have a field day

idiom

: to get a lot of pleasure and enjoyment from doing something
used especially to describe getting enjoyment from criticizing someone, making fun of someone, etc.
If word of his involvement in this scandal ever leaks out, the newspapers are going to have a field day.Journalists have had a field day with this scandal.

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web Sky watchers in the Bay Area will have a field day as the air overhead becomes more unstable during the afternoon, that will replicate some of the active rounds of heavy rain and brief thunderstorms residents experienced Tuesday, while a few different spots are targeted Wednesday. Gerry Díaz, San Francisco Chronicle, 3 May 2023 Wayman suggested that defense attorneys would have a field day asking why investigators had relied on an academic lab—and not the FBI’s examiners. IEEE Spectrum, 15 Apr. 2023 Fox News and more would have a field day with two of the main characters having campaigned to get their college to divest from fossil fuels, work long supported by prominent environmental non-profits. Kate Aronoff, The New Republic, 5 Apr. 2023 Although the Frog defense should have a field day, inconsistency has plagued the Cyclones this season. Dallas News, 23 Nov. 2022 And while that’s bad news for countless people and businesses who have invested in cryptocurrencies, the legal profession is about to have a field day. Tristan Bove, Fortune, 19 Nov. 2022 Colorado’s defense presents a chance for UCLA running back Zach Charbonnet and his backups to have a field day after failing to dominate against South Alabama last weekend. Los Angeles Times, 23 Sep. 2022 The Consumer Product Safety Commission would have a field day, too. John Kelly, Washington Post, 11 Sep. 2022 Freud would have a field day with the intersection of the erotic and near-death that come together in these sequences, which Erin Casper and Jocelyne Chaput edit with an unerring sense of nature’s own percussion. Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Jan. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'have a field day.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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Cite this Entry

“Have a field day.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/have%20a%20field%20day. Accessed 30 May. 2023.

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