half
/hɑːf
/- Slice the roll in half the short way, then slice the halves in half.
- Cut a starfish in half and both halves can recover to produce two starfish.
- Try a biscuit crust, tortillas, flatbread such as pita, bun halves or a baguette cut in half lengthwise as bases for pizza toppings.
Synonyms
- That was a rare moment of danger for Sweden, who dominated possession but only seriously looked like scoring in the closing periods of both halves.
- He later said the first half was his greatest performance as a pro, and no one who saw it could argue.
- Seriously, get her to drink a half of stout a day as a basis for any magick she does.
- Two airline stewardesses were sacked for drinking a half of lager each before a flight.
- Usually we'd have a half of beer, but on this occasion someone suggested a glass of sherry, because it dried you out.
- Scott drove into the rough and had to lay up, but he pitched to six feet and, crucially for his morale, holed for a half to keep him level.
- The play resumed without penalty and the result of the hole was the half - all square and all to play for.
- He plays half or end.
- When continuing a character, pull out attack cards equal to half your STR.
- Use a complete suit for each player and a number of Jokers equal to about half the players.
- That may sound strange for a country which faced the prospect of a nuclear holocaust for almost half a century.
- Nowadays he is on first-name terms with at least half of his audience.
- I imagine at least half the audience was completely off its gourd so God knows what he was doing to the collective psyche.
- The emcee is desperate to get us to stay, but half the audience gets up to leave anyway.
- She was holding a half full glass of Glen Livet in her hand as she stared at the Ocean.
- And in a quick movement, Matthew and picked his half full bottle of Fanta up and walked out of the vending room.
- In her kitchen she pulled out a half full container.
- In fact, I'm half inclined to start asking for Italy, just to see if I can do it!
- A lot of money went into it when the pond was repaired and residents believe it should look half decent.
- She jumped back slightly against the window half afraid of what he was going to say.
Synonyms
Phrases
a —— and a half
half the battle
half a chance
half an eye
the half of it
half one (or two etc.)
half past one (or two etc.)
half the time
not do things by halves
not half
too —— by half
Origin
Old English half, healf, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch half and German halb (adjectives). The earliest meaning of the Germanic base was 'side', also a noun sense in Old English.
The ancient root of half meant ‘side’, and this was the first meaning in English—a half of something was one of its two sides. The phrase at half cock, ‘when only partly ready’, comes from early firearms, and describes a flintlock pistol misfiring. The cock was the lever which was raised into position ready to be released when the trigger was pulled. A pistol at half cock had the lever raised halfway and held by the catch, which in theory ensured that it could not be fired even if the trigger was pulled. Inevitably the occasional pistol would be faulty and go off early, at half cock. See also hang. The halfpenny was the smallest unit of the old British currency from 1961 until decimalization. A halfpennyworth, also spelled ha'p'orth to represent a common pronunciation, was a small amount, and so the proverb don't spoil the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar recorded from 1623, reflects on the miserliness that can spoil something of much greater value. The saying is not nautical, but referred to the use of tar to keep flies off sores on sheep: ship was a dialect pronunciation of sheep.