field

field /fiːld/n

1. an open tract of uncultivated grassland; meadow
2. a piece of land cleared of trees and undergrowth, usually enclosed with a fence or hedge and used for pasture or growing crops: a field of barley
3. a limited or marked off area, usually of mown grass, on which any of various sports, athletic competitions, etc, are held: a soccer field
4. an area that is rich in minerals or other natural resources: a coalfield
5. short for battlefield, airfield
6. the mounted followers that hunt with a pack of hounds
7. all the runners in a particular race or competitors in a competition
8. the runners in a race or competitors in a competition excluding the favourite
9. the fielders collectively, esp with regard to their positions
10. a wide or open expanse: a field of snow
11. an area of human activity: the field of human knowledge
12. a sphere or division of knowledge, interest, etc: his field is physics
13. a place away from the laboratory, office, library, etc, usually out of doors, where practical work is done or original material or data collected
14. the surface or background, as of a flag, coin, or heraldic shield, on which a design is displayed
15. Also called: field of view the area within which an object may be observed with a telescope, microscope, etc
16. See field of force
17. a set of entities subject to two binary operations, addition and multiplication, such that the set is a commutative group under addition and the set, minus the zero, is a commutative group under multiplication and multiplication is distributive over addition
18. the set of elements that are either arguments or values of a function; the union of its domain and range
19. a set of one or more characters comprising a unit of information
20. take the field ⇒ to begin or carry on activity, esp in sport or military operations
21. play the field ⇒ informal to disperse one's interests or attentions among a number of activities, people, or objects
22. (modifier) of or relating to equipment, personnel, etc, specifically designed or trained for operations in the field: a field gun, a field army

vb

1. (transitive) to stop, catch, or return (the ball) as a fielder
2. (transitive) to send (a player or team) onto the field to play
3. (intransitive) (of a player or team) to act or take turn as a fielder or fielders
4. (transitive) to enter (a person) in a competition: each party fielded a candidate
5. (transitive) informal to deal with or handle, esp adequately and by making a reciprocal gesture: to field a question

"I also have to field questions in just about every European language ..."