> as lemmas

c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) iii. l. 717 (MED) Þe Grekis goon In-to þe feld, with pompe ful royal.

1570 T. Wilson tr. Demosthenes 3 Orations 14 Take ye good heede of this..that your armie is gone into the field accordingly.

1596 C. Gibbon Watch-worde for Warre sig. F3 The most renowned and valiantest warriors amongst the Heathen..would neuer goe into the field without Phylosophers.

1616 J. Chamberlain Let. 26 Oct. in R. F. Williams Birch's Court & Times James I (1848) (modernized text) I. 433 I heard yester-night that Sir Henry Rich was gone into the field with Sir Ralph Sheldon.

1641 R. Younge Counterpoyson (ed. 2) xxix. 186 A very duellist will goe into the field to seeke death, and finde honour.

1741 W. Oldys Mem. Mrs. Anne Oldfield 52 They went into the Field, and in less than half an Hour, Word was brought to the House, that Mr. Fulwood was killed on the Spot.

1837 T. De Quincey Revolt of Tartars in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. July 94/2 The khan went into the field..and at last, in a pitched battle, overthrew the Turkish force opposed to him.

1892 Daily News 12 Apr. 6/1 The line battalion in England, which has a linked battalion abroad, is unfit in every way to go into the field.

1912 Hansard Commons 5 Aug. 2709 We go into the field..with a grave shortage of officers.

1988 S. Zaffiri Hamburger Hill viii. 66 Another officer..expressed his opposition to the Vietnam War and refused to go into the field.

2008 A. H. Cordesman Iraq's Insurgency ii. 22 Most Iraqi units are going into the field and fighting for their country.