force field
- noun
- /fɔrs fiːld/
- Literature
- Good luck trying to break through that force field.
- a force field to protect
- erect a force field
- lower the force field
But, but you know, we, we go into these places, you know, there's no kind of invisible force field around us out there.
- But, but you know, we, we go into these places, you know, there's no kind of invisible force field around us out there.
- I think just like a force field of protection around me through positive words and love through my family.
Examples
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The spaceship was surrounded by a force field that protected it from enemy attacks.
-
The missing shuttle glided through the bay's protective force field and settled into its berth.
Fiction book (2000) -
So brace for impact, put the force fields up, but make the decision anyway.
-
Seal off that entire deck with emergency force fields.
Fiction book (1994) -
There's a force field around it, which I most definitely saw.
-
Someone's taken down our force field.
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I'm releasing the emergency force fields.
Fiction book (1994) -
At the last possible moment, the force field sputters and falls.
-
The force field protecting a cargo area like this from the vacuum of space could fail.
Fiction book (2000) -
The team starts backpedaling, firing as they go, but the Borg are unstoppable now; they put up personal force fields to protect themselves.
Fiction book (1994)
Synonyms
Layers of material that block harmful radiation, for example X-rays
An area around something where its push or pull affects other things
How Protective
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'force' (power that acts) with 'field' (a region or area where something acts), yielding an area characterized by force — which corresponds to an invisible protective barrier. This noun–noun composition and the same concept exist in many languages (e.g., Spanish 'campo de fuerza'), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will very likely understand the MWE.
Etymology
Force field in stories comes from the picture of an invisible bubble around a ship or machine: force is power and field is an area. This bubble acts like a 'shield' that stops attacks, so the phrase means 'an invisible barrier that protects'.