Definition of "playing field" [playing field]

• A field for games such as football and soccer. (noun)
• The conditions or circumstances in which competition takes place: a level playing field for all candidates. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "• Air-conditioned concession stands, restrooms and ticket booths at each quadrant of the playing field so spectators can continue to watch the game while grabbing a hot dog or using the restroom;"
• "Michael Krepon wrote in the May-June 2001 issue of Foreign Affairs that “asymmetrical warfare allows a weaker opponent to level the playing field by unorthodox means.”"
• "We were moving on to the far more complex playing field of Elkins Park Middle, the confluence of four different elementary schools, buses, locker combinations, changing classes, algebra, foreign languages."