Etymology : Middle English, from Old English healf; akin to Old High German halb half
Pronunciation : haf, h[a]f
Function : noun
Date : before 12th century
1. one part of two equal parts; one of a pair; either of two equal playing periods in a game (Sports); halfway point in playing time (Sports); halfback (Football). being one of two equal parts; partial, not complete; having one parent in common. adpartially. half\half\ (h?f), a. [as. healf, half, half; as a noun, half, side, part; akin to os., ofries., & d. half, g. halb, sw. half, dan. halv, icel. hālfr, goth. halbs. cf. halve, behalf.].
2. consisting of a moiety, or half; as, a half bushel; a half hour; a half dollar; a half view.note: the adjective and noun are often united to form a compound.
3. consisting of some indefinite portion resembling a half; approximately a half, whether more or less; partial; imperfect; as, a half dream; half knowledge. assumed from thence a half consent.half ape (zo?l.), a lemur.half back. (football) see:
under 2d back.half bent, the first notch, for the sear point to enter, in the tumbler of a gunlock; the halfcock notch.half binding, a style of bookbinding in which only the back and corners are in leather.half boarder, one who boards in part; specifically, a scholar at a boarding school who takes dinner only.
4. Consisting of a moiety, or half; as, a half bushel; a half hour; a half dollar; a half view.
5. Consisting of some indefinite portion resembling a half; approximately a half, whether more or less; partial; imperfect; as, a half dream; half knowledge.
6. In an equal part or degree; in some part approximating a half; partially; imperfectly; as, half-colored, half done, half-hearted, half persuaded, half conscious.
7. Part; side; behalf.
8. One of two equal parts into which anything may be divided, or considered as divided; sometimes followed by of; as, a half of an apple.
9. To halve. [Obs.] See Halve. in various games or performances: either of two periods of play separated by an interval related through one parent only; "a half brother"; "half sister" partially or to the extent of a half; "he was half hidden by the bushes".
10. 1. Half of an amount or object is one of two equal parts that together make up the whole number, amount, or object. They need an extra two and a half thousand pounds to complete the project More than half of all households report incomes above £35,000 Cut the tomatoes in half vertically Half is also a predeterminer. We just sat and talked for half an hour or so They had only received half the money promised Half is also an adjective. a half measure of fresh lemon juice Steve barely said a handful of words during the first half hour.
11. You use half to say that something is only partly the case or happens to only a limited extent. His eyes were half closed His refrigerator frequently looked half empty She'd half expected him to withdraw from the course.
12. In games such as football, rugby, and basketball, matches are divided into two equal periods of time which are called halves. The only goal was scored by Jakobsen early in the second half.
13. A half is a half-price bus or train ticket for a child.
14. You use half to say that someone has parents of different nationalities. For example, if you are half German, one of your parents is German but the other is not. She was half Italian and half English.
15. You use half past to refer to a time that is thirty minutes after a particular hour. `What time were you planning lunch?' --- `Half past twelve, if that's convenient.'.
16. Half means the same as half past. They are supposed to be here at about half four.
17. emphasis You can use half before an adjective describing an extreme quality, as a way of emphasizing and exaggerating something. He felt half dead with tiredness Half can also be used in this way with a noun referring to a long period of time or a large quantity. I thought about you half the night He wouldn't know what he was saying half the time.
18. emphasis Half is sometimes used in negative statements, with a positive meaning, to emphasize a particular fact or quality. For example, if you say `he isn't half lucky', you mean that he is very lucky. You don't half sound confident `There'd been a tremendous amount of poverty around and presumably this made some impact then.' --- `Oh not half.'.
19. emphasis You use not half or not half as to show that you do not think something is as good or impressive as it is meant to be. You're not half the man you think you are.
20. emphasis When you use an expression such as a problem and a half or a meal and a half, you are emphasizing that your reaction to it is either very favourable or very unfavourable. It becomes clear that Montgomerie has a job and half on his hands.
21. If you say that someone never does things by halves, you mean that they always do things very thoroughly. In Italy they rarely do things by halves. Designers work thoroughly, producing the world's most wearable clothes in the most beautiful fabrics.
22. If two people go halves, they divide the cost of something equally between them. He's constantly on the phone to his girlfriend. We have to go halves on the phone bill which drives me mad.
23. half the battle: see:
battle.
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