level the playing field

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

to reduce or eliminate structural advantages that some competitors hold over others, creating conditions of fair competition in which outcomes are determined by merit rather than by pre-existing privilege, resources, or systemic bias; the metaphor derives from the literal levelling of uneven playing surfaces in sport, where a sloped or uneven field would give an unfair advantage to the team playing downhill; levelling the playing field is invoked in debates about educational equity, labour market regulation, competition policy, international trade, and political representation, whenever the argument is made that fair outcomes require addressing the structural conditions that systematically advantage some participants over others