HALF

[noun], [pronoun], predeterminer, adjective, [adverb] [not gradable] [plural] halves - either of the two equal or nearly equal parts that together make up a whole"What's half of ninety-six?" "Forty-eight."Roughly half (of) the class are Spanish and the others are a mixture of nationalities.Would you like half an apple?Cut the apple in half/into halves (= into two equal parts).My little brother is half as tall as me/half my height.I got half a dozen (= six) eggs at the shop.Half of me would just like to give it all up and travel around the world (= partly I would like to, but partly I would not).She was born in the latter half of the eighteenth century.The recipe tells you to use a pound and a half of butter.(UK informal) A half is half a pint, esp. of beer.A pint of lager and two halves, please.Half past a particular hour is 30 minutes later than that hour.I'll meet you at half past nine (= 09.30 or 21.30).(UK informal) I'll meet you at half seven (= half past seven) outside the theatre.Various games are divided into a first and a second half with a short pause for rest between them.(UK) A half can also be a ticket which is cheaper because it is for a child.Two adults and three halves to Manchester, please.(informal) Half is sometimes used to mean a lot.She invited a lot of people to the party but half of them didn't turn up.He's so difficult to understand that half (of) the time I just nod and smile politely when he's talking to me.Half can be used to mean only partly.The meat must only have been half cooked because it was still bloody.He answered the door half naked!I was half expecting to see her at the party.I'm half inclined to take the job just because it's in London.He was being funny but I think he was half serious.He was half running along the street to keep up with her.The bottle is half empty.(informal) "I hear things aren't running very smoothly at work." "Oh, you don't know/haven't heard the half of it (= The situation is even worse than you realize)."(informal) That was a game and a half (= a very good or very long game)!When someone says that something is half the battle, they mean that when you have done it, you have solved the most difficult part of the problem.For jobs like that, getting an interview is half the battle.(informal) If someone says they would do something given half a chance, they mean they would do it willingly if they had the opportunity.I'd go to India, given half a chance.(informal) If two people go halves when they are paying for something, they share the cost equally.Shall we go halves on a bottle of champagne for the party?If you can't afford to pay for it on your own, I'll go halves with you. [I or T](humorous) If you see or discover how the other half lives, you learn something about a group of people or a social class who are completely different from you.They have a huge house with servants - we really saw how the other half lives.Walking past the people sleeping in doorways and boxes, we were left in no doubt about how the other half lives.(humorous) If it is said of someone that they do not do things by halves, it means that they make an effort to do things correctly and completely, often doing or providing more than is expected of them."Do you use milk or cream in the recipe?" "Half and half (= Equal amounts of milk and cream)."You use 100 grams of butter in the icing and half as much again/(US also) half again as much (= 150 grams) in the cake.(UK informal) People sometimes use not half in spoken English to express a positive statement more strongly.It wasn't half crowded in the club last night (= It was very crowded).He wasn't half handsome (= He was very attractive).She didn't half shout at him (= She shouted a lot at him)!"You enjoyed yourself last night, didn't you?" "Not half (= Very much)!"(informal) If something is not half as good/bad/amusing as something else, it is clearly not as good/bad/amusing.It wasn't half as good as that other restaurant we went to.Films these days aren't half as good as they used to be.(informal disapproving) An idea or plan which is half-baked or (UK slang) half-arsed/(US informal) half-assed is stupid or has not been considered carefully enough.The government has set up some half-baked scheme for training teachers on the job.(esp. UK) If you stay (on) half board (US Modified American plan) in a hotel or similar place, you have a room, a morning meal and a meal either in the middle of the day or in the evening.The hotel only offers half board, but that suits me fine because I can have lunch at work. Compare full board at full (COMPLETE).Your half-brother has one of the same parents as you, but his other parent is different from yours.A half-caste is a person whose parents are from different races. This is usually considered offensive.He said I was a half-caste, but I just ignored him.Of course she looks half-caste - her father was white.If something goes off at half cock/(esp. US) goes off half-cocked, it does not happen as completely or successfully as intended because it was badly planned or it started too early.His schemes always go off at half cock because he never prepares them properly.(UK slang disapproving) If someone is half-cut, they are quite drunk.He was already half-cut when he arrived at the party.(informal) Someone who is half-dead is extremely tired."Phew! I'm half-dead!" "Well, what do you expect after you've been on a three-mile run?"(informal) Half-decent means quite good or skilled.Any half-decent sprinter can run 100m in 11 seconds.A person or action that is half-hearted shows a lack of enthusiasm and interest.He made a rather half-hearted attempt to clear up the rubbish.The audience applauded half-heartedly.Half an hour or a half-hour is a period of 30 minutes.The dollar surged against the yen in the final half-hour of trading.Half an hour later, she was smiling and chatting as if nothing had happened.She is to host a new half-hour show which will be broadcast every weekday evening.Trains for Washington depart on the half-hour (= at 10.30, 11.30, etc.).Something that is half-hourly happens twice every hour.There's a half-hourly train service to London from here.I want you to call my office half-hourly and keep me fully informed about what's going on.If you say something half-joking or half-jokingly, you are partly joking and partly serious.She was only half-joking when she said that dogs were treated better than homeless people. [after verb](specialized) The half-life of a radioactive substance is the length of time its level of radioactivity takes to fall by half.The most stable isotope of plutonium has a half-life of almost 25 000 years.Half-light is the greyness or less than complete darkness that exists in a badly lit room or just after the sun has gone down or just before the sun comes up.In the dim half-light of evening, I was unable to tell whether it was Mary or her sister.A half-marathon is a running race over a distance of about 21 kilometres.If a flag is (flying) at half-mast (US also half-staff), it has been lowered to a point half the way down the pole as an expression of sadness at someone's death.A half-measure is an action which only achieves part of what it is intended to achieve.These so-called reforms are just cosmetic half-measures which do nothing to resolve the problem.A half-moon is (something shaped like) the moon when only half of the surface facing the Earth is lit by light from the sun.She peered over her half-moon glasses/half-moons (= glasses in which the glass is shaped like half circles) at me and asked why I was so late.Half note is [esp. US] for minim.Someone's other half is their husband, wife or usual partner.Bring your other half next time you come.If someone is half the person they used to be, they are not as good as they were previously.She's half the player she used to be.Something that is half-price costs half its usual price.I got some half-price pizzas at the supermarket.The railcard allows students and young people to travel half-price on most trains.If you wait until the January sales, you might be able to get it at half-price.Your half-sister has one of the same parents as you, but her other parent is different from yours.A half-size in clothing is a size which is half of the way between two usual sizes.They're one of the few shops to stock men's slippers in half-sizes.Half step is US for semitone.(UK) Half term (US midterm) is a short holiday in the middle of each of the three periods into which the school year is divided.Some families go on holiday at half term, but many stay at home.A half-timbered building has a wooden frame whose spaces are filled with brick or stone to form the walls, so that the wood still shows on the surface.Half-time is a short rest period between the two parts of a sports game.Italy had a comfortable three-goal lead over France by half-time.What was the half-time score? Compare full time at full (COMPLETE).A half-truth is a statement which is intended to deceive by being only partly true.The book is a jumble of speculation, half-truths and downright lies about what really happened.A half volley is a shot in a game such as tennis in which the ball is hit just after it has bounced.(disapproving) A half-wit is a silly or stupid person.She really is a half-wit - we all told her she shouldn't marry him.You half-wit! I asked you to get me some parsnips, not turnips.That was a really half-witted thing to say - you can be so stupid sometimes.