half

[[t]hɑ͟ːvz, AM hæ̱vz[/t]]

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halves

1) FRACTION 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...

The bridge was re-built in two halves...

The tough market would lead to 400 jobs being cut in the first half of this year.

PREDET

Half is also a predeterminer.

We just sat and talked for half an hour or so... They had only received half the money promised... She's half his age.

ADJ: ADJ n

Half is also an adjective.

...₤4.75 for a half chicken tandoori. ...a half measure of fresh lemon juice... Steve barely said a handful of words during the first half hour.

2) ADV: ADV adj, ADV before v 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.

3) N-COUNT: usu ord N In games such as football, soccer, 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.

4) N-COUNT A half is half a pint of a drink such as beer or cider. [BRIT]

...a half of lager and a sandwich.

5) N-COUNT A half is a half-price bus or train ticket for a child. [BRIT]

6) ADV: ADV adj 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.

7) PHR-PREP: usu PREP num 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.'...

I think I got there about four and left about half past.

8) PREP: PREP num Half means the same as half past. [BRIT, INFORMAL]

They are supposed to be here at about half four.

9) ADV: ADV adj (emphasis) You can use half before an adjective describing an extreme quality, as a way of emphasizing and exaggerating something. [INFORMAL]

He felt half dead with tiredness...

All this time I've been half sick about you and why you wouldn't write.

PREDET

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... One phone call and half the city's police force will be around to arrest you.

10) ADV: with neg, usu ADV before v, ADV adj/adv, ADV n, also ADV as reply (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. [BRIT, INFORMAL]

You don't half sound confident...

I didn't half get into trouble...

She eventually decided the acting profession wasn't half bad...

My kick wasn't half a bad effort for an old man...

`There'd been a tremendous amount of poverty around and presumably this made some impact then.' - `Oh not half.'

11) ADV: with neg, ADV n, ADV as/so adj (emphasis) You use not half to emphasize a negative quality that someone has.

You're not half the man you think you are...

Poor old Henry, and not half as clever as he'd thought.

12) PHRASE: usu v-link PHR (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's a full-time job, isn't it' - `Job and a half.'

13) PHRASE: poss PHR If you talk about your better half or your other half you mean your wife, your husband, or the person of the opposite sex that you live with. [INFORMAL]

I was worried that my career, my children and my other half might become too much to cope with.

14) PHRASE: PHR after v If you increase something by half, half of the original amount is added to it. If you decrease it by half, half of the original amount is taken away from it.

The number of 7 year olds who read poorly has increased by half over the past 5 years...

Cutting food intake by half is an incredibly difficult thing for anyone to do.

15) PHRASE: with brd-neg, V inflects 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.

16) PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR on n 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.

17) half the battle → see battle

half an ear → see ear

too clever by half → see clever