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field house

field house

2 3.6
A large indoor building for sports and training with space for spectators
  • noun
  • US
translation icon : polideportivo
  • Where I now sit at my typewriter in that oil field house that relatives and friends have helped restore, I can see an abandoned lumber yard across the street next to the abandoned hardware store.

Examples

  • The Georgia football team used the old field house in the late 40s, 50s, and early 60s, after which it was converted into the university alumni offices.

    Academic text (2014)
  • University stadiums and basketball field houses could be sold or rented to nearby professional teams.

    Academic text (1996)
  • The team dressed in the field house built by the Navy and conducted their practices across the street.

    Academic text (2014)
  • When I got to the field house, I found Mr. Sawyer's office.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • After school, I headed down to the field house per Mr. Sawyer's request.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Members of the Russian Olympic team concluded a week-long goodwill tour at the Cole Field-house at the University of Maryland this afternoon.

  • In eighth grade, before ballroom dancing lessons, which were held on Saturdays in the field house at Indian Boundary Park, we met to play penny poker and smoke cigarettes on the sly.

    Academic text (2009)
  • His feet might have been tens, but he still swam in the skates, and it just made me think of Junior and how I’d used to take him up to the field house on Sundays to play with the Rec league; what a solid young man he’d been.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • A tip of the cap for current Indianapolis Colts defensive end and former Alabama A&M star Robert Mathis for donating $50,000 worth of new lockers to the university's field house during his annual youth football camp.

    Blog text (4)
  • The school built a new field house to host basketball games and track events for the community.

Synonyms

arena
vsfield house
129 2.9

A large building with seats where people watch sports or concerts

focuses on indoor sports and training with spectator space rather than general events
gymnasium
vsfield house
25 3.3

A large indoor room where people exercise and play sports

includes spectator areas and larger event spaces as well as training
sports arena
vsfield house
7 2.5

A large indoor building with seats for people to watch sports like basketball or hockey

also includes training and practice spaces as well as spectator areas
athletic facility
vsfield house
3 3.2

A place for sports and exercise like a gym or stadium

is focused on indoor sports buildings with training and spectator capacity

Surface Forms

field house singular
field houses plural

Morphology

field + house

The meaning 'a building used for indoor sports' is directly derivable from combining 'field' (playing ground) with 'house' (building): essentially a house for the field. This follows a common English compounding pattern (noun + house = building related to X) and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Field house may come from the simple picture of a field, a sports ground, and a house, a building beside it where players kept gear, warmed up, or practiced when the weather was bad. That's why today field house means a large building for 'indoor sports' and training.