leave someone a clear field—give a person a free hand; abstain from interference:
- And I’ve never written yet—that is, never sent a letter away. I’ve been very good to them in leaving them a clear field.
leave someone the field—
1. (of an army) retreat after having been defeated by the enemy in battle:
- Shortly before midnight, the French retreated in disarray, leaving the field to the English.
2. yield to an opponent in an argument, etc.; relinquish smth. to a person:
- Within Spain itself only pro–Nationalist accounts of the 1930s could be published, leaving the field of serious scholarship to foreigners.