halvehalve /hɑːv $ hæv/ ●○○ verb [transitive] 
Cash cuts have halved the number of places available on training courses.2to cut or divide something into two equal pieces: Halve the potatoes lengthwise.
WORD ORIGINhalve
Origin:
1300-1400 halfVERB TABLE
halve
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | halve |
| he, she, it | halves | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | halved |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have halved |
| he, she, it | has halved | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had halved |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will halve |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have halved |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am halving |
| he, she, it | is halving | |
| you, we, they | are halving | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was halving |
| you, we, they | were halving | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been halving |
| he, she, it | has been halving | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been halving |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be halving |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been halving |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Halve the eggplant lengthwise and hollow out the center.
- His 13-year prison term was halved because of good behavior.
- The overseas aid budget has been almost halved, from $18m to just over $10m.
- At the current rate, costs will be halved again within a decade.
- Farming clubs have seen their incomes halved and, if the economics pundits are right, will soon be halved again.
- He aims to halve unemployment to four percent by 2000 by spending about 10 billion kronor to educate and train workers.
- The dish can be halved or quartered as needed.
- This is estimated at 1.1m pairs and has more than halved in the past 30 years.
- Thus, assuming two-thirds of those retiring were replaced in work by unemployment beneficiaries, the financial costs could have been halved.
Longman Language Activatorto reduce the number, amount, price, or size of something
to make something less in amount or level: · I was hoping they would reduce the price a little.greatly/significantly/dramatically reduce: · You can greatly reduce your heating bills by using low-energy heaters.dramatically/drastically reduce: · Their income has been drastically reduced.reduce something by half/10%/2 years etc: · The new road will reduce traffic through the town by 30%.· Benefits will be reduced by $50 for each child who fails to attend school.
to reduce an amount, limit, or level - use this especially in writing about business or technical subjects: · After 20 minutes, lower the temperature to 200 degrees.· The Bundesbank is under pressure to lower interest rates.
to reduce something by a lot, especially prices, time, or money: · The new system is aimed at cutting the average waiting time.cut something by half/several weeks/ten per cent etc: · Because of the recession, salaries in the advertising industry have been cut by a half.· The mortgage insurance agency has cut costs by $2000 over the last 3 years, making it easier for people to buy homes.cut something from/to something: · His annual leave has been cut from six weeks to just three.
to reduce the level of sound, heat, light etc, especially by turning a control: turn something down: · Could you turn the lights down - it's too bright in here.turn down something: · The weather wasn't as cold, so we decided to turn down the central heating.turn something down slightly/a little/a bit: · Would you mind turning the volume down a little?
to reduce something, especially by a fairly small amount or number: · Various methods are being explored in order to decrease the volume of traffic on our roads.· Better health education should help to decrease the incidence of heart disease.· Use of the new nets has significantly decreased the number of dolphins killed accidentally each year.
informal to reduce prices by a very large amount - used especially in advertisements and newspapers: · American car manufacturers have started slashing prices in an effort to stimulate sales.· Public spending has been slashed over the past two years.slash something by 10%/half/75% etc: · Come to our Summer Sale, where prices have been slashed by up to 75%.
informal to reduce the price of something by a large amount, especially in order to make it easier to sell: knock down something: · Shops are knocking down prices in an effort to increase sales.knock something down: · In the end he knocked the price down to £70.
to reduce something by half: · The overseas aid budget has been almost halved, from $18m to just over $10m.
American to reduce prices: roll back something: · Most of the big downtown stores have rolled back their prices to dispose of winter stock.roll something back: · Rather than roll prices back, the company negotiated pay increases that ranged between 10 and 15 percent.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES I tore the letter in two and threw the pieces in the fire.
I tore the letter in two and threw the pieces in the fire. (=becomes twice as small)· The number of children failing at school has halved in recent years.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· But Coun Carr stressed that the 1990-1 debt had been almost halved from £6.5m to £3.5m in just nine months.· Most strikingly, the Daily Mirror almost halved its public-affairs coverage as a proportion of space in 1937 compared with 1927.· Numbers are down from 700 to 500, as the town's population has almost halved since independence in 1991.· At the same time step-parent adoptions have been discouraged and have almost halved since the Children Act 1975.· The council tax means the number of bills to be processed will be almost halved to forty six thousand.· The chances of being killed in a road accident have almost halved since 1979.· The company's workforce has been almost halved to 102 in three years.· The suicide rate for young men has doubled since the early Eighties, while for women it has almost halved.
NOUN· If no X appears, halve the numbers that appear on lines 5 and 13.· It contained a plan to halve the number of places in children's day centres from 1989.
· A half-speed recorder would effectively halve the rate of tax that consumers would pay, should a levy be introduced.
· In the first place, the pension being offered was roughly halved in value.· As a rule, these differences will do no more than double or halve the average value.· But that estimate has risen sharply because most rely on importing components, and the rouble has since halved in value.· It is being paid by people whose money, as of 1 July, has been halved in value.· Linda knew if she offered the chocs around the loss of the four best ones would halve the value of her box.· Not only has their home halved in value.
· In the past 10 years drink-driving deaths have halved to 700 a year.· In Gloucestershire, the number of positive pre-Christmas breath tests has halved in 6 years, reflecting a public change of attitude.· At one site, the amount of coral had been halved in just three years.· But after death, the amount of radiocarbon decreases at a fixed rate: it halves every 5730 years.· City experts say profits could halve over the next year as the other supermarket chains eat into Gateway's market share.· Meanwhile, the price of laser-printers halves every four years or so, and their resolution and speed continue to improve.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1to reduce something by a half: - I'm sure it will be a fantastic wedding. Eva never does anything by halves.
- He comes from a family that does not do things by halves.
- Do you want to go halves on a pizza?
- He generously agrees to go halves on you.
- She'd promised to go halves with him if he got anywhere in his negotiations.
Cash cuts have halved the number of places available on training courses.2to cut or divide something into two equal pieces: Halve the potatoes lengthwise.