broken field

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word broken field. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word broken field, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say broken field in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word broken field you have here. The definition of the word broken field will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofbroken field, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Noun

broken field (plural broken fields)

  1. (rugby, American football) A field in which there are defensive players from the other team between the player who has the ball and the goal.
    • 1905, Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide, page 169:
      Quarter-backs this year who have gained considerable notice are Fallis of Haskell Indians and Pooler of Kansas University, they both being very good in a broken field.
    • 1972, Chronicle of American Physical Education, page 383:
      The forward passer receives the ball, runs a yard or two as a feint, and then, with scarcely a look over the broken field, selects a person and a place and throws the ball.
    • 2019 October 19, Robert Kitson, “England into World Cup semi-finals after bruising victory over Australia”, in The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media:
      Barely two minutes after the interval the margin was reduced to just a single point after Elliot Daly, under a bit of pressure, knocked on 40 metres from his own line and gave the Wallabies a broken field to play with.
  2. A field that has been plowed.
    • 1906, Ferdinand Schuyler Mathews, Field Book of Wild Birds and Their Music, page 72:
      The birds are gregarious even during the nesting season, and in spring and summer seem to be equally busy “ ploughing up ” the earth in the already broken field with their long, crowlike bills; naturally such action creates trouble with the farmer, but on the whole, an examination of the constituents of the bird's diet, shows that he is a greater insect destroyer than a crop destroyer.
    • 1916, Sara Teasdale, “The Broken Field”, in George Park Fisher, George Burton Adams, Henry Walcott Farnam, editors, The Yale Review, page 755:
      My soul is a broken field Ploughed by pain
Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia