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Glite Dictionary
⚾ A baseball fielder 🏏 A cricket fielder
outfielder

outfielder

1 6.0
A player who stands far from the batsman and stops balls near the field edge
  • noun
  • /ˈaʊtˌfiːldər/
  • UK
translation icon : fildeador
  • The coach emphasized the importance of communication among the outfielders to prevent collisions.

Examples

  • Your next question is probably why: before the Infield Fly Rule, the outfielder could "accidentally" drop the ball, then feed it to third base, who would get a runner out on a force play and throw it on for a double play.

    Blog text (27)

  • He drew a line through the top half of the page, which contained the end of an interview with the outfielder Finley ("The ball took some bad bounces") and wrote "AFGHANISTAN" in capital letters.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • AN OUTFIELDER.

    Employee of the Month (2006)

  • During the game, the outfielder made a spectacular catch just before the ball hit the ground.

  • An experienced outfielder can read the trajectory of the ball and position themselves perfectly.

Synonyms

fielder
vsoutfielder
44 3.5

A player who catches or stops the ball in baseball and cricket

is a specific defensive player stationed far from the wicket near the boundary
cricketer
vsoutfielder
3 3.4

A person who plays cricket, usually as a team member

is a team player positioned away from the wicket near the boundary
fieldsman
vsoutfielder
  • Archaic
8.6

A cricket player who stops or catches the ball for the bowling team

is stationed far from the wicket close to the boundary

Antonyms

infielder
  • Jargon
12 2.8

A player who defends the area near the bases in baseball or softball

Surface Forms

outfielder singular
outfielders plural

Morphology

outfielder = outfield (semi-transparent) = out + er

The word is a regular agent noun built from 'outfield', but the cricket-specific sense is a specialized fielding position rather than a fully general meaning.

Etymology

Outfielder comes from the parts out- ('outside') and fielder from field ('playing area'), so it literally means a player who 'fields' the ball away from the wicket. In cricket, outfielders stand near the boundary to catch or stop balls hit far from the batsman.