'To lay against the field' definitions:

Definition of 'To lay against the field'

From: GCIDE
  • field \field\ (f[=e]ld), n. [OE. feld, fild, AS. feld; akin to D. veld, G. feld, Sw. f[aum]lt, Dan. felt, Icel. fold field of grass, AS. folde earth, land, ground, OS. folda.]
  • 1. Cleared land; land suitable for tillage or pasture; cultivated ground; the open country. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. A piece of land of considerable size; esp., a piece inclosed for tillage or pasture. [1913 Webster]
  • Fields which promise corn and wine. --Byron. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. A place where a battle is fought; also, the battle itself. [1913 Webster]
  • In this glorious and well-foughten field. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • What though the field be lost? --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. An open space; an extent; an expanse. Esp.: (a) Any blank space or ground on which figures are drawn or projected. (b) The space covered by an optical instrument at one view; as, wide-field binoculars. [1913 Webster + PJC]
  • Without covering, save yon field of stars. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • Ask of yonder argent fields above. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. (Her.) The whole surface of an escutcheon; also, so much of it is shown unconcealed by the different bearings upon it. See Illust. of Fess, where the field is represented as gules (red), while the fess is argent (silver). [1913 Webster]
  • 6. An unresticted or favorable opportunity for action, operation, or achievement; province; room. [1913 Webster]
  • Afforded a clear field for moral experiments. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. (Sports) An open, usually flat, piece of land on which a sports contest is played; a playing field; as, a football field; a baseball field.
  • Syn: playing field, athletic field, playing area. [PJC]
  • 8. Specifically: (Baseball) That part of the grounds reserved for the players which is outside of the diamond; -- called also outfield. [1913 Webster]
  • 9. A geographic region (land or sea) which has some notable feature, activity or valuable resource; as, the diamond fields of South Africa; an oil field; a gold field; an ice field. [WordNet 1.6]
  • 10. A facility having an airstrip where airplanes can take off and land; an airfield.
  • Syn: airfield, landing field, flying field, aerodrome. [WordNet 1.6]
  • 11. A collective term for all the competitors in any outdoor contest or trial, or for all except the favorites in the betting. [1913 Webster]
  • 12. A branch of knowledge or sphere of activity; especially, a learned or professional discipline; as, she's an expert in the field of geology; in what field did she get her doctorate?; they are the top company in the field of entertainment.
  • Syn: discipline, subject, subject area, subject field, field of study, study, branch of knowledge. [WordNet 1.6]
  • Note: Within the master text files of this electronic dictionary, where a word is used in a specific sense in some specialized field of knowledge, that field is indicated by the tags: () preceding that sense of the word. [PJC]
  • 13. A location, usually outdoors, away from a studio or office or library or laboratory, where practical work is done or data is collected; as, anthropologists do much of their work in the field; the paleontologist is in the field collecting specimens. Usually used in the phrase
  • in the field. [WordNet 1.6]
  • 14. (Physics) The influence of a physical object, such as an electrically charged body, which is capable of exerting force on objects at a distance; also, the region of space over which such an influence is effective; as, the earth's gravitational field; an electrical field; a magnetic field; a force field. [PJC]
  • 15. (Math.) A set of elements within which operations can be defined analagous to the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division on the real numbers; within such a set of elements addition and multiplication are commutative and associative and multiplication is distributive over addition and there are two elements 0 and 1; a commutative division ring; as, the set of all rational numbers is a field. [WordNet 1.6]
  • Note: Field is often used adjectively in the sense of belonging to, or used in, the fields; especially with reference to the operations and equipments of an army during a campaign away from permanent camps and fortifications. In most cases such use of the word is sufficiently clear; as, field battery; field fortification; field gun; field hospital, etc. A field geologist, naturalist, etc., is one who makes investigations or collections out of doors. A survey uses a field book for recording field notes, i.e., measurment, observations, etc., made in field work (outdoor operations). A farmer or planter employs field hands, and may use a field roller or a field derrick. Field sports are hunting, fishing, athletic games, etc. [1913 Webster]
  • Coal field (Geol.) See under Coal.
  • Field artillery, light ordnance mounted on wheels, for the use of a marching army.
  • Field basil (Bot.), a plant of the Mint family ({Calamintha Acinos}); -- called also basil thyme.
  • Field colors (Mil.), small flags for marking out the positions for squadrons and battalions; camp colors.
  • Field cricket (Zool.), a large European cricket ({Gryllus campestric}), remarkable for its loud notes.
  • Field day. (a) A day in the fields. (b) (Mil.) A day when troops are taken into the field for instruction in evolutions. --Farrow. (c) A day of unusual exertion or display; a gala day.
  • Field driver, in New England, an officer charged with the driving of stray cattle to the pound.
  • Field duck (Zool.), the little bustard (Otis tetrax), found in Southern Europe.
  • Field glass. (Optics) (a) A binocular telescope of compact form; a lorgnette; a race glass. (b) A small achromatic telescope, from 20 to 24 inches long, and having 3 to 6 draws. (c) See Field lens.
  • Field lark. (Zool.) (a) The skylark. (b) The tree pipit.
  • Field lens (Optics), that one of the two lenses forming the eyepiece of an astronomical telescope or compound microscope which is nearer the object glass; -- called also field glass.
  • Field madder (Bot.), a plant (Sherardia arvensis) used in dyeing.
  • Field marshal (Mil.), the highest military rank conferred in the British and other European armies.
  • Field officer (Mil.), an officer above the rank of captain and below that of general.
  • Field officer's court (U.S.Army), a court-martial consisting of one field officer empowered to try all cases, in time of war, subject to jurisdiction of garrison and regimental courts. --Farrow.
  • Field plover (Zool.), the black-bellied plover ({Charadrius squatarola}); also sometimes applied to the Bartramian sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda).
  • Field spaniel (Zool.), a small spaniel used in hunting small game.
  • Field sparrow. (Zool.) (a) A small American sparrow (Spizella pusilla). (b) The hedge sparrow. [Eng.]
  • Field staff (Mil.), a staff formerly used by gunners to hold a lighted match for discharging a gun.
  • Field vole (Zool.), the European meadow mouse.
  • Field of ice, a large body of floating ice; a pack.
  • Field, or Field of view, in a telescope or microscope, the entire space within which objects are seen.
  • Field magnet. see under Magnet.
  • Magnetic field. See Magnetic.
  • To back the field, or To bet on the field. See under Back, v. t. -- To keep the field. (a) (Mil.) To continue a campaign. (b) To maintain one's ground against all comers.
  • To lay against the field or To back against the field, to bet on (a horse, etc.) against all comers.
  • To take the field (Mil.), to enter upon a campaign. [1913 Webster]