the activity of putting or setting in order in advance of some act or purpose; "preparations for the ceremony had begun"
(music) a note that produces a dissonant chord is first heard in a consonant chord; "the resolution of one dissonance is often the preparation for another dissonance"
the act of starting something for the first time; introducing something new; "she looked forward to her initiation as an adult"; "the foundation of a new scientific society"; "he regards the fork as a modern introduction"
a formal entry into an organization or position or office; "his initiation into the club"; "he was ordered to report for induction into the army"; "he gave a speech as part of his installation into the hall of fame"
a particular kind of commercial enterprise; "they are outstanding in their field"
the area that is visible (as through an optical instrument)
all the competitors in a particular contest or sporting event
all of the horses in a particular horse race
(mathematics) a set of elements such that addition and multiplication are commutative and associative and multiplication is distributive over addition and there are two elements 0 and 1; "the set of all rational numbers is a field"
(computer science) a set of one or more adjacent characters comprising a unit of information
a region in which active military operations are in progress; "the army was in the field awaiting action"; "he served in the Vietnam theater for three years"
somewhere (away from a studio or office or library or laboratory) where practical work is done or data is collected; "anthropologists do much of their work in the field"
a piece of land cleared of trees and usually enclosed; "he planted a field of wheat"
a geographic region (land or sea) under which something valuable is found; "the diamond fields of South Africa"
the space around a radiating body within which its electromagnetic oscillations can exert force on another similar body not in contact with it
select (a team or individual player) for a game; "The Buckeyes fielded a young new quarterback for the Rose Bowl"
answer adequately or successfully; "The lawyer fielded all questions from the press"
a turn toward the side of the body that is on the north when the person is facing east; "take a left at the corner"
the hand that is on the left side of the body; "jab with your left"
those who support varying degrees of social or political or economic change designed to promote the public welfare
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east; "she stood on the left"
of or belonging to the political or intellectual left
being or located on or directed toward the side of the body to the west when facing north; "my left hand"; "left center field"; "the left bank of a river is bank on your left side when you are facing downstream"
toward or on the left; also used figuratively; "he looked right and left"; "the political party has moved left"