fieldwork

noun

1. (uncountable)Work done out in the fields as opposed to that done elsewhere on the farm (e.g., barn, house, outbuildings, office).

   “The days now were occupied in field work and more field work; he cleared new bits of ground, getting out roots and stones; plowing, manuring, harrowing, working with pick and spade, breaking lumps of soil and crumbling them with hand and heel; a tiller of the ground always, laying out fields like velvet carpets. He waited a couple of days longer―there was a look of rain about―and then he sowed his grain.”

   “Besides the bookkeeping and marketing, there's a ton of fieldwork to get done this week.”

2. (uncountable)Work done out in the real world rather than in controlled conditions.

   “That well Bob set up last weekend was some good fieldwork.”

3. (countable, uncountable)The collection of raw data in the field, field research, field study, field studies.

   “I thought the fieldwork in the course I was taking was going to be hard, but it was just interviewing people.”

4. (countable, rare)A temporary fortification built by troops in the field; a defensive earthwork in the field.

   “Billy's out building some fieldwork so that our enemies don't walk right over us.”