Past tense of 'field'; to put a sports team on the field to play, or to deal with and respond to something (like fielding questions).
Field as a verb comes from the noun 'field' in sporting contexts, originally meaning to position players on the field. By extension, 'fielding' came to mean handling or responding to inquiries.
The verb 'to field' is weird—it started in sports but now means to handle anything that comes at you: 'she fielded the tough question like a pro.' The metaphor jumped from baseball to everything.
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