infield
infield Lexical Profile
infield Game Scores & Validity
• noun
In baseball and softball, the diamond-shaped area of the playing field enclosed by the three bases and home plate, or the group of four defensive players positioned there.
"The groundskeeper raked the dirt of the infield before the championship game began."
In cricket, the part of the oval playing field closest to the pitch and the striker's wicket, along with the fielders stationed within it.
"The captain brought the fielders into the infield to pressure the new batter."
The interior space enclosed by an oval racetrack or running track, often used for field events in athletics or for spectators and pit crews in motorsports.
"Athletes competing in the javelin and high jump warmed up on the grassy infield inside the running track."
British Arable farmland situated close to a homestead or village that is kept under continuous cultivation and regularly fertilized.
"Medieval Scottish estates divided their holdings into a heavily manured infield and a more distant pasture."
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Originally a 15th-century Scottish agricultural term compounded from 'in' and 'field', referring to arable land located near a farmhouse that was continuously cultivated and manured, before being adopted into cricket and baseball terminology in the 19th century.