cricketer ‘fielding out’.
d. transitive. figurative. To deal with (a succession of items, esp. difficult questions).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > occupy or engage (a person) [verb (transitive)] > conduct (an affair) > deal with (a matter) > a succession of matters
field1902
1902 Daily Chron. 2 Sept. 3/1 I would get an agile and hard-skinned man to field the novels as they come.
1909 Daily Chron. 18 Nov. 4/6 The Correctors of the Press are demanding the proper consideration of men who field the mistakes of careless writers.
1969 Morning Star 11 Oct. 5/7 A man who has just emerged from two years in solitary confinement cannot be expected to field rapid fire questions from the Press.
1992 N.Y. Times 17 July a13/2 ‘The phones have not stopped since the announcement on CNN’, said..a volunteer who was fielding telephone calls.
†3.
a. transitive. To leave (crops) in the field to dry and harden. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > harvesting > harvest (a crop) [verb (transitive)] > dry crops in field
make1425
win1557
save1719
ted1796
field1844
wilt1971
1844 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 5 i. 267 [The oats] after being well fielded, were thrashed immediately.
b. transitive. Brewing. To expose wort to the sun and the air in order to promote oxidation. Obsolete. rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
ΚΠ
1893 I. K. Funk et al. Standard Dict. Eng. Lang. I Field,..2. To expose to the action of the air and sun to permit oxidation: said of malt-wash, or gyle in casks.
4. intransitive. Horse Racing. To bet on the field (see field n.1 9a) against the favourite; to bet or offer odds, esp. against a particular horse. Also (Australian): to operate as a bookmaker.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > bet [verb (intransitive)] > type of betting
run or throw a levant1714
levant1797
to pound it1819
field1860
to go for the gloves1861
to buy money1906
plunge1939
to bet like the Watsons1949
(to bet (etc.)) on the nose1951
1860 Era 29 July 4/2 They fielded very strong for the Molecomb, wherein Diophantes never jeopardised the odds of 6 and 7 to 4 laid on him.
1871 Belfast News-let. 13 June They fielded staunchly against Mortemer, who was heavily supported by the public.
1886 Daily News 4 June 3/3 A marked disposition to ‘field’ on the Grand Prize of Paris.
1900 Birmingham Daily Post 24 Aug. 3/5 The bookmakers fielded vigorously against Talma for the Elton Juvenile Plate.
1923 Times 3 Aug. 4/1 Ramus's well-known dislike to start caused him to be fielded against.
1976 G. Johnston Austral. Pocket Oxf. Dict. Field,..2. operate as bookmaker.
2008 Racing Post (Nexis) 13 May 101 Punters strangely fielded against Hannon, despite his outstanding record in two-year-old races at the course.
†5. intransitive. Of a pigeon: to search for food in the countryside. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Columbiformes (pigeons, etc.) > [verb (intransitive)] > other actions (of pigeon)
tumble1698
rump1735
field1868
1868 C. Darwin Variation Animals & Plants II. 32 Highly improved breeds of the pigeon will not ‘field’ or search for their own food.
6.
a. transitive. Military (chiefly U.S.). To deploy (an army, soldier, etc.); to send into the field.In extended use in quot. 1917.
ΚΠ
1917 Wisconsin State Work July 10 The mission fields an army of men who simply live over again the life service of our Master.
1949 Amer. Jrnl. Philol. 70 233 It is doubtful whether Alexander had much leisure time..while Darius was still able to field an army.
1974 J. Haldeman Forever War (1976) 8 Some bright lad in the General Assembly decided that we ought to field an army of footsoldiers to guard the portal planets of the nearer collapsars.
2001 N.Y. Times 3 June i. 8/2 Switzerland fielded unarmed troops called yellow berets in Sarajevo.
b. transitive. Sport. To select (a team or an individual) to play in a match; to play (someone) in a match.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > scouting or selecting > scout or select [verb (transitive)] > select
cap1902
field1922
ice1943
1922 Daily Mail 1 Dec. 11 The F.A. played four professionals in the defence, but fielded an amateur forward line.
1948 Evening Standard 28 Apr. The Australians are fielding their strongest team.
1962 Listener 11 Oct. 586/1 The Swedes fielded a new pair in the first half [of a bridge championship].
2000 Evening Times (Glasgow) 16 Dec. 56 The SFA are to investigate Arbroath after the club fielded two ineligible players.
c. transitive. Originally and chiefly Politics. Of a political party: to put up (a candidate) to stand in an election.
ΚΠ
1948 Hutchinson (Kansas) News-Herald 24 Feb. 3/1 The Democrats fielded only one man for a councilman's job and he automatically got on the ticket.
1964 Times 2 Sept. 6/1 Both Conservative and Labour will field a candidate in every constituency in England, Wales, and Scotland.
1981 E. Anderson Race & Politics in N. Carolina, 1872–1901 ii. 44 A Democratic candidate for Congress emerged in the last days of the canvass, in spite of the convention's decision not to field a nominee.
2007 K. Miller St. Peter's iii. 54 Both Rome and Avignon continued to field candidates for the papacy until Martin V..restored unified rule in 1418.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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英语词典包含1132095条英英释义在线翻译词条，基本涵盖了全部常用单词的英英翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。

　

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