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单词 half
释义

halfn.

Brit. /hɑːf/, U.S. /hæf/
Inflections: Plural halves Brit. /hɑːvz/, U.S. /hævz/, halfs;
Forms:

α. early Old English hleafas (accusative plural, transmission error), Old English ealf- (inflected form), Old English hælf- (inflected form), Old English–early Middle English healf, Old English–Middle English helf, Old English– half, late Old English hæalf- (inflected form), late Old English heælf- (Kentish, inflected form), early Middle English ælf- (inflected form), early Middle English hælf, early Middle English heafe (dative, transmission error), Middle English al (perhaps transmission error), Middle English alf, Middle English bealfe (in a copy of an Old English charter, transmission error), Middle English elf, Middle English hallf ( Ormulum), Middle English halph, Middle English–1500s alfe, Middle English–1500s halffe, Middle English–1600s halfe, Middle English–1600s halff, 1500s alff, 1500s haf, 1500s hallfe, 1500s hallff, 1500s–1600s hafe, 1500s–1600s haulfe, 1500s–1700s haulf (Irish English in later use); English regional 1700s–1800s haf (Isle of Wight), 1800s hafe (Lancashire), 1800s hauf (Yorkshire), 1800s hoaf (Yorkshire), 2000s– af (Cornwall); U.S. regional (chiefly southern, especially in African-American usage) 1800s haalf (Michigan), 1800s haff, 1900s harf, 1900s– ha'f; Scottish pre-1700 alff, pre-1700 ha'fe, pre-1700 haffe, pre-1700 halfe, pre-1700 halff, pre-1700 halffe, pre-1700 halfte (perhaps transmission error), pre-1700 hallf, pre-1700 hawf, pre-1700 hawfe, pre-1700 1700s– half, pre-1700 1700s– hauf, pre-1700 1800s haulf, 1700s haff, 1700s 1900s haf, 1900s– haaf.

β. early Old English halb- (inflected form), Old English–early Middle English (in a copy of an Old English charter) healu- (inflected form), early Middle English haelu- (inflected form, in a copy of an Old English charter), early Middle English hælu- (inflected form), early Middle English halu- (inflected form), early Middle English halv- (inflected form), early Middle English helu- (inflected form), Middle English alw- (inflected form), Middle English -hal (in a compound), Middle English helue, Middle English helve, Middle English 1600s (1900s– in sense 15) halve, Middle English–1600s halue, late Middle English hawvys (plural), 1500s hawues (plural); English regional 1800s hauve (Lancashire), 1800s hawve (Lancashire), 1800s hove (Lancashire), 1900s haeves (Oxfordshire, plural); Scottish pre-1700 -halue (in a compound), pre-1700 halwys (plural), pre-1700 hawis (plural), pre-1700 1800s -halve (in compounds), 1700s haves (plural).

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian halve side, direction, Old Dutch halva side (Middle Dutch, Dutch halve side, half half division), Old Saxon halva side, region (Middle Low German halve side, behalf, half side, half division), Old High German halba side, direction, region, behalf, halb side (Middle High German halbe , halp , early modern German halbe side, half division), Old Icelandic hálfa region, behalf, half division, Old Swedish halva side, behalf (Swedish halva half division), Gothic halba regard, behalf < the same Germanic base as half adj. Inflection in Old English. In the Germanic languages, the inherited noun is represented by nouns of more than one inflectional class, but is most commonly feminine. In Old English the inherited noun is usually inflected as a strong feminine (as e.g. in Gothic) and is chiefly attested in senses of branch I., with a core sense of ‘side’. Beside this, use of half adj. as noun is attested in senses of branch II., with reference to parts or divisions. In this sense, the noun is usually neuter, although when short for a phrase or compound it may show other genders, especially in the case of healf dǣl (masculine; compare halfdeal n., halfendeal n.). There is some semantic overlap between the neuter use of the adjective and the related feminine noun, when they are both used in a concrete sense, as the meaning of the feminine noun originally also developed from a basic sense ‘one of two corresponding parts (especially of the body and its surroundings)’ and use with reference to either of two sides is very common for senses of branch I. in Old English. In Middle English the two types of noun became formally indistinguishable. Variant forms. In Old English uninflected forms show final devoicing, while inflected forms preserve the original voiced fricative before the vowel of the case ending; these two types develop into the α. and β. forms, respectively (especially in the singular; on plural forms see below). In Old English, these types are not usually differentiated in writing, with f being used for both voiceless final /f/ and voiced intervocalic /v/; all such forms have been assigned to the α. forms. For the phonological development of the stem vowel, see discussion at half adj. Plurals. In Old English the nominative and accusative plural of the strong feminine noun is healfa (non-West Saxon and late healfe), and plurals of this type continue into the Middle English period. Plurals in -s are first attested in early Middle English and replace these earlier formations in the course of the Middle English period. These plural forms typically (and regularly in modern standard English) preserve the voiced fricative of the early inflected forms. Plural spellings reflecting voiceless /f/ are attested from at least the 15th cent., and plural forms with voiceless consonant are still current in regional and colloquial use, especially in Scots.
†I. Either of two or more sides or parties.
1.
a. Either of the two sides of an object as a specification of position or direction; the right or left side, the right or left hand (hand n. 4) of a person; the direction indicated by such a side or hand. Also: either side of a point in time. Obsolete.See also east half n. 1, left half n. 1, north half n. 1, right half n. 1, south half n. 1, west half n. 1; on every half at every adj. and pron. Phrases 1a, on this half at this pron., adj., and n. Phrases 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > quality of having sides or being a side > [noun] > fact of having distinct sides > one or other side or hand
halfa700
handeOE
sideOE
eOE Épinal Gloss. (1974) 5 Altrinsecus, an ba halbae [eOE Erfurt Gloss. halbe, eOE Corpus Gloss. halfe].
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xx. 21 Sege þæt þas mine twegen suna sittan an on þine swiþran healfe & an on þine wynstran on þinum rice.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 6995 A þas hælf [c1300 Otho half] þere Humbre.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) iv. 150 Thai on twa halfis [1489 Adv. halfys] war assalit.
1495 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VII (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1495 §44. m. 27 On this halfe the fest of Ester.
1532 T. More Confut. Barnes in Wks. (1557) 805/1 Then thou shalte see me on the backe halfe.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 23 Thai soght into the Cite vpon sere haluys.
b. One of the four sides of a building; one of four quarters of a region or the world (as roughly corresponding to the four points of the compass). Only with four. Obsolete.
Π
OE Lacnunga (2001) I. cxxxvi. 98 Hoh ða wyrte on feower healfe [sc. of the pigsty] & on þan dore.
lOE Homily: In Letania Maiore (Hatton 116) in F. Holthausen & H. Spies Festschrift f. Lorenz Morsbach (1913) 133 Þonne arisað ealle þa men, þa þe..on deaþe swulton, fram þam feower healfum þisses middangeardes.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 143 Þenne sculen engles mid beme blauwen on fower halue þe world.
a1350 ( in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 15 Sire edward oure kyng..þe waleis quarters sende to is oune contre, on four half to honge.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 25046 Four halues o þis werld rond.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Miller's Tale (Hengwrt) (1870) l. 3481 The nyght spel seyde he anon rightes On foure halues of the hous aboute.
c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure l. 1966 (MED) My herte sothely es sette..To seke into Sexon..To fyghte..Ȝif I may fynde the freke within the four haluez.
2. figurative.
a. Either of the opposite sides in a conflict; either (occasionally any) of the sides or points of view in an argument or discussion; either of a person's mother's or father's side of the family in ancestry or descent. See also mother-half n. at mother n.1 Compounds 5a. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > contrariety or contrast > [noun] > the opposite point
halfa885
part1485
counterpoint1599
ranverse1675
counterposition1861
contrapositive1870
countertype1880
antitype1926
society > society and the community > social relations > party or faction > [noun] > side or cause
halfa885
side?a1300
quarrel1340
partya1375
parta1382
cause1588
quality1598
eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) ii. ii. 39 Ymb þæt wearð þæt mæste gewinn monig gear, oð hie fornæh mid ealle forslægene & forwordene wæron on ægþere healfe.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 2927 He wass. Rihhtwis. & milde baþe. Rihhtwis he wass..O þatt hallf þatt he nollde. Nohht haldenn wiþþ þatt illke þing Þatt he nohht off ne wisste..& milde he wass onn oþerr hallf.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4676 An oðer halue he wes glæd þat his ifon weoren dæd.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 7334 Þer comen to-somne sixti þusend monnen, an are halue wes Uortimer..& al þat leod-liche folc..an oðere halue weoren drenches mid Vortigerne þan kinge.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 4434 Þe compaynie of þis alf moche aneþered was.
c1390 (?c1350) Joseph of Arimathie (1871) l. 549 (MED) Wel a fyue þousend men of tholomeres halue Weore bytwene hem two.
c1400 (c1382) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 248 Þe Jewis seide þat Crist was noȝt on Goddis halfe.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) i. l. 3635 (MED) It is but veyn, For his [sc. a corpse's] recure, vp-on any halve, To his ere for to leyn a salve.
a1475 (?a1350) Seege Troye (Harl.) (1927) l. 1074 (MED) En boþe half grete folke were þrouwe down.
1563 W. Baldwin et al. Myrrour for Magistrates (new ed.) Hastings lxxviii. 2 On princes halves the myghty god doth fyght.
a1627 T. Middleton et al. Widdow (1652) v. 57 Ans. You look half like a Gentleman. Mar. And that's the Mothers half.
b. Side, part (as of one of the parties to a transaction). Obsolete. on this half: in regard or respect of this, on this account.
ΚΠ
OE Laws of Æðelstan (Otho) ii. xxiii. §2. 162 [Ne beo ðær] on nauþre healfe ma manna ðonne xii.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1091 Ðas forewarde gesworan xii þa betste of þes cynges healfe and xii of þes eorles.
c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) l. 80 Nu þenne on oðer half nim þe to þe worlde.
c1400 Brut (Rawl. B. 171) 250 In þat oþere Half, it was fonden by enquest..þat þe Englisshe-men biganne þe debate.
a1529 J. Skelton Magnyfycence (?1530) sig. Ciiii I am so occupyed On this halfe and on euery syde.
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer iii. f. cccl/2 In that heuen togyther shul they dwel..without any ymaginatyfe yuel in any halue.
II. Either of two (or occasionally more) parts or divisions.
3. Either of two opposite, corresponding, or equal parts into which a material thing is or may be divided.
ΚΠ
OE Leechbk. Fragm. (Harl.) (1865) ii. lix. 280 Wiþ þære healfdeadan adle..: seo adl cymð on þa swiðran healfe þæs lichoman oððe on þa wynstran, þær þa sina toslupað.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 89 Amon for uuel þet he haueð, he ne let him naut blod oþe seke half ach doð oþe hale to heale þet seke.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 92 Muchedel of engelond, þe on half al bi weste.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 8715 Wit suerd it [sc. a child] sal be delt in tua, And aiþer sal haue an half [Fairf. half, Gött. a side] in hand.
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 1613 (MED) He..ȝet hem halchez al hole þe haluez to-geder.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Sam. x. 4 Hanun..shoue of the one halue of their beerdes.
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Horizon, tis, a cerkle dyuidynge the halfe sphere, or ouer part of the firmament, from the other halfe.
1627 R. Sanderson Ten Serm. 171 Making as if he would cut the child into halfes, and giue either of them one halfe.
1666 R. Boyle Origine Formes & Qualities 136 In the parting of it into halfes (as when our Hazle Nuts..part in the middle longwise).
1717 tr. A. F. Frézier Voy. South-Sea 120 (note) To unite the two Sides, or Halves of the Float.
1775 R. Chandler Trav. Asia Minor i. 4 The lower half of the orb soon after immerged in the horizon.
1851 W. B. Carpenter Man. Physiol. 182 A continuation of the sagittal-suture down the middle, dividing it into two equal halves.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. II. 1050/2 Half-turning bolt, one with a thread occupying one half of its cylindrical surface.
1956 Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press 26 Jan. 24/1 Serve grapefruit for dessert. Cover each half with maple syrup.
2006 Laws of Game July i. 6 The field of play is divided into two halves by a halfway line.
4. Either of two equal parts into which a number or quantity, or something abstract, is or may be divided.
a. Without determiner and with singular or plural agreement.In this use half resembles a pronoun.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > one of the parts into which anything is divided > one of two
halfc950
moiety1597
south half1613
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > two > division into two > [noun] > division into two equal parts > a half
halfc950
halfendealc1000
half-part1398
half-deal1399
mediety?1440
moiety1444
demi1501
demi-parcela1592
single1592
second1594
tally1647
'arf1854
half-value1903
eOE Laws of Ælfred (Corpus Cambr. 173) viii. 54 Gif hwa nunnan of mynstere ut alæde.., geselle hundtwelftig scillinga, healf cyninge, healf biscepe & þære cirican hlaforde.
OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Luke xix. 8 Ecce demedium bonorum meorum..do pauperibus : heono half godra minra [OE West Saxon Gospels: Corpus Cambr. healfe mine æhta, c1200 Hatton half mine ehte]..ic sello ðorfendum.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 731 [Leir] ȝef is tueie doȝtren half, & half him sulf nom.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xi. cxxiii. 1360 Þe haluendel of foure and sixty is two and þritty. And half þerof is sixtene.
c1450 Art Nombryng in R. Steele Earliest Arithm. in Eng. (1922) 38 (MED) Write that vnyte without in the table, other resolue it in 60 mynvtes, and sette aside half of tho minutes so.
?1542 H. Brinkelow Complaynt Roderyck Mors xv. sig. D8v To forfet his whole flocke, half to the kyng and half to the complayner.
1602 W. Watson Decacordon Ten Quodlibeticall Questions 139 Neither all, nor halfe, nor third, nor tenths of all shall be saued.
1693 J. Dryden Disc. conc. Satire in tr. Juvenal Satires p. x When half of the Christians are already kill'd.
1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery vi. 63 Let it stew over a slow Fire, till half is wasted.
1820 W. Scoresby Acct. Arctic Regions II. 129 Of this number of whales, considerably above half have been taken by five ships now in the trade.
1878 Western Daily Press 4 June 5/4 A verdict which in effect denounced the system of police and half of the system of internal government in Russia.
1938 Fortune Sept. 55/3 Of the remaining 200,000,000 bushels over half is consumed by the millers of corn meal and flour, by the distillers of industrial and potable alcohols and by the manufacturers of breakfast foods.
2015 Wall St. Jrnl. 7 Mar. a7/6 250 pupils and half of the teachers fell ill.
b. After a cardinal numeral or the indefinite article with a noun (or with noun implied), in —— and a(n) half (formerly also †—— and half).For an earlier mode of expressing this by means of an ordinal numeral, see half adj. 2.
(a) Following a noun premodified by a numeral (e.g. two hours and a(n) half, two hours and half); now chiefly where the noun is premodified by the indefinite article (e.g. an hour and a half).See also Phrases 2g.Quot. OE is perhaps to be interpreted as showing elliptical use of the neuter accusative singular of the adjective.Some early Middle English uses (e.g. quot. a1225) could alternatively show one adj. rather than the indefinite article; cf. sense 4c.
Π
OE Byrhtferð Enchiridion (Ashm.) (1995) ii. iii. 103 Feower momenta gefyllað minutum, and twegen minuta and healf gewyrcað anne prican [L. duo minuta & dimidium punctum faciunt].
a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 51 Crist..was her on ðese liue wuniȝende þrie and þrihti wintre and an half mang senfulle mannen.
c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) l. 14 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 107 (MED) To ȝeres and an half.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xi. cxxviii. 1373 Concula conteyneþ a dragme and an half.
1420 in F. J. Furnivall Fifty Earliest Eng. Wills (1882) 46 A bolle pece þat weyyth vij ouunsus & halfe, and halfe a quarter.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry ii. f. 76 They must be sette a foote & a halfe a sunder.
1583 C. Hollyband Campo di Fior 157 An houre and a halfe after we are up.
1673 J. Ray Observ. Journey Low-countries 3 We took places in the Passage-Boat for Bruges, and at a League and halfs end came to a Lock.
1792 J. Woodforde Diary 6 July (1927) III. 361 All my Hay carried to day, 9 bargains of it from 3 Acres and half, about 7. Ton upon the whole.
1796 tr. A. von Kotzebue Negro Slaves i. vi. 31 Why out of nine millions of slaves which the new world received, are seven and an half dead?
1858 F. F. Dally Channel Islands v. iv. 235 The Guernsey vergée is forty perches, and two vergées and a half are rather more than the English acre.
1937 Advertiser (Adelaide) 11 June 31/2 Leo followed a fox on foot for a mile and a half.
1991 N. Amer. Rev. June 33/2 Inside the walls of the time-out room, where for two hours and a half he had been confined, Jamie felt a distinct wiggle.
(b) Following the numeral, the whole phrase preceding the noun (e.g. two and a half years); now also with one (e.g. one and a half years).
Π
1643 H. Hexham 3rd Part Princ. Art Mil. (ed. 2) ii. 4 The two side peeces 15, or 16 foote long, 17 inches broad, and six and a half inches thick.
1725 H. Sloane Voy. Islands II. 281 It had a forked Tail, two and a half Inches long.
1817 J. McLeod Narr. Voy. Alceste (1820) ii. 45 One of his attendants..received..about a dozen and a half blows with a flat bamboo.
1833 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Cottage Archit. §296 The ridge pieces, hips, and valleys, to be seven inches by one and a half inches.
1928 ‘Brent of Bin Bin’ Up Country xxii. 356 She arose to her full height of five-feet-one-and-a-half.
2014 Vanity Fair July 85 Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova..were unmasked and arrested two and a half years ago.
c. With determiner (esp. one or the) or in the plural.Quot. OE could alternatively be interpreted as showing predicative use of the neuter accusative singular of the adjective (i.e. ‘half of that’).With quot. lOE compare the later construction and a(n) half at sense 4b(a).
Π
OE Confessionale Pseudo-Egberti (Junius) 173 Asmeage on ðam þreom lenctenum hwæt his bigleofen sy, and dæle þæt healf on ælmessan [L. tribuat medietatem in elemosinam].
lOE Royal Charter: Æðelred II to Burton Abbey (Sawyer 906) in P. H. Sawyer Charters of Burton Abbey (1979) xxxvii Rodberdes land ix hid', & an half.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Luke xix. 8 I ȝyue the half of my goodis to pore men.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 3999 Ar he þe half o þaa haa slayn.
c1400 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Cambr. Dd.3.53) (1872) ii. §23. 33 Take thanne the half of 8, & adde it to 48..and [than] hastow 52.
1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) xxi. 464 Yf men had gyven hym the halve of all the worlde.
1557 R. Record Whetstone of Witte sig. Aiiiv Euen nombers euenly, are such nombers as maie bee parted continually into euen halfes.
1563 W. Fulke Goodle Gallerye Causes Meteors iv. f. 47 They ascend not past the halfe of one myle, in heyght.
1656 B. Harris tr. J. N. de Parival Hist. Iron Age i. i. xvi. 31 Ambition being the one half of the game.
1685 tr. B. Gracián y Morales Courtiers Oracle 157 And in that sense the ingenious Paradox is true: That the half is more than the whole.
1756 W. Toldervy Hist. Two Orphans I. 38 His ordinary expences ought to be but to the half of his receipts.
1793 T. Lear Let. 25 Dec. in G. Washington Papers (2008) Presidential Ser. XIV. 621 This..is afforded at less than one half of what cambrick of equal quality generally costs.
1820 W. Scoresby Acct. Arctic Regions II. 223 One-half or three fourths of an inch thick.
1864 F. C. Bowen Treat. Logic vii. 192 Both halves of the reasoning are contorted.
1946 A. Nelson Princ. Agric. Bot. iii. 37 Very occasionally the processes of cell-division are interrupted or partially disorganized, so that the two derived nuclei do not receive exactly equal halves of the chromosome set seen in the original nucleus.
2001 K. Fearon & A. Verlaque Lurgan Champagne & Other Tales 114 One half of our people hate the British government, one half hates the Irish government.
5. More vaguely: either of two divisions more or less approaching equality; esp. with comparatives, e.g. the larger half. Also sometimes: one of three or more divisions. See also better half n. 1, other half n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > two > division into two > [noun] > one of two divisions
halfa1300
OE Ælfric Old Test. Summary: Maccabees (Julius) in W. W. Skeat Ælfric's Lives of Saints (1900) II. 66 Æfter ðam ðe Alexander se egefulla cyning todælde his rice his dyrlingum gehwilcum on his forðsiðe, and hi fengon to rice gehwylc on his healfe.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 16 (MED) Ech of þe ilke zeuen [sins] him to-delþ ine uele halues.
1539 Introd. lerne for to recken with Pen sig. i.vv Multyply 5 by his greater halfe, that is 3.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 190v The more halfe of my men & my mayn shippis.
1660 J. Childrey Britannia Baconica 25 The top of it is hollow like the long half of an Egg.
1745 J. Swift Direct. to Servants 79 Swear..it broke into Three halves.
1809 W. Irving Hist. N.Y. II. vi. ii. 85 Persons of Indian mixture are half civilized, half savage, and half devil, a third half being expressly provided for their particular convenience.
1862 H. Spencer First Princ. ii. v. §55 The larger half of the phenomena.
1974 J. Seymour Fat of Land (new ed.) vii. 92 But this year we laid out about ten quid on the bigger half of the field.
1993 L. Colwin More Home Cooking v. 27 And how will we ever manage now when half one's pals are on diets, the other half have food allergies, and the third half, so to speak, simply will not and cannot bear to eat that way anymore.
2016 Dayton (Ohio) Daily News (Nexis) 14 Sept. sa1 Roll the larger half of the dough pastry into a 13-inch circle.
6.
†a. One of two partners or co-sharers. Obsolete.With with or possessive. As complement of be or (later also) go (see go v. 35d and cf. to be halves at sense 6b and to go halves at Phrases 2i).
ΘΠ
the mind > possession > sharing > [noun] > a sharer > one of two sharers
half1520
1520 R. Whittington Uulgaria sig. D.jv Wheder you wynne, or lese I wyll be your half.
1591 J. Florio Second Frutes 25 Master Iohn will you be halfe with me?
a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) v. ii. 84 Bap. Sonne, Ile be your halfe, Bianca comes. Luc. Ile haue no halues: Ile beare it all my selfe. View more context for this quotation
1636 R. Chamberlain Last Two Cent. Bulls, Jests & Lies 87 in Bk. of Bulls A Young resolute man sitting by others at play, asked an antient Gamster if hee should goe halfe with him at a double vie, at In and In.
1637 J. Shirley Hide Parke iii. sig. E3 Ven. Ile goe your halfe. Ri. No thanke you Iacke, would I had tenne peeces more On't.
1668 T. Sydserff Tarugo's Wiles iii. 19 Hold him Sir, I and my Heirs will go your Half.
1760 N.-Y. Mercury 17 Mar. 3/2 (advt.) The Proposer will go half with him; the Gentleman to receive all the Profits.
b. In plural. to be halves: to share equally with a person; with with (e.g. I will be halves with you) or possessive (e.g. I will be your halves). Cf. to go halves at Phrases 2i. Now rare.
Π
1596 T. Nashe Haue with you to Saffron-Walden sig. X2v Master Lillie (who is halues with me in this indignitie that is offred).
1625 in J. M. Guilding Reading Rec. (1895) II. 261 This Examinate and ij or iij more went to playe, and the said Marbery was one of them and was haulves with one of the other of the company.
a1681 J. Lacy Sauny the Scott (1698) 46 I'll be your halves Geraldo, and yours Mr. Winlove too.
1755 E. Haywood Invisible Spy II. iii. iv. 71 If you lose it I'll be your halves, and send you the money to-morrow.
1838 Proc. Old Bailey 1 Jan. 285 Farmer, go and bet him a sovereign, and I will be your halves.
1870 T. Wright Bane of Life II. iii. iii. 270 Occasionally she would ‘be halves’ with Kate on a larger scale—in the purchase, for instance, of a ton of coals.
1974 J. McNeil How does your Garden Grow iii. 79 Mick: Need more'n a bit. Sam:..and you'll be home with the missus. Mick: Hmph. With the barmaid at the Prince. Sam: Ah, well I mean when the pub shuts. Mick: Better. Sam: Ha-ha. [Sighing] Like to be halves with yer.
III. Something equivalent to half of a larger thing or unit; chiefly in elliptical uses of half adj. with the noun implied.
7. A half-sized paving stone, brick, or pane of glass.
ΚΠ
1659 T. Willsford Architectonice 29 Pavements, or paving tyles, are made in moulds... To all these pavements they make halfs, to close the work at the sides and ends.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. ix. 385/2 An Halfe quarry, is that part cut perpendicularly from point to point. These are called Halves.
1821 T. D. W. Dearn Hints on Improved Method of Building 35 The stretching course may be whole bricks instead of halves.
2002 P. Raines Simple Stonescaping (2003) ix. 68/1 Most block orders include ‘halfs’ that are molded to be half a block wide.
8.
a. A coin worth half of a particular monetary unit.
Π
1765 in Materials towards Statist. Acct. Bombay (1894) II. iii. 221 We shall deliver 30 gold coins amounting to Rs. 450... We also propose to make halves and quarters.
1891 W. Bolitho Nugæ 25 Our only Gold Coins Shall be Sov'reigns and Halves.
2008 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 30 Sept. c13 (advt.) For years stories have circulated about a huge cache of U.S. silver half dollars... This is the first hoard of authentic original 1893 Columbian silver halves we've ever seen of this magnitude.
b. British slang. Ten shillings (i.e. half of £1 in pre-decimal currency). Now disused.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > sum of money > [noun] > specific sums of money > ten shillings
half a thick 'un1897
half1931
half a bar1938
1931 W. F. Brown in Police Jrnl. 4 502 They speiled first for stakes of a sprazey,..increasing it..later to a half... This narrative..would in plain English read..they played first for stakes of a sixpence..increasing..later to ten shillings.
1938 G. Greene Brighton Rock i. ii. 30 She's just a buer—he gave her a half.
1971 Farmers Weekly 19 Mar. 98/3 There was only one 10s call in the 300 or so lots..though some people dodged the issue by calling ‘half’ instead of 50p.
9. British. In British public schools (chiefly Eton): a period of the year during which teaching of students is scheduled, a term; originally either of two, each occupying half of the year, subsequently any of three; = half year n. 2.The change in denotation ensued from a new division of the school year, perhaps in the mid 18th cent.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > educational administration > [noun] > session or term
half-yearc907
season?a1400
Michael term?1406
term1429
Michaelmas term1439
Easter term1530
Hilary1577
summer term1659
session1714
half1820
semester1826
by-term1883
Trinity term1899
winterim1964
1781 C. Cornwallis Let. in L. Cooper Age of Wellington (1963) 6 I do as much work in a week as you do in a whole half at Eton.
1820 G. C. Lewis Lett. (1870) 3 It..has completely stopped the boats for this half.
1870 ‘A. R. Hope’ My Schoolboy Friends xiv. 172 This half, almost all the boys whom the reader has heard of as being my friends..had returned to Whitminster.
1876 World No. 109. 10 Since the school year has known the triple distribution into terms instead of the halves of our boyhood.
1926 W. E. Heitland After Many Years 84 On the last Sunday of the Half it became the custom to sing ‘Brief life is here our portion’.
1993 Eton 1992 8 Applications for these ‘provisional awards’..are considered in the Lent Half.
2016 A. Gimson Boris (new e-book ed.) Boris spent his first half.., the autumn of 1977, in another house.
†10. A boot reaching to the calf; = half-boot n. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) x. 96 There's two pair of halves in the commercial.
11. A half-mile, esp. as (part of) a race. Cf. half mile adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > [noun] > part of
half1897
leg1931
stage1943
1852 Porter's Spirit of Times 10 Jan. 558/3 In the first heat, the first half was done in 0:55, and the mile in 1:53.
1897 Whitaker's Almanack 635/1 The half, after a splendid race, was won by..King.
1930 N.Y. Times 23 Feb. s4/3 Other record performances..included..a 2:03 4-5 half.., and a 3:39 mile relay.
1989 C. S. Romanelli How to make Money in One Day at Track (new ed.) vii. 66 If the front-runner does the half in faster time than the presser, your best bet may still be the presser.
12. Sport. Either of two equal areas of a field of play, extending from the halfway line to the goal line or equivalent boundary, and usually identified as containing the goal, etc., defended by a given team. Usually with a possessive, indicating the team defending the goal in that half.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > [noun] > area for play
ball greenc1260
ball ground1440
ball court1671
spheristerion1764
Hong Kong1863
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > characteristics of team ball games > [noun] > parts of playing area
outfield1851
goal line1862
centreline1863
goalside1865
territory1867
goalmouth1871
box1881
half1888
goal area1902
penalty area1905
orchard1913
penalty box1914
area1925
D1927
keyhole1936
penalty spot1937
six-yard box1954
1870 Magdalen Coll. School Jrnl. Dec. 29/1 A member of the opposite side to that which hits it off may not touch the ball until he has been in his own half.
1888 Manch. Guardian 9 Jan. 7/5 Williams made a splendid run into the visitors' half, and Roberts taking it to the line enabled Anderton to score a try.
1960 E. S. Higham & W. J. Higham High Speed Rugby xiii. 157 Although they [sc. the receiving side] may start well within their own half, initiative, imagination, and accurate positional play can take them well into the opposition half of the field.
1982 R. Widdows Hamlyn Bk. Football 48/1 (caption) There seems little danger for Villa as Thijssen, still inside his own half, dwells on the ball, well watched and giving the defenders time to recover after their attack had broken down.
2011 Evening Chron. (Newcastle) (Nexis) 24 Sept. a42 Monkseaton struggled to have any real surges into the home team's half.
13. Sport.
a. Either of the two equal periods of playing time into which a game of football, rugby, hockey, hurling, etc., is divided.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > match or competition > [noun] > game or definite spell of play > period of play
half1876
quarter1889
period1898
forty1913
stanza1945
1873 Illustr. London News 22 Mar. 274/2 A London team journeyed to Sheffield..and played a football-match—the first half under Sheffield and the last under association rules.
1919 Washington Star 28 Nov. 24/2 Jones of Hopkins saved his team many a yard in the opening half by some wonderful defensive work.
1987 Grimsby Evening Tel. 29 Oct. 24 Barnet..were reduced to nine men in the second half after two men were sent off.
2016 Courier (Dundee) 2 Jan. (Perth & Perthshire ed.) 46/3 We played really well in the first half.
b. Chiefly North American. Half-time (see half-time n. 4b). Frequently in at the half.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > American football > [adverb] > half-time
at the half1937
1924 Washington Post 24 Jan. (Sports section) 2 (headline) Visitors never threaten after start: score is 14 to 7 at the half.
1947 World Govt. News Dec. 5 The Princeton University Chapter of UWF [sc. United World Federalists]..gave them a speech on world government by loud-speaker at the half.
1979 Tucson (Arizona) Citizen 20 Sept. 1 d/2 Pueblo led Sabino, 6–0, at half before coming apart in the final 24 minutes of play and losing, 25–6.
1987 Basketball Monthly Sept. 18/2 He and his teammates kept the Soviet squad at full stretch to hold a one-point lead at the half, 42–41.
2005 Times Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) (Nexis) 22 Jan. b6 The Vikes led the Canadian Interuniversity Sport game 36-31 at the half.
14. A half-pint (of beer); (also) a half-gill (of spirits).See also swift half n. at swift adj. and adv. Additions.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > ale or beer > [noun] > specific quantity of
cue1603
cee1605
jug?1635
gun1674
ale kilderkin1704
swank1726
nip1736
pint1742
pt.1850
yard of ale1872
square1882
half1888
butcher1889
rabbit1895
rigger1911
sleever1936
tank1936
middy1941
tallboy1956
tube1969
tinnie1974
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > [noun] > specific quantity of
dramc1590
leaguer1712
finger1820
glassful1841
four1869
nip1869
half1888
two1894
snifter1910
treble1968
balloon1973
triple1981
peg2003
the world > relative properties > measurement > the scientific measurement of volume > measure(s) of capacity > [noun] > liquid measure of capacity > specific units of liquid measure > pint > half-pint
semiciclec1440
nip1736
half1888
1873 A. G. Murdoch Lilts on Doric Lyre 19 A ‘wee hauf’ held my heart in cheer.
1888 Sc. Leader 27 July 4 To sustain themselves in their public duty by resort to what is technically known as ‘a half’.
1891 Daily News 15 Apr. 7/1 I heard him call for two halves of ale and a cigar.
1902 G. B. Shaw Mrs. Warren's Profession ii. 194 Who should come up for a half of Scotch but Lizzie, in a long fur cloak, elegant and comfortable, with a lot of sovereigns in her purse.
1955 E. Coxhead Figure in Mist i. 20 Ray carried his pint and her half into an alcove.
1999 K. Fforde Life Skills (2004) iii. 27 I'll have a half of lager.
15. Golf. Now frequently in form halve. In matchplay: a hole or match which is halved (see halve v. 7); half a point scored by halving a match.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > golf > [noun] > scoring
half1881
par1887
bird1906
birdie1906
eagle1909
double eagle1925
albatross1932
hole in one1935
bogey1946
double bogey1954
1874 Country 27 Aug. 195/2 Difficult and exciting play was witnessed at the sixth, which was eventually added to the number of the halves.
1881 R. Forgan Golfer's Handbk. iii. 30 If you can possibly win a ‘half’ [i.e. halve a hole] by running your ball ‘dead’ at the side of the hole,..then the cautious game is to be preferred.
1908 J. Braid Advanced Golf 213 Halves ought rarely to be agreed upon unless the balls are so close to the hole that it is next to impossible for the putts to be missed.
1913 J. D. Travers Travers' Gold Bk. vi. 51 All he needed was to bring off a two-foot putt for a halve in 5.
1959 Times 29 May 5/1 Sewell got a brave half at the 18th.
2012 Hoosier Times (Bloomington, Indiana) 5 Aug. (Herald-Times ed.) b2/3 Hale Irwin shot a 41 on his final nine—and still earned a halve that gave the Americans the cup.
16. Sport. A halfback.Typically in plural, with the, denoting a team's halfbacks collectively as a section of the team (esp. in rugby), or with modifier, indicating a specific position: see centre half n., fly-half n., left half n. 3, out-half n. 2, outside half n. right half n. 3, scrum half n., standoff half n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > characteristics of team ball games > [noun] > players or positions
wing-back1734
goalkeeper1789
outfielder1855
quarter1857
centre fielder1865
outfield1867
quarterback1867
right1867
centre1868
left wing1871
left-back1873
left half-back1873
centre forward1874
left-centre1877
right-centre1877
centre back1878
centre half-back1879
forward1879
back1880
right wing1880
right half-back1881
goaltender1882
right-winger1882
wing1882
centre half1884
left winger1884
inside1886
half1887
custodian1888
left half1888
midfielder1888
left wing1889
right half1889
centreman1890
midfield1890
outside right1890
outfieldsman1891
goalie1894
winger1896
infield1897
inside forward1897
inside right1897
outside forward1897
outside1898
outside left1900
rearguard1904
pivot1911
wing-man1942
keeper1957
link1958
linkman1963
midfield1976
1878 Lancing College Mag. Feb. 1148/2 Ardingly got their first goal, chiefly owing to the bad play of the backs and halves.
1887 M. Shearman Athletics & Football (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) 306 The best halves were strong thick-set men, rather under than over middle height.
1897 Daily Chron. 16 Feb. 5/6 One change..occurs at half, where Mr. B. plays his first match for London.
1951 Men's Hockey (‘Know the Game’ Ser.) (1965) 17/2 At long corners..the halves go out behind them.
1960 E. S. Higham & W. J. Higham High Speed Rugby vii. 55 Give me a good pair of halves and I will give you a team.
2015 Dominion Post (Wellington, N.Z.) (Nexis) 10 Aug. (Sport section) 14 The scrum, breakdown, halves and midfield all failed to fire during the 27-19 loss in Sydney.
17. Prosody. In alliterative verse: a half-line; = half-line n. at half adj. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > part of poem > [noun] > line > subdivision of line > half-line
hemistich?1578
section1838
half1892
1883 G. Vigfusson & F. Y. Powell Corpus Poeticum Boreale I. 433 Each half is made up of a fixed number of measures.
1940 J. R. R. Tolkien in J. R. C. Hall tr. Beowulf p. xxvii The Old English line was composed of two opposed word-groups or ‘halves’. Each half was an example, or variation, of one of six basic patterns.
2005 T. A. Bredehoft Early Eng. Metre iii. 82 No alliteration joins the halves of line 5.
18. British School slang. A half-day holiday. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > [noun] > a period of > day or night > half-day
half1909
half-holiday-
1902 Boy's Own Paper 27 Dec. 202/2 The chances are that six or seven old Salopians will win seats and that the school will have as many ‘halves’ in consequence.
1909 P. Traherne Diary Nov. (1918) i. 28 By getting up this entertainment on a ‘half’ when there was nothing else to do I found myself launched into about six rows.
1934 Neuphilol. Mitt. 35 130 He will acquire prep-school slang (words such as..half ‘half holiday’).
19. A fare or ticket at a reduced (usually half) rate, esp. one available to children. Also as complement (e.g. to go half).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > [noun] > fare > cheap or half
half1935
1904 Railway Commerc. Training School Instr. Bk. (U.S.) 123 Tickets..can only be reduced to halves by use of the ‘½’ punch.
1935 Punch 30 Jan. 137 You two can't go half. You're over age.
1965 New Statesman 9 Apr. 567/2 Two adults and three halves, please.
2012 J. Fagan Panopticon (2013) xxxi. 281 A half tae town.

Phrases

†P1. In senses of Branch I.
a.
(a) on each half (also in each half, on ilk half): on every side, on all sides, all around. Cf. each adj. 1a. Obsolete.
Π
OE tr. Felix St. Guthlac (Vesp.) (1909) v. 127 And hi on ealce healfe inguton, ufan and neoðan and eghwonen.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (Bodl.) (1981) l. 734 Þe heaðene hundes ȝellen ant ȝeien ant ȝuren on euch half.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 7358 Bruttes..heom to-heolden in æchere hælue [c1300 Otho euereche side].
a1325 (c1280) Southern Passion (Pepys 2344) (1927) l. 99 (MED) Dayes..þat..in eche half in anguisse þe shulle bringe.
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 731 Vn-behalde þe wele on ilk halfe.
(b) on either half: on each side, on both sides. Cf. either adj. 1a. Obsolete.
Π
OE Old Eng. Hexateuch: Exod. (Claud.) xvii. 12 Aaron & Vr underwriðedon Moyses handa on ægðre healfe.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Juliana (Bodl.) l. 555 He dude on eiðer half hire fowre of hise cnihtes.
c1330 Sir Degare (Auch.) l. 815 in W. H. French & C. B. Hale Middle Eng. Metrical Romances (1930) 312 Þe leuedi..Amidde ȝhe sat anon riȝt, And on aiþer half maidenes fiue.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 6263 Þe see on ayþer half ham stode. as ij. wallis.
a1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer Parl. Fowls (Tanner) (1871) l. 125 Ther wer vers writen As me thought On either half [c1430 Cambr. Gg.4.27 eythir syde] of ful grete reuerence.
b. on (also in) a person's half.In Old English more commonly with of in these senses.
(a) In the name of, as the agent or representative of, instead of, on behalf of a person. Obsolete.Quot. eOE could alternatively be interpreted as showing the sense ‘on their (own) part’ (i.e. Phrases 1b(b)).
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > delegated authority > action or function of a delegate or deputy > as deputy or representative [phrase] > on behalf of or in the name of
on behalf of1303
in behalf ofc1320
in ——'s namec1325
a (also in, of) party1372
in my voicea1616
eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 893 Ofer þa treowa, swa oft swa þa oþre hergas mid ealle herige ut foron, þonne foron hie oþþe mid oþþe on heora healfe an.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 656 Ealle þa þing þet ic wat þet ðu geornest on ure Drihtnes halfe, swa ic lufe & tyðe.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 2830 Þatt word..þurrh gabriæl Wass seȝȝd o godess hallfe.
c1300 (c1250) Floris & Blauncheflur (Cambr.) (1966) l. 144 Ber him þis ring On mine halue to tokning.
c1400 Brut (Rawl. B. 171) 159 We monest ȝow ferste in þe Popis half, þat [etc.].
1532 T. More Confut. Tyndale in Wks. 414/1 He would fayne haue his false translacion..sayde and songen a goddes halfe.
1658 R. Steed & A. Cheare Plain Discov. 51 If the matter should be taken up, and the time spent by any others on his half.
(b) As far as concerns or with respect to a person. Also by a person's half. Obsolete.
Π
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 8963 Biuoren þa steorre wes þæ drake..þat taken wes a þire half þat weore þu Uðer þi-seolf.
1309 ( Royal Charter: William I to St. Martin-le-Grand, London in D. Bates Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum (1998) 598 Þærto eake on minre healfe ic heom geaf & geuþe..eall þæt land & þæne mor wiðuten Crepelesgate.
c1330 (?c1300) Bevis of Hampton (Auch.) l. 4131 Wiltow graunte be þen helue [a1400 Egerton in thy behalf, 1457 Naples half; a1500 Cambr. on thy party], Þat ich and þow mote fiȝte vs selue?
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iv. l. 945 It shal not lakken certain on myn halue.
a1450 (?a1300) Richard Coer de Lyon (Caius) (1810) l. 3302 In myne halff, I graunt the foreward.
(c) on God's half: in God's name, for God's sake; used to add emphasis to a petition, command, or expression of consent or resignation. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 27 Ic wille, a godes half, ðat tu bie ȝewarned, ðat tu ne folȝhi none dwelmenn.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 20 Hwase mei stonden aa on vre lauedi wurschipe. stonde agodes halue.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 11777 He let hom go a godes half.
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) Prol. l. 50 I am free To wedde a goddes half where it liketh me.
?c1430 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 224 (MED) We comaunden on Goddis halve, and bi auctorite of Petir and Poul..þat he synge no masse.
a1529 J. Skelton Tunnyng of Elynour Rummyng in Certayne Bks. (?1545) 501 She yelled lyke a calf, Rise up on God's half.
1575 N. Udall & J. Higgins Flowers Lat. Speech sig. Livv Si dijs placet, In ye name of God, or on Gods halfe.
P2. In senses of Branch II.
†a. to the half: to a point where a container is half full; to the halfway point. Obsolete.
Π
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 233 (MED) Þis þou schalt boile in a quart of wyn of paris til it come to þe half [L. ad medium].
a1500 (?a1425) tr. Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 84 (MED) And all þese þynges be puttyd yn a vessell, so þat it be to þe half.
1559 P. Morwyng tr. C. Gesner Treasure of Euonymus 366 Sum put hoat ashes..in a vessell of wood, filling it to the half.
b.
(a) by half: (following a comparative or, in negative contexts, by as, so, or enough with an adjective) by a great deal; by far; much, considerably. Formerly also with determiner, in by one half, by the half.Quot. eOE shows adverbial use of the neuter instrumental singular of the adjective in an equivalent construction. (It is uncertain whether this is to be interpreted as implying use as noun).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > greatly or very much [phrase] > to a great extent or by far
great quantityc1330
far forthly1362
by farc1380
well awayc1390
by half?a1400
by mucha1450
far (and) away1546
by a great sort1579
to stand head and shoulders abovea1683
(by) a long way1741
by a jugful1831
by all odds1832
by a long, damn, etc., sight1834
out and away1834
(by) a long chalk1835
by chalks1835
by long chalks1835
by a street1886
a whole lot1886
eOE Metres of Boethius (partly from transcript of damaged MS) (2009) xii. 9 Ðynceð þegna gehwelcum huniges bibread healfe þy swetre, gif he hwene ær huniges teare bitres onbyrgeð.]
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 1543 (MED) To yow þat..weldez more slyȝt Of þat art, bi þe half, or a hundreth of seche As I am.
1529 T. More Supplyc. Soulys i. f. viv Yt were not so madde by halfe as ys hys..compt that he maketh you now.
1638 R. Baker tr. J. L. G. de Balzac New Epist. III. 13 Shee is fayrer by one halfe than shee was before.
1658 A. Cokayne Trappolin i. i, in Small Poems 422 Why then Captain, in faith I am a very coward; tis better by half than a souldier.
1780 R. B. Sheridan School for Scandal iii. ii. 33 In my mind, the other's œconomy in selling it to him, was more reprehensible by half.
1869 C. H. Spurgeon John Ploughman's Talk 13 I'd sooner by half bend my back double with hard work than be a jack-a-dandy.
1879 L. B. Walford Cousins I. xix. 295 You are not as clever by half as Hester at repartee, Jane.
1911 J. M. Forman Unknown Lady x. 140 He's one of the nicest young men in the world (though not so nice, by half, as you are, Willie).
1967 E. D. Hirsch in D. Walder Lit. in Mod. World (1990) 53 The perspectivism of the radical historicist is not radical enough by half.
2010 M. Dennison Livia, Empress of Rome ix. 74 Better by half that this youthful aristocratic wife and mother should cultivate laurel groves and white poultry.
(b) too —— by half: —— to an excessive or unappealing degree; frequently in too clever by half.
Π
c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure l. 2127 (MED) Thowe arte to hye by þe halfe, I hete þe in trouthe!
1653 Mercurius Radamanthus No. 1. 3 If their large Fees were abbreviated from eightpence a sheet to two pence, which is enough, and too much by halfe.
1709 T. D'Urfey Mod. Prophets iii. ii. 39 A crack'd Sowgelder's Horn..is too good for 'em by half.
1780 R. B. Sheridan School for Scandal iv. iii. 57 Oh, he's too moral by half.
1829 Atlas 11 Oct. 665/1 There may be exceptions..to ordinary rules.., but these..are only met with..by those who..have to pay a certain tax for being too clever by half.
1892 R. L. Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker xv. 314 ‘What about the men?’ I asked. ‘They know too much by half.’
1944 L. MacNeice Christopher Columbus 8 Constant ingenuity..often leads to an appearance of being too clever by half.
2015 J. T. Ellison What lies Behind xlv. 323 She got too cute by half, and someone caught on.
c. in half: into two (more or less) equal parts. Also (now less commonly) in halves, usually with reference to several things.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > two > division into two > [adverb] > in half
in half1599
bisectionally1809
a1425 Medulla Gram. (Stonyhurst) f. 21v Dimidio, parten in halfe.
c1425 (c1400) Laud Troy-bk. l. 4572 (MED) He cleff the body euen In halff, As it hadde ben a clouen calff.
1551 R. Record Pathway to Knowl. i. sig. C.ij That arch shall you deuide in halfe.
1599 H. Buttes Dyets Dry Dinner sig. B8v First part them in halfes and cut out the Cores.
1705 S. Clarke Being & Attrib. God viii. 116 When a Square cut in halves makes two Triangles, those two Triangles are still only the two halves of a Square.
1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound i. i. 54 Each by lightning riven in half.
1862 Cornhill Mag. June 723 The ball..swift enough to cut the middle stump in half.
1962 L. S. Sasieni Princ. & Pract. Optical Dispensing viii. 182 The sides are folded in halves.
2017 Daily Post (N. Wales) (Nexis) 18 Mar. (Features section) 3 Cut the stalks from the strawberries and cut in half lengthways.
d.
(a) by halves: to the extent of a half only; imperfectly, in part; half-heartedly, with half zeal. Now chiefly in to do things by halves and variants, usually in negative contexts. Also occasionally by the halves.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > incompletely or partly [phrase]
in partc1300
a (also in, of) party1372
to (the) half1547
by halves1563
by fractions1796
c1443 R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 78 What euer persoone haþ fully, hooly and parfitly and not oonly bi halfis or bi parties alle þo þingis or prynciplis..he is in hym silf ful hool.
1563 J. Foxe Actes & Monuments ii. sig. Tv/2 There was presented vnto him certain Articles..gathered out of hys booke..of which Articles some were forged and inuented by Master Palets, and other some wer gathered only by halues.
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. iv. 117 Faint idle Artizens..Working by halfes.
1641 J. Symonds Serm. Westminster sig. E Hitherto the work hath been done by the halfes.
1753 J. Hanway Hist. Acct. Brit. Trade Caspian Sea IV. xv. 128 As he did nothing by halves, he was determined to pull off the mask.
1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 316 A king is not to be deposed by halves . View more context for this quotation
1863 P. Barry Dockyard Econ. 86 Those charged with the responsibility..should not deal by halves with a question in which all classes have so deep an interest.
1892 E. Wolf Other Things being Equal (1893) xxii. 222 The thing must not be done by halves or it must not be done at all.
1993 Antique Dealer Aug. 28/1 Minton operated on a grand scale and never did anything by halves. Vast rooms, monumental fountains and statues, near life-size elephants and dinner sets for banquets.
†(b) at halves, to (the) half, to (the) halves: = by halves at Phrases 2d(a). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > incompletely or partly [phrase]
in partc1300
a (also in, of) party1372
to (the) half1547
by halves1563
by fractions1796
a1645 W. Browne tr. M. Le Roy Hist. Polexander (1647) ii. iii. 222 I see but at halfes [Fr. à demy].
a1645 W. Browne tr. M. Le Roy Hist. Polexander (1647) ii. iii. 240 To be reveng'd at halfes [Fr. à demy].
a1673 J. Caryl in C. H. Spurgeon Treasury of David (1870) I. Ps. vi. 8 They do it not to halves, but thoroughly.
1682 J. Bunyan Holy War 115 Nor did I do this to the halves . View more context for this quotation
1739 ‘R. Bull’ tr. F. Dedekind Grobianus i. ii. 17 Nor belch to Halves—but of the Clangor proud, Like some substantial Burgo-master, belch aloud.
1793 S. Hopkins Syst. of Doctr. I. i. iv. 223 It is doubtless better..not to preach it at all, than to do it to the halves.
e. on (also at, to) (the) halves: (in letting or hiring a house, land, or the like) so as to have a half-share in the yield or profits. Formerly also †to half. Now rare (U.S.).
Π
c1460 in A. Clark Eng. Reg. Oseney Abbey (1907) 102 In-to ffee-ferme to ffisshe to halfe [L. ad medietatem]..by seruice off ffisshyng to halfe.
1549 W. Thomas Hist. Italie f. 5v Not to ferme at certaine rent as we dooe in Englande, but to the halfes, or to the thyrde of all graine and fruite.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 47v He may occupie it by his Bayliffe, or to hawues.
1623 Council in Virginia Let. 20 Jan. in S. M. Kingsbury Rec. Virginia Company (1935) IV. 13 All Tenantes at halfes..were never able to feede themselves by theire labours.
1710 H. Prideaux Orig. & Right Tithes ii. 104 It is usual..for the owners to let their Lands to halfs to their Tenants.
1908 Forest & Stream 21 Mar. 450/3 When the apples got ripe the deacon would let me pick them and sell them to halves, at the village.
1914 J. H. Blackwell Let. 21 Dec. in Industr. Relations: Final Rep. & Testimony (U.S. Comm. Industr. Relations) (1916) X. 9273 Some rent for 30 per cent; others rent on the halves.
2016 P. J. Walls Alabama Gold (e-book ed.) Most of the farming was sharecropping. Most of 'em done it on halves.
†f. half in half: (to or by) half the total amount; (in financial contexts) by as much again. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > two > division into two > [adverb] > in half > half or by half
halfingc897
halfc1175
halfendeal1387
half-deal1399
half in half1583
half-and-half1818
1560 W. Ward tr. G. Ruscelli 2nd Pt. Secretes Alexis of Piemont 59 You maie haue your money againe. And..there is alwaies half in half [Fr. la moitié] gotten vpon it.
1601 R. Johnson tr. G. Botero Trauellers Breuiat 117 The armie halfe in halfe in number and courage diminished.
1655 W. Gurnall Christian in Armour: 1st Pt. 59 The price is fallen half in half to what it was.
1762 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy V. iii. 25 My father gained half in half, and consequently was as well again off.
1795 S. J. Pratt Gleanings through Wales III. lxi. 86 The buying your wine..is, on average, difference of more than half in half in Holland.
g. colloquial. and a half (following a noun): and more; of an exceptional kind.See also with a heart and a half at heart n., int., and adv. Phrases 1j(c).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > greatly or very much [phrase] > extremely > remarkable or extraordinary > remarkably or extraordinarily
more than ordinary1560
and a half1636
out of (also beyond) (all) recognition1824
and how!1865
like nobody's business1930
1593 G. Harvey Pierces Supererogation 107 He was a Fox, and a halfe, in his whole body, and in euery part of his soule.
1790 J. Pinkerton New Tale of Tub xv. 92 Will was..too wise to be cunning, except..to guard against James, and then with a fox he was a fox and a half.
1832 J. K. Paulding Westward Ho! II. i. 7 Bushfield, too, was here in all his glory, and was not only a whole team, but a team and a half, good measure, as he affirmed.
1911 T. E. Lawrence Lett. (1938) 118 Last night was paradise and a half.
1959 ‘M. M. Kaye’ House of Shade x. 128 Roaring Rory must have been a hell-raiser and a half in his day.
2016 Queensland Times (Nexis) 10 Sept. 23 Just to be there is an experience and a half.
†h. to cry halves: to claim a half-share in what is found by another. Also to claim halves. Cf. to cry shares at share n.2 Phrases 4d. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > sharing > share [verb (intransitive)] > share by halves > claim half share
to cry halvesa1658
1613 T. Lodge tr. Seneca Epist. cxix, in tr. Seneca Wks. (1614) 475 As oftentimes as I haue found any thing, I expect not till thou say I crie halfes [L. in commune].
1730 J. Savage Horace to Scæva 32 And he, who sees you stoop to th' ground Cries, halves! to everything you've found.
?1790 R. King New Cheats of London Exposed (new ed.) 20 Then if he that is in the rear perceives that he is insensible of the cheat, up he steps and claims halves.
1821 C. Lamb in London Mag. Aug. 153/1 You cannot cry halves to anything that he finds. He does not find, but bring.
1898 Punch 6 Aug. 49/3 ‘That was a good Tip of yours about the Solent,’ he observed. ‘I've been backing it all the afternoon.’ Justly indignant. I claimed Halves, but he merely winked the other eye.
i. to go halves: to share equally with a person; usually with with or without complement (e.g. I'll go halves with you, we'll go halves), also with indirect object (e.g. I'll go you halves) and formerly with possessive (e.g. I'll go your halves). Cf. earlier to be halves at sense 6b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > sharing > share [verb (intransitive)] > share by halves
to go halves1678
half1889
1633 T. Adams Comm. 2 Peter (iii. 18) 1064 Why may not the Saint represented in that picture..goe halves with Christ in the glorie?
1672 J. Luke Jrnl. 25 Sept. in H. A. Kaufman Tangier at High Tide (1958) (modernized text) 158 I went my Lady's halves at beast, lost 9s. sterling.
1678 S. Butler Hudibras: Third Pt. iii. iii. 209 For those that save themselves, and fly, Go half's at least in the Victory.
1752 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 31 May (1932) (modernized text) V. 1896 If you think I shall win it, you may go my halves if you please.
1834 F. Marryat Jacob Faithful III. vii. 106 We would go halves, and share it equally.
1861 H. Mayhew London Labour (new ed.) III. 112/1 He'll then again ask if anybody will go him halves.
1916 Amer. Mag. Dec. 84/3 A young man whom I met at the barber's went halves with me in renting a small furnished room.
1991 J. Connor Distortions 59 ‘Have the combination fried rice,’ said Anna. ‘I'll go you halves.’
2005 C. Cleave Incendiary 13 We'll go halves. 10 quid each. What do you say?
j. Originally U.S. the half of it: the main, significant, or more important part of something. Usually in negative contexts, often in not to know the half of it.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > that which is important > of more importance
greatera1425
big brother1860
the half of it1932
1919 Vanity Fair Mar. 51/2 I want to take up a matter which, I think you will all agree with me, constitutes one of the most disgraceful chapters in American history... The Honorable Secretary doesn't know the half of it.
1932 P. G. Wodehouse Hot Water i. 27 It makes me sick. And that's not the half of it... She told me I've got to be American Ambassador to France.
1947 ‘N. Blake’ Minute for Murder i. 2 ‘We've not seen the half of it yet,’ said the Messenger darkly. ‘The half of what?’ ‘You mark my words, sir. When peace comes, as you might say real peace, there'll be chay-oh in this country.’
1991 ‘W. Trevor’ Reading Turgenev xx in Two Lives (1992) 134 If Elmer knew the half of it he'd jump out of his skin.
2005 Z. Smith On Beauty 408 ‘I know you've been crying,’ insisted Kiki, but she didn't know the half of it.
k. a game of two halves: (originally British) used to highlight the fact that the second half of a sporting match (originally and chiefly an Association Football match) has been or can be significantly different from the first in terms of the quality of play, which team is successful, etc.; also figurative.
Π
1922 Courier (Dundee) 4 Sept. 3/5 It was a game of two halves, Brechin being best in the first portion, while there was no holding in of the ‘Gable Endies’ in the second period.
1998 CMJ New Music Monthly July 24/1 There are no certainties; it [sc. soccer] is, as the cliché goes, a game of two halves.
2006 Independent (Nexis) 21 July (Business section) 49 As far as retailers are concerned, 2006 looks set to be a game of two halves.
2022 Te Awamutu (N.Z.) Courier (Nexis) 23 June 15 It was a game of two halves with the Tigers looking comfortable with an 18-10 lead at halftime... The end result was a 46-24 win to the Firehawks.
l. one's better half: see better half n. 2a. one's other half: see other half n. 2. one's worse half, one's worser half: see worse half n. 2, worser adj., n., and adv. Compounds.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2022).

halfadj.

Brit. /hɑːf/, U.S. /hæf/
Forms: early Old English halb- (as adverb, in compounds), Old English hæalu- (inflected form), Old English heal (transmission error), Old English hielf- (inflected form), Old English hlaf (Northumbrian, transmission error), Old English hleaf- (Northumbrian, as adverb, in a compound, transmission error), Old English–Middle English (in a copy of an Old English charter) ealf- (inflected form), Old English–Middle English (in later use only in a copy of an Old English charter) healf, Old English–Middle English (in a copy of an Old English charter) healu- (inflected form), Old English–Middle English helf, Old English– hælf, Old English– half, late Old English ælf- (inflected form), late Old English–early Middle English heaf- (inflected form, perhaps transmission error), late Old English–Middle English alf, late Old English–1600s hal- (in compounds), early Middle English alue, early Middle English hælf (as adverb), early Middle English hælfe- (in compounds), early Middle English hallf ( Ormulum), early Middle English halu- (inflected form, in a copy of an Old English charter), early Middle English healfe- (as adverb, in compounds), early Middle English hialu- (inflected form, in a copy of an Old English charter), Middle English alfe, Middle English haff, Middle English halphe, Middle English halven, Middle English helue (as adverb), Middle English hyalf (in a copy of an Old English charter), Middle English 1700s halve, Middle English–1500s halff, Middle English–1600s halfe, Middle English–1600s halffe, Middle English–1600s halue, 1500s hallffe, 1500s–1600s hafe, 1500s–1600s haulf, 1500s–1600s haulfe, 1600s haf- (in compounds), 1700s halth- (in a compound); English regional 1800s 'afe (midlands), 1800s avv (Hertfordshire), 1800s awf (Yorkshire), 1800s haat (Northamptonshire), 1800s ha'f (Cornwall), 1800s hafe, 1800s haulf (Staffordshire), 1800s hauv (Derbyshire), 1800s hawf (northern), 1800s hawve (Lancashire), 1800s hoaf (Cumberland), 1800s oaf (Yorkshire), 1800s–1900s haef (northern and north midlands), 1800s–1900s haf (Cumberland), 1800s–1900s hauf (northern and north midlands), 1800s–1900s hofe (northern), 1800s– 'alf, 1800s– 'arf, 1800s– haaf, 1900s– arf, 1900s– 'awf (northern); U.S. regional 1800s haaf, 1800s hafe, 1800s harf; Scottish pre-1700 haffe, pre-1700 haif, pre-1700 halfe, pre-1700 halff, pre-1700 halffe, pre-1700 hallff, pre-1700 halue, pre-1700 hawfe, pre-1700 1700s–1900s hawf, pre-1700 1700s– half, pre-1700 1700s– hauf, 1700s hail- (in compounds), 1700s 1900s– haf, 1700s–1800s ha'f, 1700s–1800s hal- (in compounds), 1700s– haff, 1800s ha'- (in compounds), 1800s haulf, 1800s–1900s haaf; also Irish English 1700s halluf (Wexford), 1700s hauf, 1700s haulf, 1800s halleef (Wexford), 1800s hef; also Welsh English 1900s hayf (Flintshire). Also represented by the numerical symbol ½.
Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian half, hal (West Frisian heal), Old Dutch half (in place names; Middle Dutch, Dutch half), Old Saxon half (Middle Low German half) , Old High German halb (Middle High German halp, German halb), Old Icelandic hálfr, Old Swedish halver (Swedish halv), Old Danish half (Danish halv), Gothic halbs, further etymology uncertain.It has been suggested that the Germanic base ultimately derives from an Indo-European base with the sense ‘to cut, divide’, taken to be reflected by Sanskrit kalpate ‘is fitting’ (assuming an unattested sense ‘to allocate, allot’) and classical Latin scalpere to cut. However, classical Latin scalpere is now usually taken to reflect a different Indo-European base (see scalp v.1) and Sanskrit kalpate is isolated, markedly different in sense, and may even have been formed within Sanskrit. Use in combinations. Already in Old English the adjective appears in uninflected form as the first element in compounds. In combinations with a noun as the second element, such compounds usually cannot be formally distinguished from combinations in which the first element inflects like a normal adjective in contexts in which factors such as case, number, and gender would not require the first element to be inflected (e.g. where the adjective is in the nominative singular masculine of the strong declension); compare half mark n. and discussion at that entry. Compare further e.g. haffet n., half-man n., halfpennyworth n., half-verse n. at Compounds 2, and also halfpenny n. With the progressive loss of adjectival inflections (at different rates in different varieties) in the Middle English period, it becomes yet more difficult to distinguish specific uses of the adjective from more established compounds. Already in Old English the stem healf- also occurs in compounds in combination with adjectives and past participles; in these the sense is adverbial, and although the older types should probably be interpreted as originally reflecting uses of the Germanic adjective, they have here been covered at half adv. (see also discussion at that entry). Variant forms. In Old English uninflected forms show final devoicing, while inflected forms preserve the original voiced fricative before the vowel of the case ending; these are not usually differentiated in writing (with f typically used for both). Some Middle English forms with v or u continue the voiced fricative of the earlier inflected forms. In later use, such forms are probably also influenced by the β. forms at half n. Phonology. The modern standard pronunciation results from late Middle English diphthongization of a before l plus consonant, with subsequent loss of l before f (and v ) and early modern English monophthongization of au to /aː/ (later /ɑː/) before f ; the latter development seems originally to have been dialectal and did not penetrate standard English until the 17th cent. The regular development of Middle English au to /ɔː/ is shown by the pronunciation of the common northern and Scots form hauf ; this was formerly (until the 17th cent.) also the normal realization in standard English. An earlier (late Middle English) monophthongization of au to ā before f and subsequent raising to /eː/ (compare early modern English hafe , and also e.g. chafe v., safe adj.) is recorded by several late 16th- and 17th-cent. orthoepists (earliest by Coote (1596) who notes it as an example of ‘the barbarous speech of your countrie people’); the reflex of this pronunciation survives in several modern regional varieties (especially in the north-west midlands), as well as in halfpenny n. See further E. J. Dobson Eng. Pronunc. 1500–1700 (ed. 2, 1968) II. §§104, 238–9.
I. General uses.
1. That is one of the two equal parts into which a thing is or may be divided; forming a half. Also: that is the main part or a considerable part of a thing.
a. Immediately preceding a noun, and optionally preceded by a defining word (determiner or possessive), e.g. a half brick, his half share, on half allowance.When the two words constitute a recognized unit or individual, half is frequently hyphenated to the noun: see branch II.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > two > division into two > [adjective] > division into two equal parts > half
half835
halfendeala1300
demi1418
eOE (Kentish) Agreement between Æðelmod & Plegred (Sawyer 1196) in N. P. Brooks & S. E. Kelly Charters of Christ Church Canterbury, Pt. 2 (2013) 747 An healf tun que ante pertinebat to Wilburgewellan.
OE tr. Bili St. Machutus 22 Hit gelamp on sumne timan þæt hym of his..gereorde healf hlaf wearþ to lafe; þa..se halga Machu him þone healfan hlaf wæs sellende.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 31 Moni mon hit walde him forȝeuen half oðer þridde lot, þenne he iseȝe þet he ne mahte na mare ȝeforðian.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 9466 Half hundred [c1300 Otho alf an hundred] cnihten.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 137 The archebisshop of..Londoun, he haþ vnder hym Essex and Middelsex and half Hertfordschire.
a1472 in J. J. Wilkinson Receipts & Expenses Bodmin Church (1875) 15 (MED) The north wyndowys and the half arch sittyng yn the north side.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Josh. xii. B Vnto the Rubenites, Gaddites and to the halfe trybe of Manasse.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 9. ⁋1 The Town has this half Age been tormented with Insects called Easie Writers.
1828 O. Gregory Hutton's Course Math. (ed. 9) II. 84 The number of half bricks in the thickness.
1861 C. Dickens Great Expectations II. vi. 90 I presented him with a half-share in my boat.
1865–6 H. Phillips Amer. Paper Currency II. 148 In five or six weeks the army was on half allowance.
1906 U. Sinclair Jungle iii. 43 Each had two men to attend him—to slide the half carcass in front of him on the table, and hold it while he chopped it.
2004 New Yorker 6 Sept. 121/3 For instance, to rehydrate the oxtail ragú, you added water and a half scoop of uncooked tomatoes.
b. Separated from the noun by a defining word (determiner or possessive) and optionally a modifier.Also followed by a demonstrative pronoun representing a determiner and noun, see e.g. quot. 1831 at sense 1b(a).
(a) In general use, as half the length, half my family, half the human species.In Old English (and also sometimes in early Middle English) regularly inflected to agree with the noun in case and number like a normal adjective in this position; compare discussion in etymology section.In modern use this construction is virtually synonymous with the noun half followed by a complement introduced by of (e.g. half (of) the boys and a third of the girls) and may sometimes be viewed as derived from this by suppression of of; cf. also the semantically equivalent uses of both adjective and noun in quot. 1667.
Π
eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) i. xxxii. 78 Genim healfe þa sealfe, gemeng wiþ gecnuwade elenan.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 15881 He brohte ham halue his oxen.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 6312 Ich biseche þe, haue half mi lond mid me.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iii. l. 1071 (MED) Ther is no Scrivein with his enke Which half the fraude wryte can That stant in such a maner man.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. iii. l. 324 Half a shef of arwes.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Edward IV f. ccxxxviv Halfe the charges, and halfe the wages of his souldiers.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost v. 559 Scarce the Sun Hath finisht half his journey, and scarce begins His other half in the great Zone of Heav'n. View more context for this quotation
1763 G. Williams in J. H. Jesse G. Selwyn & his Contemp. (1843) I. 250 While Lord March and I are up half the night with people of a profligate character.
1820 P. B. Shelley To Skylark in Prometheus Unbound 206 Teach me half the gladness That thy brain must know.
1831 N.-Y. Spectator 26 July 1/4 Placing himself for life in the power of these persons, for the sum of $12,000—nay, not for half that.
1885 J. K. Jerome On Stage 53 I have known a three-act comedy put on without any rehearsal at all, and with half the people not even knowing the patter.
1971 S. Linton in S. Jacobs Women in Cross-cultural Perspective 11 A theory which leaves out half the human species is unbalanced.
1989 I. Taylor George Eliot (1990) viii. 84 Pea-soup fogs were a part of everyday life for half the year.
2016 J. Zafra Stories so Far 40 Agnes burrows in her pocket and produces half a Hershey bar.
(b) With nouns denoting numbers, quantities, measures of weight, space, time, or money, forming with the interposed indefinite article a unit of measure (e.g. half a pound, half a yard, half a second, half a dollar).Cf. sense 6, where half is preceded by a, the, etc., and immediately precedes the noun (often hyphenated) when these quantities are viewed as independent numbers, amounts, coins, etc. So the half-crown, a former silver coin worth 2 shillings and 6 pence, is contrasted with half a crown, which denotes the equivalent amount in any coins.This use is also to be distinguished from uses of sense 1b(a) with nouns of measurement, e.g. half the year, half last year, as opposed to half a year.In quot. c13501 the word an could alternatively be interpreted as a form of one adj.; it is unlikely that it implies currency in Old English, despite the composition date.
ΚΠ
?a1300 Fox & Wolf l. 8 in G. H. McKnight Middle Eng. Humorous Tales (1913) 25 Him were leuere meten one hen, Þen half anoundred wimmen.
c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) (1978) l. 9466 Sollen nou to-niht alf an hundred [c1275 Calig. half hundred] cnihtes..beo a-boute þine teldes.
c1350 ( Bounds (Sawyer 968) in D. A. Woodman Charters of Northern Houses (2012) (corrected text) 149 On Haliham þriddan healfes plogesland & healf an ofnan [read oxangang].
c1350 Apocalypse St. John: A Version (Harl. 874) (1961) 59 (MED) Silence is made in heuene, as it were þe space of half an houre.
1389 in J. T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 80 (MED) If any broyer or sistere maliciouseliche or dispisantliche lie on his broyer or on his sister..schal payen..alf a pownd waxche.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. v. l. 31 Hire hed was worth halue a marke.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Reeve's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 324 Thow shalt a Cake of half a busshel fynde.
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 5059 Noght þe space of half a myle, Was done þe houre of pryme.
a1500 in G. Henslow Med. Wks. 14th Cent. (1899) 92 (MED) Let the seke vsen ther-of half a pynt at ones.
a1556 T. Cranmer Let. 17 June in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1824) II. 37 Whyche said Progresse..extendid half a myle in leyngthe by estimacion.
1577 in W. Greenwell Wills & Inventories Registry Durham (1860) II. 14 Eache to have half a yarde of lyninge clothe.
1621 J. Howell Let. 30 May in Epistolae Ho-elianae (1655) I. 41 They can build a compleat Gally in half a day, and put her afloat in perfect Equippage.
1660 J. Childrey Britannia Baconica 49 At Aubury..there are halfe a dozen, or halfe a score stones little inferiour to the Stonehenge.
1694 W. Salmon Pharmacopœia Bateana i. xvi. 759/1 Pure Lime Juice, almost half a Pint.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 1. ¶5 Half a dozen of my select Friends.
1745 P. Thomas True Jrnl. Voy. South-Seas 56 Half an Hour after Eleven we sounded.
1782 F. Burney Cecilia II. iii. iii. 38 I never run in debt for more than half a year.
1807 G. Crabbe Parish Reg. ii, in Poems 81 For half an Inch, the Letters stand awry.
1859 C. Dickens Tale of Two Cities i. ii. 6 Capable of holding about half a gallon.
1905 D. Smith Days of his Flesh vii. 59 Every adult Israelite..had to pay an annual tax of half a shekel to the Temple-revenue.
2002 P. Finch Real Cardiff 77 With half a kilo of Moroccan Red making a bulge the size of a bible in his inside pocket.
c. Modifying a relative clause introduced by the relative that (with both personal and impersonal reference) or (in later use) what; also in Old English with þe.Apparently (and especially in Old English, where half is inflected adjectivally) followed by a nominal relative clause, with that or what as nominal relative pronoun (cf. that pron.2 3, what pron. 10a); but in later use interpretation of half as a pronoun (see half n. 4a) with a postmodifying relative clause is perhaps more likely in examples with that and is possible even in those with what (cf. that pron.2 1, what pron. 14a).
ΚΠ
eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) vi. i. 134 Raþe þæs Romane anguldon þæs wordes mid swa miclum hungre þæt Agustus adraf of Romebyrig healfe þe þærbinnan wæron.
a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) l. 321 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 229 Swunke [we] for godes luue half þat we doð for eihte.
a1450 (?1420) J. Lydgate Temple of Glas (Tanner) (1891) l. 825 (MED) For want of woordis I may not nov atteyne To tell half þat doþ myn hert greue.
1579 L. Tomson tr. J. Calvin Serm. Epist. S. Paule to Timothie & Titus 890/2 Three houres space wil not bee ynough for them to clackket out halfe that they would say.
1696 T. Southerne Oroonoko iii. i. 36 If he dares half what he says, he'll be of use to us.
1733 A. Pope Ess. Man iii. 165 Of half that live, the Butcher, and the Tomb.
1786 W. Cowper Gratitude 41 All these are not half that I owe.
1894 A. Conan Doyle Mem. Sherlock Holmes 260 He is the organizer of half that is evil and of nearly all that is undetected in this great city.
2008 Big Issue Christmas 11/1 We realise everyone's feeling the pinch right now, but imagine being homeless at this time—perhaps you could spare half what you might normally give?
†2. Preceded or followed by an ordinal numeral, used to express a half-unit less than the corresponding cardinal numeral; e.g. Old English þridda healf, Middle English thridde half or half thrid ‘two and a half’. See also other half at other adj. 2b. Obsolete.The noun is usually in the singular. In early use the ordinal and the adjective usually agree with it in case and gender (as e.g. in quot. eOE2). This is the most common means of expressing such half-units in Old English, but occasionally alternative constructions (involving cardinal numerals) are attested. In quot. eOE1 ðridda half haga is paraphrased in Latin as ‘two messuages and a third half’. [This construction is also found in other Germanic languages: compare the Germanic parallels for other half cited in the etymology section of other adj., and compare further Old High German drittehalb (apparently) two and a half, literally ‘third half’, Old Dutch fierdahalf- (in a compound), Old Saxon fierthehalf, all in the sense ‘three and a half’, etc. With uses in which the numeral comes second compare similarly Old Icelandic hálfr þriði two and a half, hálfr fjórði three and a half, etc.]
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > two > division into two > [adjective] > division into two equal parts > half > as measure of degree
half811
eOE Royal Charter: Coenwulf of Mercia to Abp. Wulfred (Sawyer 168) in N. P. Brooks & S. E. Kelly Charters of Christ Church Canterbury, Pt. 1 (2013) 513 Duas possessiunculas et tertiam dimediam id est in nostra loquella ðridda half haga.
eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 891 Se bat wæs geworht of þriddan healfre hyde.
OE On Length of Shadow (Tiber.) in T. O. Cockayne Leechdoms, Wortcunning, & Starcraft (1866) III. 218 On viii kalend Ianuarii þæt byð on cristesmæssedæg byð seo sceadu to underne..seofon & twentigoþan healfes fotes.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 13777 Þatt sahh. & herrde daȝȝwhammliȝ. Hallf ferþe ȝer þe laferrd.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 16072 Ne wunede þe king þer bute uifte half ȝere.
a1350 (a1250) Harrowing of Hell (Harl.) (1907) l. 45 Þritty wynter ant þridde half yer hauy woned in londe her.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 16599, l. 16600 Half feirth of eln was þe length, And oþer half þe brede.
3. As a measure of degree: attaining only halfway or part of the way to completeness or to the actual action, quality, or character in question; falling short of the full or complete thing; partial, imperfect, incomplete. Optionally preceded by a determiner or possessive, as in sense 1a, and treated as the first element of a compound, frequently hyphenated.
a. With nouns denoting persons, as in half-barbarian, half-believer, half bringer, half christian, half convert, half-defender, half deliverer, half-enemy, half fool, half-friend, half-literate, half-savage. Now somewhat rare.
ΘΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > [adjective]
halfa1300
brokec1380
incompletec1380
imperfecta1398
infecta1398
unperfecta1398
uncompletec1430
unfullc1450
partile1576
unentire?1605
half-faced1607
fragmentary1612
broken1634
partiary1654
fractional1675
fractionarya1690
half-way1694
fragmentala1763
half-and-half1796
fragmentitious1827
incompleted1836
sectional1848
mincemeaty1870
OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 27 Semiuir healfmann.
OE Prudentius Glosses (Boulogne 189) in H. D. Meritt Old Eng. Prudentius Glosses (1959) 56 Semipes : healffeþe.
a1400 in T. Wright & J. O. Halliwell Reliquiæ Antiquæ (1845) II. 50 (MED) An half frynde tariere to soule helthe..seith that he wil not leevyn the forseyd sentense of myraclis pleyinge.
c1443 R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 78 (MED) Euer eiþer of ȝou [sc. Father and Son] is ful hool and parfit bringer forþ of þe same holigoost and ful deliverer of hise goodis, and not oon of ȝou an half brynger and an half deliuerer wiþ oþer.
1577 H. I. tr. H. Bullinger 50 Godlie Serm. III. v. iv. sig. Ffff.vv/2 Both dawes and halfe fooles may bee made ministers or byshoppes.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iv. v. f. 116v The greater part whereof being halfe christians.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lxii. 143 To speake as halfe defendors of the faults.
a1765 E. Young Wks. (1767) IV. 81 Half converts to the right.
1768 J. Boswell Acct. Corsica (ed. 2) ii. 120 A parcel of half-barbarians.
1836 J. S. Mill in London & Westm. Rev. 25 5 See how incapable half-savages are of co-operation.
1838 J. S. Mill in London & Westm. Rev. 28 454 The sceptics and half-believers of the story.
1926 H. W. Fowler Dict. Mod. Eng. Usage 399/2 The uneasy half-literates who like to prove that they can spell.
2007 D. T. Courtwright in M. C. Carnes Columbia Hist. Post-World War II Amer. xiv. 335 Like the Democrats of the 1940s and 1950s, the Republicans had become an uneasy coalition of half-enemies.
b. With abstract nouns, as in half-belief, half-conformity, half-consciousness, half-darkness, half-education, half-knowledge, half-lie, half-principle, half-quotation, half-reason, half rueing, half-speed, half-view.
Π
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 27341 He lede penant to half-reuing.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lxxxi. 258 They iudge conclusions by dimipremises & halfe principles.
1690 J. Locke Two Treat. Govt. i. ii. 8 'Tis no Injury to call an half Quotation an half Reason.
1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. ii. viii. 276 Half-views, which shew but Part of an Object.
1810 S. T. Coleridge Coll. Lett. (1959) III. 278 Roaming abroad..for proselytes to confirm them in their own half-belief.
1827 H. Hallam Constit. Hist. Eng. I. viii. 514 To admit of no half conformity in religion.
1858 C. Hunt in Mercantile Marine Mag. 5 84 Steam should be shut off to half speed.
1870 J. R. Lowell My Study Windows 349 That half-knowledge which is more mischievous in an editor than down-right ignorance.
1881 ‘M. Twain’ Prince & Pauper 208 His senses struggled to a half-consciousness.
1904 W. B. Yeats Tables of Law 9 The formalisms of half-education.
1927 A. Clarke Son of Learning ii. 44 In the half-darkness his cowled figure suggests demonic possession.
a1930 D. H. Lawrence Last Poems (1932) 257 A half-lie causes the immediate contradiction of the half-lie.
2015 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 27 May a8/6 This incident proves that not only the Chinese government has a blacklist on Hong Kong activists, but other half-democracies or authoritarian countries also do.
c. With nouns denoting actions, bodily states, gestures, utterances, etc., as in half-dream, half frown, half-hint, half-laugh, half-look, half-moan, half-sleep, half-whisper.Recorded earliest in half-smile n. See also half-wave n. 2.
Π
1653 F. G. tr. ‘G. de Scudéry’ Artamenes I. iv. ii. 269 Let him enjoy that rest in his death.., and think (said she with a half smile) [Fr. en sous-riant à demy] that the jealousie of Otanus has not been my only punishment.
1677 J. Brown Christ the Way sig. O5 Or if it cannot do so much as look, yet it may give an half-look, and lie before Him, who waiteth to be gracious.
1730 M. Concanen Speculatist 130 He..tipp'd me the half Whisper, and with a wise Aspect pronounced, that we lived in a damned Atheistical Age.
1746 E. Haywood Female Spectator IV. xx. 206 But certainly there was nothing so very difficult in acquainting an Aunt with the Sentiments you are possessed of for her Niece;—provided, continued she, with a half Frown, they are of a nature you are not ashamed to avow.
1816 J. Scott Paris Revisited viii. 237 A kind of stupified half-sleep.
1862 G. Borrow Wild Wales II. xxxii. 370 ‘In truth I am,’ said she, with a half laugh.
1898 R. Kipling Day's Work 392 Leading him on to see, more by half-hints than by any direct word, how boys and men are all of a piece.
1928 D. H. Lawrence Lady Chatterley's Lover xvi. 278 She could still see on Connie's face..the half-dream of passion.
1950 A. Koestler in R. Crossman God that Failed 31 Once or twice she spoke on the telephone to comrades of hers—always in half-words and half-hints.
1990 S. S. Tepper Raising Stones i. iii. 86 Spiggy pulled himself together, barely,..and said in a half-moan, ‘Settlement One had a thirty percent shortfall on projections.’
d. With the and a noun, followed by a relative clause expressing a comparison (esp. with the past) or an opinion: designating a person who is a much less impressive, admirable, or true example of what is stated by the comparison or opinion. Chiefly in negative constructions, often in not to be half the man (also woman, etc.) one used to be (also was, etc.).
Π
1770 Fatal Friendship I. xii. 96 Clara is not half the girl she was;..has got a trick of rambling in the woods by herself.
1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) xxvii. 323 I always knew you had the gift of the gab, of course; but I never believed you were half the man you are.
1863 Belfast Morning News 11 Feb. You are not half the poet I thought you were.
1864 A. Trollope Can you forgive Her? I. xxxviii. 301 If you are half the woman that I take you to be, you will understand this.
1906 J. Galsworthy Man of Prop. vii. 180 ‘He's not half the man he was.’ ‘I've noticed it a long time;..he's aged tremendously.’
1965 J. Lennon & P. McCartney Yesterday in Beatles Lyrics (1998) 92 Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be, There's a shadow hanging over me, Oh yesterday came suddenly.
1975 Spectator 20 Sept. 374/3 You may grow up to be half the politician that Mr Edward Heath..is.
1994 J. Favreau Swingers (film script, 3rd draft) (O.E.D. Archive) 7 Some skank who isn't half the woman my girlfriend is.
†4. With reference to space or distance: half the length or breadth of. Usually in adverb phrases. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > longitudinal extent > [adjective] > long > half the length of
half1481
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > two > division into two > [adjective] > division into two equal parts > half > with reference to space or distance
half1481
1481 W. Caxton tr. Siege & Conqueste Jerusalem (1893) xxvii. 61 They waded in the blood vnto the half legge.
1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors 74 Their hair..hangs down over their shoulders to half their backs.
1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors 302 A Casaque, or Coat, which falls down to half the leg.
1681 London Gaz. No. 1628/1 Soon after the Algerine fell astern, and there lay within half Pistol shot.
1692 London Gaz. No. 2776/4 They saw our Fleet off of Portland, half Channel over.
1727 A. Hamilton New Acct. E. Indies II. xxxvi. 50 The lower Part of the Frock reaching Half-thigh down.
5. In uses of agent nouns corresponding to uses of half adv. 1 with verbs: to the extent or amount of half, as in half-partner, half partaker, half-sharer, half-worker. Now rare.
Π
1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 509 That which..maketh the will of his half-partner to be wholy his owne.
1603 T. Dekker 1603: Wonderfull Yeare sig. E4 Downe she lightes (this half-sharer) opening the wicket, but not shutting him out of the wicket; but conueys him into a by-roome.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) ii. v. 2 Is there no way for Men to be, but Women Must be halfe-workers?
1848 J. S. Mill Princ. Polit. Econ. ii. viii. §2 The metayer is at least his landlord's partner, and a half-sharer in their joint gains.
1886 Christian Reg. 4 Feb. 73/3 So long as profligacy walks only half-abashed before a world that by cowardly silence is half partaker of its sin.
1981 Observer 15 Feb. 10/6 His well-rehearsed role as..peacemaker, half sharer of the Nobel Peace Prize with Mr Begin, showed signs of giving way.
II. Specific uses of sense 1a. Frequently hyphenated as compounds.
6. Designating a coin, a weight, or a measure of space, quantity, time, etc., that is equal to half the amount indicated by the noun, as in half acre, half barrel, half bottle, half decade, half litre, half pound. Cf. demi- prefix 7.See also half angel n., half crown n., half day n., half dime n., half dollar n., half groat n., half guinea n., half hour n., half imperial n. 1, half inch n., half minute n., half noble n., halfpenny n., half pint n., half sovereign n. 1, half year n.In Old English often with the first element regularly inflected as adjective (compare quot. OE1), but sometimes with uninflected first element (earliest in half mark n.).
Π
OE tr. Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarium (Vitell.) (1984) ci. 148 Do þonne ðærto wex & healfes pundes gewihte beran smeruwes & heortenes.
OE Laws: Norðhymbra Preosta Lagu (Corpus Cambr.) lx. 384 Gif hwa teoðinge forhealde & he sy cyninges þegn, gilde x healfmarc, landagende vi healfmarc.
lOE Possessions, Rents, & Grants, Bury St. Edmunds in A. J. Robertson Anglo-Saxon Charters (1956) 198 Ðis is Sancte Eadmundes ferme on Byrtune, iiii met maltes under masc & grut, halmet hwæte, an ryðer & ii swin.
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. vii. l. 4 Quaþ perkyn þe plouȝmon..‘I haue an half Aker to herie.’
1420 in F. J. Furnivall Fifty Earliest Eng. Wills (1882) 46 A chales cuppe..þat weyyth xvij ounsus & halfe quarter.
?c1425 Recipe in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (Arun. 334) (1790) 455 A half pounde of past roiale.
1439–40 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Nov. 1439 §55. m. 2 The said lyne markid at every yerde an ynche, and at the ende of the half yerde and half ynch.
1623 Invoice of Goods 16 Sept. in S. M. Kingsbury Recs. Virginia Company (1935) IV. 282 One halfe Barrell and three runlettes being marked and numbred as in the marge.
1707 London Gaz. No. 4337/4 40 half Hogsheads, of true neat Bordeaux Brandy.
c1782 T. Jefferson Autobiogr. in Wks. (1859) I. App. 173 The smallest coin..is the half-bit, or 1-20 of a dollar.
1816 W. Scott Antiquary I. i. 5 He might have staid to take a half-mutchkin extraordinary with his crony the hostler.
1877 E. S. Dallas Kettner's Bk. of Table 287 Where are these bottles and half-bottles of Madeira to be found?
1903 Cambr. Independent Press 24 Apr. 3/2 There has not been greater activity in any trade of recent years, especially the last half decade, than in the shipping trade.
1967 ‘G. Carr’ Lewker in Tirol iv. 56 He..ordered a half-litre of wine.
2005 Toro Oct. 41/2 Four parts gin, three parts dry vermouth, a half-teaspoon of maraschino liqueur, and a dash of orange bitters.
7. Designating an article (especially a garment) or structure of about half the usual or full size or length, e.g. half coat, half gown, half sleeve. Cf. demi- prefix 2.See also half-boot n., half pants n., half shirt n., half sole n.
Π
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Halfe gowne, hemitogium.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 v. iv. 21 If you be not swingde, Ile forsweare halfe kirtles.
1670 J. Narborough Jrnl. 18 Dec. in Acct. Several Late Voy. (1711) i. 104 Some wear Half-Stockings on their Legs, but no Shoes.
1676 in J. S. Moore Goods & Chattels Forefathers (1976) 106 Two pewter dishes, three small dishes, one beaker, one halfe beaker.
1689 London Gaz. No. 2477/4 A sad coloured Cloth Coat, with..blue half Sleeves.
1726 G. Shelvocke Voy. round World vi. 198 The old stratagem..of turning a light adrift in a half tub.
1763 J. Boswell Jrnl. 22 July in London Jrnl. (1950) 317 I was disturbed by the light..at the earliest dawn, as the windows have only half-blinds.
1775 F. Marion in Harper's Mag. Sept. (1883) 546/1 Black half-gaiters.
1791 F. Burney Diary Nov. in Jrnls. & Lett. (1972) I. 86 Sir Joshua..had a bandage over one eye, and the other shaded with a green half-bonnet.
1837 E. Bulwer-Lytton Ernest Maltravers I. iii. i. 253 A pair of half hessions completed his costume.
1844 A. R. Smith Adventures Mr. Ledbury I. viii. 105 The..half-wicket that closed the entrance.
1888 C. T. Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 56 Half cases, small cases used for jobbing purposes.
1931 Good Housek. (U.S. ed.) Dec. 64/1 Lanvin's gown is red marocain with half-sleeves and silver sequins.
1966 B. Brophy Don't never Forget 69 If you go in spring, before winter clothes are discarded, you see men in coats or half-coats with sheepskin collars.
2009 N.Z. Herald (Nexis) 25 Nov. The audience favorite in her purple corset covered with a half gown with poufs of tulle.
8. Gunnery and Weaponry. Designating a weapon, a piece of ordnance, or suit of armour of half the size of the full-sized equivalent, or one that is of reduced size, e.g. half armour, half cuirass, half culverin. Cf. demi- prefix 3, 4. Now historical.Recorded earliest in half-sword n.See also half cannon n. at Compounds 2, half-pike n.
Π
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Halfe sworde, semispathium.
1590 J. Smythe Certain Disc. Weapons f. 14 They did vse to weare halfe cuirasses, with rests of yron, to pull forward or put backward, to discharge their Mosquets from.
1611 J. Florio Queen Anna's New World of Words Mezza testa, a kind of halfe skull, or halfe head-peece.
1821 S. R. Meyrick & C. H. Smith Costume Orig. Inhabitants Brit. Islands 58 The [Danish] king is habited in a corslet of leather (wambas) passing over his rock or tunic. This wambas was of painted elk or stag-skin, and was a kind of half armour.
1868 J. F. Kirk Hist. Charles the Bold III. v. i. 332 Armed with a half-lance.
1890 United Service Feb. 129 In later days the soldiers were furnished with defensive armor, half cuirass, leglets, and helmets being used.
1989 Smithsonian Dec. 124/2 A ranger at the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site dresses in a half-suit of armor several times a week.
1992 Christie's Internat. Mag. June 6/3 Silver, and a selection of half-armours of about 1640 complete the sale of the contents of this exceptional house.
1997 W. C. Kirwin Powers Matchless ii. 50 At the fortress of Ancona there were examples of full cannon,..quarter cannon, culverin..and half culverin.
9. Military. Designating a body of troops of half the strength of the full-sized equivalent, as half-brigade, half-squadron, half-troop, etc. Cf. demi- prefix 6b.See also half-battery n., half-company n. at Compounds 2.
Π
1622 F. Markham Five Decades Epist. of Warre ii. 62 Superior Officers who command Battalions, Regiments, Companies and Squadrons, hauing many vnder their commands, cannot attend to reuisite and looke into Files and halfe Squadrons.
1698 E. D'Auvergne Hist. Campagne Flanders 1697 137 The Ninth, Selwyn's Brigade posted at Laacken exercis'd before him; and the Tenth, the half Brigade of Guards of the first Line continued the same Pass-time.
1777 G. Washington Gen. Orders 14 July in Papers (2000) Revolutionary War Ser. X. 277 The whole army to march of[f] from the left, in half platoons.
1803 Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 12 Mar. 401 A French half brigade from Modena had arrived at Bologna.
1886 Daily News 13 Sept. 5/7 The troops marched past, the infantry in company fronts and the cavalry by half squadrons.
1917 A. Corbett-Smith Marne—& After ii. 20 The subaltern mixed up a curse with a prayer that the other half-troop would get round in time and held straight ahead.
1970 Guardian 12 Sept. 11 The Israelis..could heli-lift a half brigade to Dawsons Field.
2014 Daily Tel. (Austral.) (Nexis) 26 Aug. 26 100 Lancers, technically a half squadron, went to England, where they were feted by the British.
10. Heraldry. Designating a truncated charge, figure, etc. (= demi- prefix 1), as in half-belt, half cheek-bit, half-spade, half-spear, etc.
Π
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. vii. 44 He beareth Gules, an Horse Bit, Argent. Some do call it..an Half Cheek-Bit.
1771 E. Kimber & R. Johnson Baronetage of Eng. II. 287 Arms. Gules, a Cheveron, Ermine, between three half Spears, broken, the Staff, Or, and Iron, Argent.
1828 W. Berry Encycl. Her. at Spade This..spade is borne in the arms of Swettenham, but they appear as half-spades.
1889 C. N. Elvin Dict. Heraldry Half-belt and four buckles.
2000 J. W. Baldwin Aristocratic Life in Medieval France ii. 43 The English historian Matthew Paris furnished a colored sketch of Otto's heraldry in the margin of his chronicle, with a half eagle and three half lions.
11. Bookbinding. Designating a binding of which only the back and corners consist of the material specified; e.g. half-calf, half-russia.Cf. half binding n.
Π
1784 Bibliotheca Hoopiana (J. Gaillard, the Hague) (auction catal.) 126 Cudworth's Abridgment of true intellectual System of the Universe, 2 vol. London 1732. neatly bound in half calf.
1844 Catal. Messrs. C. Knight & Co. 8 Half Morocco or Russia.
1847 Harper's Illustr. Catal. Valuable Standard Wks. Gen. Lit. 7 Armstrong's Treatise on Agriculture... 18mo, half Sheep. 50 cents.
1923 Humorist 18 Aug. 88/2 If Bacon had written ‘The Gay Lord Quex’, would the Plays of Shakespeare be presented in half-calf to the good boys on Speech Day at Giggleswick?
1986 Christie's Sale Catal.: Bks from Libr. of M. Boulton 12 Dec. 9 Catalogue..1799; contemporary half russia (one spine worn, a few flaked).
2008 Hobart (Austral.) Mercury (Nexis) 27 Sept. (Weekend section) 5 In London there are a couple of specialist dealers who sell antique books by the yard—fifty quid for three feet of instructive sermons, unread since they were neatly bound in half calf in 1840.

Phrases

†P1. slang. half a bull: half a crown. Obsolete. [Compare bull n.1 7.]
ΘΠ
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > English coins > [noun] > half-crown or thirty pennies
mancusOE
half-crowna1549
George1660
St George1661
slate1699
trooper1699
tosheroon1859
tosh1912
half a crack1933
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. 179 Half a bull, half a crown.
1834 W. H. Ainsworth Rookwood III. iii. xiii. 166 Half a bull, three hogs, and a kick.
P2. half a chance: a small chance; the slightest opportunity. In later use frequently in given half a chance: at the slightest opportunity; with the minimum of encouragement or provocation.
Π
1765 I. Hunt Humble Attempt at Scurrility 25 He has ‘Half a Chance of a favourable Decree,’ than run the Risque of a Decision.
1824 L. Sawyer Wreck of Honor ii. 39 Do you mean to give me only half a chance?
1866 Rural Amer. (Utica, N.Y.) 15 Mar. 94/3 (advt.) Wheeler's Imperial. This is the best early variety we have ever tried. Every plant heads if it has but half a chance.
1872 W. E. Webb Buffalo Land ii. 45 Given half a chance, he would undoubtedly have told the savage more about the latter's habits than the aborigine himself knew.
1922 T. S. Eliot Let. 21 Sept. (1988) I. 573 Whenever I get very tired or worried I recognise all the old symptoms ready to appear, with half a chance.
1942 N.Y. Times 6 Dec. vi. 14/2 Riess knows that the German generals want war.., that given half a chance they will make war again and again.
2016 Northern Star & Rural Weekly (New S. Wales) (Nexis) 29 Jan. 3 Not enough people..recognise that they are artists deep down. Given half a chance they would recognise their talent exists.
P3. to blow half a gale: (of the wind) to blow very strongly. Hence half a gale: a very strong wind. Now rare.
Π
1822 E. M. Blunt Amer. Coast Pilot (ed. 10) 356 The sea breeze sets in very late in the day, and..it blows half a gale of wind.]
1823 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto X lxiv. 85 The impatient wind blew half a gale.
1835 Mag. Nat. Hist. 8 348 [Wind] W[est]. Cloudy; half a gale.
1915 Forest & Stream Sept. 535 It may be a nasty morning, east wind blowing half a gale, dark as pitch, or clear with the heavens dotted with stars.
1951 Beaver Sept. 20 Wind half a gale, temperature away down and slob in harbour and around schooner turning to ice.
P4. half a bar: see bar n.1 3c. half the battle: see battle n. 4. half an eye: see eye n.1 Phrases 3c.

Compounds

C1. Forming compounds used as modifiers, e.g. half-calf, half-power, half-sleeve, etc.
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1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Halfe pounde, selibra. Halfe pownde wayght, semissis.
1753 Scots Mag. June 310/1 Each..received a half-peck loaf.
1838 C. Dickens Oliver Twist I. v. 86 A half-quartern loaf and a piece of cheese.
1872 O. W. Holmes Poet at Breakfast-table (1885) viii. 192 None of your ‘half-calf’ economies in that volume!
1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockmakers' Handbk. (new ed.) 224 Half-quarter repeaters, instead of giving the minutes, strike one additional blow if the half-quarter has passed.
1886 R. Willis & J. W. Clark Archit. Hist. Univ. Cambr. I. 88 A half-hatch door.
1898 Pearson's Mag. May 539/1 With a half-power steamer which had only one man all told upon her decks.
1921 W. J. Locke Mountebank i. 7 A thick half-litre glass of beer.
1981 Washington Post (Nexis) 17 Apr. (Weekend section) 37 Spinach is very nutritious: a half-cup serving furnishes all of the recommended daily amount of vitamin A for an adult man.
2017 Irish Times (Nexis) 14 Jan. 19 An embroidered floral half-sleeve shift dress.
C2. See also half-bowl n., half-circle n. and adj., half moon n., half note n., half-timber adj. and n., halftone n.
half-Abo adj. Australian (offensive) of mixed Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal ancestry; esp. having one Aboriginal and one European parent (cf. Abo adj.).See Abo n. for discussion of usage.
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1944 C. Mann in Bulletin (Sydney) 20 Dec. 28/4 Little black half-abo. piccaninnies.
1980 B. Hanrahan Frangipani Gardens viii [He] was half Abo.
half-adder n. Electronics and Computing an electronic or electromechanical component which adds together two binary digits; cf. adder n.2 3.A half-adder produces two outputs, the sum and carry bits.
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society > computing and information technology > hardware > [noun] > central processing unit > other logic components
half-adder1948
1948 G. W. Patterson in Theory & Techniques for Design of Electronic Digital Computers: Lect. Moore School (Univ. of Pennsylvania) III. 23-1 ‘Type one’ circuits are now frequently called half-adders, and have only two inputs.
1954 Electronic Engin. 26 288 Numbers always enter the accumulator loop via the two half-adders and are therefore automatically added to the previous contents.
2013 V. Chandra Geek Sublime (2014) iii. 36 You can hook up two half adders together and add an OR logic gate to make a ‘full adder’.
† half-almond stitch n. Obsolete (apparently) a lace stitch in the shape of half an almond.
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1611 J. Florio Queen Anna's New World of Words Mezzo-mandolo, Seamsters call it the halfe-almond stitch.
half-arm adj. and n. now rare (a) adj. (of a blow, fighting, etc.) that uses half the length of the arm; (b) n. a distance or position of half the length of the arm.
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1789 World 7 Sept. He has great power in half-arm blows, the mode of fighting in the old School.
1812 Sporting Mag. 39 18 Each fought at half-arm for superiority.
1829 P. Egan Boxiana New Ser. II. 464 He had too much of half-arm fighting to do severe mischief.
1881 T. A. McCarthy Easy Syst. Calisthenics & Drilling 73 Both clubs lowered to halfarm, then dropped to the side.
2001 J. Benson Much Obliged i. 17 Lord C. actually succeeded in the delivery of a half-arm hit with his right on Lord T. 's left side!
half-aum n. now historical (South African in later use) a liquid measure equal to half an aum, typically 15 to 17 gallons (68 to 77 litres), chiefly used for wine and spirits; a barrel or other container of this capacity; cf. aum n.In South Africa the aum was replaced by imperial units which were made standard there in 1922. [Apparently after Dutch †halfaam (mid 17th cent. or earlier; Afrikaans halfaam).]
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1723 Daily Courant 21 Feb. (advt.) For sale... 6 Aums, 1 half Aum of excellent young Hock, of the Growth of Year 1719.
1829 C. Rose Four Years S. Afr. 116 The boors left a half aum (a cask) of brandy wine in the bush, and we drank it, and the rest drank more than I did, and got drunk.
1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting 369 He helped considerably to lighten our half-aum of Pontac.
1926 P. W. Laidler Tavern of Ocean 37 On 16th June, 1663, the authorities seized four half-aums of Batavia arrack, all that was left of eleven smuggled ashore.
1993 A. Brink On Contrary i. 22 The price of a full half-aum of brandy.
half-aunt n. an aunt to whom a person is related through a half-sibling, esp. the half-sister of one's mother or father.
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1730 Daily Post 8 Jan. Half Aunt to the present Sir Christopher Musgrave, Bart.
1866 E. Lynn Linton Lizzie Lorton III. i. 20 Aunt Harriet is only my half aunt, and that is not very near. She was poor papa's half-sister only.
2009 D. Rodriguez Wallach Adios to All Drama (e-book, accessed 16 May 2022) xiii While I wanted to feel excited to watch my half-aunt try on fluffy white gowns, I couldn't seem to draw enough enthusiasm to actually make the time.
half-ball n., adv., and adj. Billiards, Snooker and Pool (a) n. a stroke in which the cue ball makes contact with half of the object ball; (b) adv. so that the cue ball makes contact with half of the object ball; (c) adj. designating a shot or pot involving a contact of this kind.
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1830 J. Thurston tr. F. Mingaud Noble Game of Billiards 3 (caption) Strike a half ball on the right side with strength sufficient to enter the baulk.
1873 J. Bennett & ‘Cavendish’ Billiards 181 If played a true half ball, the red and white will kiss and spoil the cannon.
1904 Cheltenham Chron. 10 Dec. 4/4 The cue-ball, though aimed full on to the red, swerves in its path and catches the red half ball.
1937 Daily Mail 21 Dec. 12/7 You settle down to a half-ball shot and take your angle.
2012 Snooker Scene Mar. 19/1 Yet, on the verge of completing a monumental shock, he missed a half ball blue from its spot to middle playing one cushion position with right-hand side needing only the pink in addition for 4–2.
half-barrel adj. Architecture (of a vault) semi-cylindrical.
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1861 G. E. Street in Papers read at Royal Inst. Brit. Architects 1860–1 110 The triforia above them are roofed with a continuous half-barrel vault.
a1878 G. G. Scott Lect. Mediæval Archit. (1879) I. 56 The abandonment of the half-barrel vaulting of the aisles.
2015 Atlanta Jrnl.-Constit. (Nexis) 20 Aug. 4 e Defining elements are arches in the home and a special kitchen ceiling, which has a half-barrel vault design made of reclaimed wood beams and brick.
half-bastion n. Fortification (now historical) = demi-bastion n.
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society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > earthwork or rampart > [noun] > bastion
bastion1546
jetty1550
pommel1687
demi-bastion1695
moineau1704
hollow-bastion1706
empty bastion1711
roundel1843
bastionet1847
1629 F. Malthus tr. Treat. Artific. Fire-works xi. 210 Build one bastion, and two halfe bastions taken from the Octogon.
1793 Sun 1 Aug. Three Attacks were formed..one upon the saliant angle of the half bastion upon the right.
1859 F. A. Griffiths Artillerist's Man. (1862) 261 A Front of Fortification consists of two half bastions, and a curtain.
2007 R. Ó Baoill Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim (Archaeol. Ireland Heritage Guide No. 36) Along the shoreline there were two half-bastions and two gates, and these fortifications linked up with defensive works at the entrance to the castle, so the town was doubly defended.
half-battery n. Military a body of artillery of half the strength of a battery.
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1700 Knolles's Turkish Hist. (ed. 6) II. 395/2 Two whole, and two half Batteries were raised.
1859 F. A. Griffiths Artillerist's Man. (1862) 134 Three subdivisions constitute a half-battery.
2016 B. Gudmundsson in S. Marble King of Battle iii. 76 Each triangular (three-division) army corps was to get one full battery and one half-battery.
half-beam n. a beam of half the usual length; (Shipbuilding) a short beam supporting the deck where there is no framing.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > [noun] > timbers of hull > deck or hold beams > half-beam
spur1769
1677 G. Miege New Dict. French & Eng. i. sig. *Eee3v An half beam of timber.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine at Deck The spurs of the beams; being curved pieces of timber serving as half-beams to support the decks, where a whole beam cannot be placed on account of the hatch-ways.
1845 Encycl. Metrop. VI. 415 The half-beams are all to be of fir.
1941 Mariner's Mirror 27 191 The hatchways and mast holes are framed to receive half-beams where required.
2000 Independent (Nexis) 1 Apr. 20 We turn up to the Scilly Isles and get all the crew on the half beam.
half-belt n. a belt which extends only halfway around the body, esp. one across the back section of a garment.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > belt or sash > types of > other
breechgirdlea1300
demiceint1483
demi-girdle1533
bracing-girdle1552
purse-girdle1559
yellow ribbon1651
burdash1707
body belt1823
subcingulum1824
zoster1824
bell-girdle1833
hip girdle1853
Sam Browne belt1878
belly-band1888
waspie1957
tie belt1964
1861 Commissioners of Patents' Jrnl. 24 Dec. 1570/1 Half belts for trousers and waistcoats.
1873 Boston Investigator 16 Apr. 5/3 The front is made redingote fashion..and held at the waist by a half belt.
1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 9 Feb. (Suppl.) 5/1 A..jacket with a half-belt at the back.
2016 Telegraph (Nexis) 9 Mar. Sand coloured coats with half belts at the back were another luxurious trophy buy.
† half-bend n. Obsolete a semicircular band worn on the head. [ < half adj. + bend n.2]
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1834 J. R. Planché Hist. Brit. Costume 48 Canute's queen wears..either the diadem or the half-bend.
† half-bent n. Obsolete (a) (in a firearm) the position of the hammer when raised only halfway and held by the catch, from which it cannot be moved by pulling the trigger; (also) the catch by which the hammer of a gun is so placed (cf. half-cock n. 1); (b) the condition (e.g. of the knee) of being half-bent.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > parts and fittings of firearms > [noun] > breech > other parts of breech
base1626
bridge pin1686
breech-pin1727
finger-piece1767
tang1805
hut1848
breech-lever1862
breech-screw1862
plunger1866
shoe1866
breech-block1881
breech-plug1881
console1882
crossbar1884
obturator1891
tray1909
1683 True Narr. Proc. Old-Bayly 24 May 2 The deceased having a Pistol loaden in his hand; and being about to deliver it to the Prisoner, er'e he well had it in his hand, the Cock at half bent went down, and the Pistol thereupon going off, the Bullet struck the deceased on the Head, of which wound the next day he died.
1694 tr. G. P. Marana Lett. Turkish Spy VI. viii. 41 The Nimble Prince catch'd him upon the Half-Bent, and setting his Hands on the Old Monsieur's Shoulders, whipt over again the second Time.
1774 O. Goldsmith Grecian Hist. II. i. 11 With one leg put forward, and the knee upon the half-bent.
1881 W. W. Greener Gun & its Devel. 259 A half-bent in the tumbler that prevents the hammer being accidentally pushed down.
1921 Amer. Rifleman 15 May 6/2 I could drop the hammer into the half bent, and very often split the end of the sear nose in doing it.
half-blast n. Golf a shot which is played with half the force of a ‘blast’ (blast n.1 8d).
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > golf > [noun] > types of shot or stroke
putta1754
like1790
drive1829
tee-shot1850
gobble1857
push shot1865
iron shot1870
push stroke1873
drive-off1884
slice1886
raker1888
foozle1890
hook1890
iron1890
top1890
sclaff1893
brassy shot1894
run1894
chip shot1899
chip1903
pull1903
skimmer1903
draw shot1904
brassy1906
pitch-and-run1908
windcheater1909
air shot1920
chip-in1921
explosion1924
downhiller1925
blast1927
driver1927
shank1927
socket1927
recovery1937
whiff1952
pinsplitter1961
comebacker1965
bump-and-run1981
1928 Weekly Disp. 24 June 21/6 He played a superb ‘half-blast’ out of a trap to lay the ball one foot from the cup.
1962 J. Dante Four Magic Moves to Winning Golf viii. 161 Because of this the so-called half-blast was developed. In this the player took a very open stance, laid back the face, and tried to take just a thin layer of sand under the ball with an out-to-in swing.
2001 Independent (Nexis) 12 Nov. (Sport section) 7 I would love to essay the occasional half-blast with a niblick myself.
half-bloom n. Metallurgy (now historical) a thick square or mass of iron resulting from the first cycle of a process of refinement in which pig iron is heated and hammered to force out impurities; (later also) refined iron taken from the puddling furnace and then shingled or hammered.Sometimes called bloom (cf. bloom n.2 1).
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1678 Philos. Trans. 1677 (Royal Soc.) 12 934 The Metal runs together into a round Mass or Lump, which they call a Half-Bloom.
1824 Mechanic's Mag. 21 Aug. 383/1 The finer was drawing an ancony from the half-bloom or billet.
2002 Hist. Metall. 36 126/1 The half-bloom was heated for forging in a modern cast-iron bottom-blast blacksmith's hearth.
half-blue n. the distinction gained by a person who has represented the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge at a minor sport or as a second choice in any sport in a match between the two universities; (also) a person who has gained this distinction; cf. blue n. 15.The sports for which a half-blue is awarded are generally ones less widely practised within the universities; the list of these sports changes over time as new half-blue sports are added or half-blue sports are raised to full-blue status.
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society > leisure > sport > player or sportsperson > [noun] > at college or university
Oxford blue1842
Dark Blue1852
Light Blue1852
Cambridge blue1867
blue1870
colour1881
Orangeman1908
JV1922
redshirt1955
society > leisure > sport > winning, losing, or scoring > [noun] > winning or win > awards and prizes
garland?a1513
plate1639
cupc1640
dog plate1686
gold medal1694
gold cup1718
sweepstake1773
trophy1822
bronze medal1852
shield1868
statuette1875
pot1885
team honours1895
letter1897
silver medal1908
school colour1913
gold1945
bronze1960
silver1960
Fed Cup1965
1889 Western Mail (Cardiff) 12 Dec. The Varsity golfites are very desirous of obtaining a ‘half-blue’, a distinction which is enjoyed by the Oxford Lawn Tennis team.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 26 Feb. 12/2 For some time players of lacrosse at Oxford have been urging the Blues Committee to grant them the Half-Blue.
1963 Times 5 Feb. 3/3 J. S. Grinalds (Brasenose), an old half-Blue, came back into the defence for the first time this season.
2010 Church Times 15 Jan. 31/3 His outstanding sporting prowess, however, was in rifle shooting. He had gained his shooting colours at Denstone, and won a shooting Half-Blue at Cambridge.
half-box n. a box open at one side.
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1497 in M. Oppenheim Naval Accts. & Inventories Henry VII (1896) 85 The said Serpentyne is cald the Lyon with ij beddes a paire wheles shodd with half boxes of brasse and another paire wheles with hole boxes of brasse.
1755 J. Smith Printer's Gram. 182 In lining..the whole and half-boxes of a Lower Case, we chuse sound writing-paper.
1885 C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather 479 The support is provided with two half-boxes.
1913 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 25 Nov. 869/1 Clamp-bolts to secure said half-boxes and urge them toward each other.
2017 E. Benson & Y. Perullo Design to Renourish iv A half-box that would show off the product and save a ton of money by reducing materials.
† half-brassy shot n. Golf Obsolete a brassy shot played with a half swing.
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1899 H. H. Hilton in H. G. Hutchinson et al. Bk. Golf & Golfers ii. 43 Never could I play a long shot with an iron club with any continued degree of accuracy, with the result that I had to fall back upon the play club, and so developed what is termed the ‘half brassy shot’.
1903 Westm. Gaz. 28 Aug. 3/1 The half-brassy shot approach.
half-breadth n. a measurement equal to half the breadth of something; (Shipbuilding) the distance of a part of the outer structure from the centre line of the vessel.
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?1556 L. Digges Tectonicon sig. C The half breadthe or semidiametre of the circle.
1664 E. Bushnell Compl. Ship-wright iv. 10 If I were to make a Vessell stiff, I would that the Halfe Breadth be more then the draught of Water, which causeth that the Body be stronger in the Water, and will not Slew so easily.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine at Architecture The breadth of the ship at every top-timber is limited by an horizontal line drawn on the floor-plane, called the half-breadth of the top-timbers.
1920 Pacific Motor Boat Nov. 17/2 Having faired up the waterline on the half breadth as well as possible by the eye, the body plan can now be laid out.
2016 US Official News (Nexis) 31 Mar. Where ordinary frames are configured such that the line of the ordinary frames would be asymmetrical about the centerline of the vessel, breadth measurements are determined by taking half-breadths on the side of the vessel that yields the greatest sectional area at the associated tonnage station, and multiplying those half-breadths by a factor of two to yield the full breadths.
† half-breadth staff n. Shipbuilding Obsolete a rod having marked upon it half the length of each beam in the ship.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > [noun] > shipbuilding > tools and equipment
ram-line1664
set1794
poker1823
horning-tackle1850
planking clamp1862
stower1863
planking-screw1864
ram1867
bending slab1890
warrok-
1754 M. Murray Treat. Ship-building & Navigation ii. ii. 144 The half breadth staff, serves to set them to the half breadth.
1797 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 407/1 The half breadth staff may be one inch square, and of any convenient length.
1874 S. J. P. Thearle Naval Archit. (new ed.) I. iii. 55 To correct the frames when they are in place, and keep the ship to the true form, half breadth staffs are made, upon which are marked the half breadths of the ship at the several heads, sirmarks, port sills, etc.
1918 F. F. Pease Mod. Shipbuilding Terms 41/2 Half-breadth staff or rod, a rod having marked upon it the half-length beams of a vessel. The measurements are taken from the half-breadth plan.
half cadence n. Music an imperfect cadence (see imperfect adj. 5d).
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society > leisure > the arts > music > piece of music > section of piece of music > [noun] > ending > cadence > types of
passing close1597
perfect cadence1636
inganno1753
interrupted cadence1801
plagal cadence1836
false cadence1888
female close1928
female cadence1930
1784 W. Jones Treat. Art of Music viii. 47 At three fourths of the second Bar there is a half-cadence.
1951 Musical Q. 37 2 The Christe, consisting of only four double measures, leads to a half cadence in D minor.
2011 P. de Alcantara Integrated Pract. i. iv. 55 The antecedent ends in a half cadence—..which represents musical tension. The consequent ends in a perfect cadence..which represents musical release.
half cannon n. now historical a cannon of half the size of a full-sized cannon; = demi-cannon n. a.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > piece of artillery > [noun] > small or short pieces
murderer1495
curtala1509
minion1513
passe-volant1513
pikmoyane1513
saker1521
base1539
robinet1547
quarter cannon?a1549
bersec1550
murdresarc1550
yetling1558
battardc1565
demi-cannon1577
calabass1578
double curtal1582
demi-culverin1587
rabinet1596
murdering piece1601
drake1627
putter1646
cartow1650
putterlingc1650
minion drakea1661
cut1672
under-saker1678
murther1688
carronade1779
carthoun1849
1562 J. Shute tr. A. Cambini in Two Comm. Turcks i. f. 57 He caused to breake all the greate Bombardes, and to make them in to halfe cannonnes, falcouetes and passe volantes, and caused to make a great number of cariages for them.
1676 London Gaz. No. 1116/3 A Battery of 12 Half-Cannon.
2003 W. P. Guthrie Later Thirty Years War i. 14 More important were the subdivisions, the ‘half’ cannon (demicannon) of 24 pounds, the quarter cannon of 12 pounds, and the demiculverin, also a 12 pounder.
half-caponier n. Fortification (now historical) a communication passage or trench constructed with one parapet and glacis only.
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1817 C. W. Pasley Course Mil. Instr. II. vii. 118 Therefore a half caponier, or, in other words, a communication constructed with one parapet and glacis only, is quite sufficient for the ditch of the ravelin.
1908 tr. A. Von Schwartz Infl. of Siege Port Arthur upon Mod. Fortresses (U.S. War Dept.) viii. 154 Should the flanking galleries be retained..or should they be replaced by the old type of caponiers and half-caponiers near the scarp?
2014 J. E. Kaufmann & H. W. Kaufmann Forts & Fortifications of Europe 1815–1945 ii. 83 Each had half-caponiers at the corner of the front wall with a double caponier attached to the centre of the front wall.
half-captain n. now disused (in women's colleges at the University of Oxford) an undergraduate who has attained a certain degree of proficiency in the management of a boat.
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1923 J. Bailey Let. 20 Oct. (1935) 234 Are you a half-captain on the river?
1986 P. West in P. Griffin St Hugh's iv. 81 One could pass a test and become a ‘sculling half captain’ and then take out a boat with other half-captains. After another test, a full captain could take out a boat without any others.
† half-captaincy n. Obsolete rare the state or position of half-captain.
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1928 Daily Express 7 May 5/2 She may not go on the river unless she is accompanied by a half-captain or is one herself. Half-captaincies may be had either in rowing, canoeing, or punting.
half-catch adj. of, relating to, or undertaking the hire of a boat and fishing equipment in return for half of the catch.
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1885 R. MacDonald Crofters' Bill 49 It is a common practice for a crew to hire a boat and nets on what is locally known as the half-catch system.
1982 A. P. Cohen Belonging ii. 23 Mobility between crews is not at all uncommon, particularly among the non-owning half-catch men.
half-cell n. Physical Chemistry an electrode in contact with a solution of ions, forming part of a cell.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > galvanism, voltaism > [noun] > voltaic cell
cell1801
standard cell1864
Bunsen cell1870
Clark cell1884
concentration cell1888
cadmium cell1893
1898 Jrnl. Physical Chem. 2 299 The electrolyte in the funnel is connected by a siphon with a half-cell. The latter consists of a metal which forms the other terminal, and the solution of an electrolyte.
1946 L. Michaelis in A. Weissberger Physical Methods Org. Chem. II. xxii. 1052 Potentiometry consists of the measurement of the electromotive force of a galvanic cell composed of two half-cells.
2021 P. B. Cranwell & E. M. Page Found. Chem. ix. 309 If a half-cell involves a gaseous component electrical contact can be made using a platinum electrode over which the gas is bubbled.
half-centre n. Engineering (now rare) (in a reciprocating engine) either of the two points at which the crankpin is midway between the two dead centres, where the turning effect of the connecting rod is greatest; the position of the piston when the crankpin is at either of these points.
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1853 Appletons' Mechanics' Mag. & Engineers' Jrnl. Sept. 206/2 The steam drives both cylinders down with a constant decreasing pressure, until..the starboard piston is at the end of its stroke, and its companion at half centre.
1903 M. P. Bale Gas & Oil Engine Managem. ii. 27 The flywheel being turned till the engine is in a position to start..when the crank is just above half-centre.
1922 M. H. Gornston Operating Engineer's Catech. Steam Engin. 223 The crankpin should then be brought into contact with the line at the lower half-center.
half-chronometer n. Watchmaking (now historical) (originally) a watch, spec. one whose mechanism combines the lever and chronometer escapements; (later also) a fine lever watch which has been adjusted for temperature.
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1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. IV. 1273/1 Half chronometer, for the use of the deaf and blind, being a new invention.
1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockmakers' Handbk. (new ed.) 115 Half Chronometer..originally used to denote watches having an escapement compounded of the lever and chronometer, appears now to be applied to fine lever watches which have been adjusted for temperature.
1963 Biogr. Mem. Fellows Royal Soc. 9 165 The biographer has seen them yield a half chronometer, three large pocket watches, [etc.].
half-class n. rare a social class of people regarded as belonging neither to a prestigious class nor to a lower one.
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1845 A. M. Hall Whiteboy I. ix. 149 There was nothing..to distinguish Lawrence Macarthy from the half class—neither gentleman nor farmer.
1934 W. Lewis in Time & Tide 13 Oct. 1253/1 The sample room of the present modernist furniture designer has so little to do with work, or the disorder of living..that it seems to fall between two stools... Much of it seems designed for a sort of bastard half-class of half-proletarianized nobodies.
1975 Jrnl. Mod. Hist. 47 422 This classless class or half-class of quasi workers and quasi bourgeois.
half-close n. Music an imperfect cadence (see imperfect adj. 5d).
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society > leisure > the arts > music > piece of music > section of piece of music > [noun] > ending > cadence > types of
passing close1597
perfect cadence1636
inganno1753
interrupted cadence1801
plagal cadence1836
false cadence1888
female close1928
female cadence1930
1784 W. Jones Treat. Art of Music vi. 28 The Semi-Cadence or common half-close.
1867 G. A. Macfarren Six Lect. Harmony i. 29 A half close is when a passage ends upon the chord of the dominant, regardless of what harmony may precede it.
1922 Etude Music Mag. July 455/1 Their music is divided up into neat little phrases, periods and sections, which call for the use of certain forms of half-close and close.
2010 Musical Times Winter 53 Whereas in Bach's chorale everything resolves..in a perfect cadence, Schumann deflates that assurance with a dangling half close.
half-colour n. a badge showing that a stage of proficiency in a sport or other discipline which is halfway towards getting one's colours has been reached; see colour n.1 19b(a).
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1896 Cambr. Rev. 5 Nov. 63/1 After the game F. J. Turner was awarded his full colours, and G. E. Blackwall, A. D. Robinson, W. Dilling and E. Coddington their half-colours.
1929 Evening News 18 Nov. 13/5 The player who appears in future bowls international trial matches, but who fails to be selected for the English team, is to receive a ‘half-colour’.
2017 Mercury (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 5 Jan. 1 He has participated in KZN Rising Stars music concerts as an invited artist and earned half colours for music and debating.
half column n. a column or pilaster half projecting from a flat surface.
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1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 48/2 Yet are they more lyke peares then apples, and they haue certayn gutters and vneuen outgrowynges lyke half columnes, which as they are seldom sene in apples.
1611 R. Peake tr. S. Serlio 4th Bk. Archit. viii. f. 51v The Arch, Pilaster, and impost of the halfe Columne.
1726 J. Leoni Life Alberti in tr. L. B. Alberti Archit. 4 Four half Columns of the composite order.
1830 W. Whewell Archit. Notes German Churches 21 The vaulting pillars are half columns from the floor.
2017 Derby Tel. (Nexis) 27 Feb. 14 The Royal Hotel..stood four storeys high, and featured a pair of Ionic half columns and two royal coats-of-arms.
half-commission adj. receiving or relating to half, or some other agreed share, of the commission earned from a transaction; esp. designating an agent who introduces clients to a stockbroker for such remuneration.
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society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > payment for labour or service > [adjective] > types of payment
fallback1895
portal-to-portal1936
incentive1943
straight-time1944
over-award1950
1877 Truth 18 Jan. 85/1 Mr. J. E. Cook, a broker, recently failed for a large amount. It is said that he dealt largely on the half-commission basis. Ought not this half commission to revert to the creditors of Mr. Cook?
1909 Westm. Gaz. 16 Feb. 7/4 He became a half-commission man with a firm of stockbrokers.
1931 Times 16 Mar. 18/1 The Half Commission Practice.
2014 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 22 Mar. 27 He went to work for a stockbroker as a half commission agent.
half-communion n. now rare (chiefly in Protestant use) communion in one kind (typically with bread but not wine), as practised in the Roman Catholic Church.
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1565 J. Jewel Replie Hardinges Answeare ii. 118 The halfe Communion is no breache of Christes Institution. For Christe neuer commaunded, that the whole Communion shoulde be ministred vnto the people in bothe kindes.
1660 Bp. J. Taylor Ductor Dubitantium I. ii. iii. 488 The half-communion is by the Council of Constance affirmed to be different from the institution of Christ.
1784 W. Richards Hist. Antichrist v. 94 You would, perhaps, call theirs a half communion; because they with-hold the wine.
1856 Catholic Layman 5 49/1 The dogma of half communion is, then, one which especially concerns the Roman Catholic laity.
2015 I. Green in K. Killeen et al. Oxf. Handbk. of Bible in Early Mod. Eng. iii. xvii. 280 That ante-communion was being performed reasonably often from the 1560s to the 1630s is suggested by the objections to the ‘half-Communion’ in the ‘godly’ Admonition to the Parliament.
half-company n. Military (now historical) a body of troops of half the strength of a company.
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1608 E. Grimeston in tr. J. F. Le Petit Gen. Hist. Netherlands xvi. 1359 Two companies of Englishmen ledde by Sir Thomas Harwood and captaine Iohn Vere, and two halfe companies of horsemen, the one collonel Edmonds, the other Sir Iohn Ratclifes.
1853 J. H. Stocqueler Mil. Encycl. 128/1 Half-companies are the same as subdivisions, equal to two stations.
2016 European Union News (Nexis) 8 Aug. Gabriel Coury earned his honour, in action on 8 August 1916, near Arrow Head Copse when he was a second lieutenant in command of a half-company of pioneers attached to the 1/4th Battalion Kings Own (Royal Lancaster) Regiment.
half-compass n. now rare a hemisphere; a semicircle; cf. compass n.1 5b.
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1551 R. Record Pathway to Knowl. sig. Bv If it be parted iuste by the centre..then is it called a semicircle, halfe compasse.
1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. vi. 82 The daysunne..which inlighteneth not onely the halfe compasse [Fr. Hemisphere] whereon he shineth, but also euen a part of that which seeth him not.
1756 G. Smith tr. Laboratory (new ed.) II. vi. 110 The horizontal line is that great circle of the sphere, which in that place divides the upper hemisphere, or half compass of the heavens above, from the lower hemisphere which is under us, and hid from our sight.
2008 T. McClelland Third Coast vi. 71 When you stand on that long, bleached boulevard of sand, you face a half-compass of blue water, filling the curve of the Earth.
half-compression adj. Engineering (now historical) designating a device that reduces the maximum compression of the explosive mixture in an internal combustion engine.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > internal-combustion engine > [adjective] > specific parts
float-feed1902
thermo-siphonic1920
cutting-in1924
downdraught1929
wet1935
choke1959
1895 Amer. Gas Light Jrnl. 7 Oct. 568/2 The bowl of [the] exhaust lever is on the half-compression (double) cam.
2004 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 18 Dec. (Motoring section) 10 He rejected the usual practice of dropping the exhaust valve once speed was sufficient to carry the engine over compression, preferring a half-compression cam system adapted from gas engines.
half course n. Mining now rare a direction within a seam at about 45 degrees to the course (course n.1 13b).
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1852 Illustr. London News 29 May 428/2 The drifts proceeding on the half course to the dip at this point are those penetrating the furthest into the deep unworked coal measures by which this colliery is bounded.
1959 T. A. Jones Rep. H.M. Inspectors Mines & Quarries 1958 South Western Div. i. 9 Three men were asphyxiated in an outburst of gas and coal which came from the high rib side corner of a 45-yard-long development face advancing at half course to the full dip.
† half-coward n. Obsolete cheese partly made from skimmed milk.
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1795 St. James's Chron. 22 Sept. A large quantity of North Wiltshire and West-Country Cheese; the prices of which were, half-coward..from 35s. to 39s. per cwt.
1861 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 22 i. 41 Unless the whole evening's milk is skimmed and added to the whole new morning's milk—in which case the cheese made is ‘half-coward’—the produce, whether single or double, is said to be whole-milk cheese.
1912 J. P. Sheldon Dairying xix. 372 In other cases ‘half-coward’ cheese is made; this means cheese made in part of skim-milk.
† half-demisemiquaver n. Music Obsolete = hemidemisemiquaver n. at hemi- prefix 3.
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1805 Brit. Critic Apr. 371 The seven different forms of notes are given from the semi-breve to the half demisemiquaver (quadruple croche).
1906 Musical Times 47 733/1 We..hope never again to see half-demisemiquavers written for the organ.
† half-dike n. Obsolete a sunk fence.
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1808 R. Forsyth Beauties Scotl. V. 421 Ditches, hedges, and half-dikes or sunk-fences.
1876 Bell's Life in London 8 Jan. 11/5 A spin of twenty minutes will take you over as many half-dykes and half-brooks.
1903 Index to Rep. Corps of Engineers in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (57th Congr., 2nd Session, House of Representatives Doc. 489) II. 1165/1 The construction of 15,200 1. f. of dike and 3,200 f. of half dike, and dredging; estimate, $194,695.
† half-distance n. Military Obsolete the regular distance between members of an ordered body of troops (see quot. 1853); also as a modifier.
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society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > formation > [noun] > spaced-out formation
open order1625
society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > formation > [noun] > line > distance between troops
quarter distance1773
touch1788
society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > formation > [adjective] > spaced at regular intervals
half-distance1859
1777 G. Washington Gen. Orders 23 Aug. in Papers (2001) Revolutionary War Ser. XI. 50 The whole line is to march by sub-divisions, at half distance.
1853 J. H. Stocqueler Mil. Encycl. 128/1 Half-distance is the regular interval or space between troops drawn up in ranks, or standing in column.
1859 F. A. Griffiths Artillerist's Man. (1862) 30 A battalion in open, or half-distance Column.
half-door n. a door which fills only the lower half of the doorway.
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1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 407 Neuertheles, in the end they caried him into a certen dungeon vnder the ground, called the treasury, (which had neither light nor ayer at all into it, nor dore, nor half dore, but a great stone rolled on the mouth of the dungeon).
1658 in J. Campbell Balmerino (1899) 410 Ane new cupill, cabers, watlings, door-cheeks, half doore.
1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) iii. 25 The half-door of the bar.
1936 J. Tickell See how they Run ii. 19 The sort of horse's face that looks out over the half-door of a loose-box.
2016 Irish Times (Nexis) 10 Sept. He opens the half-door into the stone-floored kitchen, with a turf fire roaring in the large open fireplace.
half-dress n. now historical clothing worn at daytime functions and informal evening ones.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > for specific purpose > informal wear > other
negligée1835
1735 J. Dorman Rake of Taste 10 In an half Dress, the busy Cortex see With Oaken Plant, cut Sleeve and Ramellie.
1784 Mass. Centinel 14 July 4/2 Millenary..for sale,..consisting of Dress, Half-Dress, and Morning-Caps [etc.].
1788 E. Sheridan Let. in Betsy Sheridan's Jrnl. (1986) vi. 138 Great coats made very open before to shew the peticoat—in Undress—half dress, Night gown and peticoat with fine muslin Aprons—full dress I have not seen.
a1827 W. Hickey Mem. (1918) II. xx. 261 A tailor named Knill..advised my having a dark green with gold binding..and for half dress a Bon de Paris with gold frogs.
1850 Ladies' Gaz. Fashion Aug. 255/1 Plain mousseline de soie..begins to be a good deal seen in half-dress.
2014 M. R. Kowal Without Summer xiv. 189 Jane did not want to presume that they could attend in the half dress they favoured at home.
half duck n. now chiefly historical any of several small dabbling ducks; esp. a wigeon or teal; cf. half-bird n.Apparently originally so called with reference to the value of such birds (see quots. 1678, 1862), although this would have been related to their smaller size.
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the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Merginae (duck) > [noun] > unspecified and miscellaneous types of
Roan duck1763
wood-duck1777
Rouen1785
lady1792
stranger1792
Rouen duck1795
tree-duck1824
Labrador duck1834
hareld1841
whio1847
pink-eyed duck1848
penguin duck1850
topknot duck1850
Aylesbury1854
roan1854
pink-eye1861
Peking duck1874
runner1878
bluebill1884
Steller's (eider) (duck)1884
Peking1885
half-bird1893
torrent-duck1899
1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. 373 The Ducks and Mallard are called whole fowl; the Wigeons and Teal half fowl, because they are sold for half the price of the other.]
1862 C. A. Johns Brit. Birds 505 Willughby tells us that in his time the Teal and Wigeon, considered as marketable goods, were classed together as ‘half-fowl’, their value being only half that of the Wild Duck. In the fen counties they are still ranked together as ‘Half Ducks’, and for the same reason.
1903 J. A. Hamilton MS in Red Box 329 Good sport among the half-duck and mussel-duck which abounded at Tudworth.
2013 M. Shrubb Feasting, Fowling & Feathers 83 It was customary to record bags from decoys in dozens, which was how they were sold, counting Mallard as one duck but Wigeon and Teal as ‘half ducks’, confusingly counted as 18 to the ‘dozen’.
half fare n. a concessionary rate (e.g. for a child) of half the regular amount of money that a passenger on public transport has to pay; (also) a person paying this.
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1820 N. Amer. Rev. July 4 The provisions stipulated are dealt out on the principle of full portions to those who pay full fare, half portions to the half fares, and children nothing.
1879 F. H. Grundy Pictures of Past vi. 166 ‘Well,’ says Leigh Hunt, ‘I found him [sc. a cabman] returning from Hammersmith, and he said as an empty he would take me for half-fare.’
1942 H. Abend Ramparts of Pacific xxvi. 275 Half-fare or one-third-fare tickets were sold on Japanese steamship lines and railways, and reduced hotel rates were assured.
2001 T. Allen Rolling Home Second Ending 298 Fifteen Native school-aged kids got on... He..said Status Indians get half fare on VIA.
half fifteen n. Real Tennis and Tennis (now rare) a handicap of one stroke or point given at the beginning of the second, fourth, and every subsequent alternate game of a set.Cf. bisque n.2 1a, fifteen adj. and n. Additions.
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1679 T. Shadwell True Widow 8 Prig. Engag'd! no faith let's make a match at Tennis to day... How will that Gentleman and you play with Stanmore, and I keep his back hand at Gibbonses? Bell. I do not know his Play. Prigg. We'll take a Bisk of you. Bell. No, you shan't. Prigg. You'r half fifteen better than I to a Grain.
1756 F. Greville & F. Greville Maxims, Characters, & Refl. 200 He had a match at tennis offered him, in which he would have had about two bisques the advantage, but wanted half fifteen and refused it.
1908 A. W. Myers Compl. Lawn Tennis Player 30 Mr. A. gives Mr. B. half-fifteen, not because he thinks he can give it but because he knows that he cannot.
1965 Guardian 3 Dec. 15/3 Willis won, off a handicap of half fifteen and a bisque, but only after two hard hours of toil.
half file n. Military a file consisting of half the number of troops in a full file.
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1616 J. Bingham in tr. Ælian Tactiks 137 By this Command the middle men with their halfe files march vp to the front, in the spaces betwixt the files, and stand euen with the File-leaders, and the rest euen with the rest of the Ranks.
1929 Classical Weekly 22 191 This increase in the file..enabled the front to be extended by a simple division of the file into two half-files.
2015 C. Matthew Invincible Beast xi. 258 A sixteen man file could also be divided into half files of eight.
† half-flat n. Obsolete (a) Metallurgy a flattened iron bar formed by further working of a half-bloom (half-bloom n.); (b) an apartment or flat occupying half a storey of a building; cf. flat n.2 1.
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1784 H. Cort Specif. Patent in Repertory of Arts (1795) 3 365 Anconies, bars, half flats.
1823 C. Mackenzie Five Thousand Receipts 34/2 The half-blooms [are] taken out and forged into anconies, bars, half-flats, and rods for wire.
1889 D. Masson in T. De Quincey Wks. I. Gen. Pref. 16 A half-flat set of apartments on the second floor of..a house of six such half-flats in all, accessible by a common stair.
half floor n. Shipbuilding (now chiefly historical) any of the paired timbers that meet or join over the keel and extend outwards so as to form the floor and unite the two sides of a frame; (also) such timbers joined to a central timber rather than meeting over the keel.
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1822 J. Fincham Direct. Laying off Ships 22 In this system the first futtock butts upon a cross timber, which extends equally on each side of the middle line; and instead of the common first futtock, timbers called half floors are used, which abutt on the middle line, or overlap each other with a short scarph.
1903 L. Hope Small Yacht Constr. & Rigging i. xiv. 134 The ends of half-floor timbers are dovetailed into the sills for half their moulded depth.
2013 J. Adams Maritime Archaeol. Ships vii. 165/2 The alternative was to form the ‘V’-shape required out of separate timbers or ‘half floors’.
half forty n. Real Tennis a handicap of two strokes given at the beginning of the first game, three strokes at the beginning of the second game, and so on, alternately, in all the subsequent games of a set.
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1875 Edinb. Rev. Jan. 78 Half forty is two and three strokes alternately.
1935 Irish Times 20 Sept. 4/3 If he is out for his first effort..give him half forty. Secure in the knowledge of his pocketed points, he will bring out his best shots.
† half furnace n. Metallurgy Obsolete a small blast furnace.
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1862 Internat. Exhib.: Kingdom of Italy: Official Descr. Catal. 22/1 These works contain..four small blast furnaces (half furnace), for ore smelting.
1869 T. Egleston Tables Illustr. Metall. Lect. 8 Furnaces arranged according to height. High or blast furnaces more than 8m. Half furnaces..4–8m. Cupolas..2–4m.
half gale n. Meteorology a fairly strong wind; spec. a wind of force 7 on the Beaufort scale (see near gale n.).Cf. to blow half a gale at Phrases 3.
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1825 Morning Herald 28 July At ten minutes to four o'clock, the balloon ascended upon what sailors call a half gale, that pressed it forward steadily in a north-east direction, upon an inclination equivalent to a sun beam of the instant.
1926 T. E. Lawrence Seven Pillars (subscribers' ed.) xliii. 228 By noon it blew a half-gale, so dry that our shrivelled lips cracked open, and the skin of our faces chapped.
2016 Times (Nexis) 3 Dec. 17 Once we were through the dunes and heading down the beach, we had a half gale in our faces.
half-gauze n. a fabric composed partly of gauze and partly of plain weave.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [noun] > made from specific types of yarn
mixed cloth1696
slub1958
bouclé1960
1760 R. Symmer in Philos. Trans. 1759 (Royal Soc.) 51 360 The sort I fixed upon, is what is called half gauze.
1889 E. A. Posselt Technol. Textile Design 231 A fabric which is actually a combination of plain and gauze and is technically known as leno, or half-gauze.
1919 Textiles Jan. 21/1 The half gauze, commonly termed a top doup.
1963 Financial Times 6 June 24/4 A highly accomplished use of half-gauzes and projections to achieve instantaneous scene-shifts.
half-gerund n. Grammar (Henry Sweet's term for) the -ing form of the English verb when used with a function intermediate between that of the present participle and that of the gerund, e.g. in to prevent the ladies leaving us or she caught cold sitting on the damp grass.
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the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > noun > [noun] > nouns derived from verbs
supinec1450
gerundive1483
verbal nouna1504
overthrown?1533
gerund1542
verbal substantive1570
1898 H. Sweet New Eng. Gram. II. 121 The absence of a distinction between common case and genitive in the plural often makes it impossible in the spoken language to distinguish between gerund and half-gerund, as in to prevent the ladies leaving us, I generally ordered the table to be removed.., where the..alteration of ladies into ladies' would make leaving into a full gerund.
2013 B. Kortmann Free Adjuncts & Absolutes in Eng. i. 13 In these sentences the -ing form, sometimes related [sic] to as half-gerund..in traditional grammars, is still felt to be participial.
half hand n. U.S. (now historical) an agricultural labourer (esp. one who is enslaved) who is allotted half the full or normal amount of labour on a plantation.
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1833 G. R. Porter Tropical Agriculturist 40 In the practical operation of this system some negroes are considered as being full hands, others as three-quarter hands, others again as half hands, and the young and the feeble as only quarter hands.
1864 W. Sweet Let. 7 Dec. in J. H. Easterby S. Carolina Rice Plantation 319 Women turning land 6 men 8 half hands cuting and flating wood.
1997 Jrnl. Women's Hist Spring 22 Freedwomen's..intent to decrease the amount of agricultural labor they performed for planters was demonstrated by contracting not as prime or full hands, but as three-quarter or half hands.
half-hatchet n. a hatchet with a blade whose profile is straight at the top and widens only on the side nearest the hand.
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1878 W. H. Maher On Road to Riches iii. 16 We have shingling, claw, lathing, and half hatchets.
2000 Washington Post (Nexis) 12 Oct. g2 Assorted items from an estate, including a cast-iron fireplace liner, door knobs, pie-safe flats, skill saws, drills, wooden molding planes, half-hatchets and other unusual tools will be available this year.
half-head n. and adj. now historical (a) n. (apparently) (on a bed or bedstead) a canopy which only covers the head end; (b) adj. (apparently) designating a bed or bedstead with a canopy which only covers the head end; = half-headed adj. 1.Alternative explanations of this term have been proposed: see, e.g., quot. 1899.
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1564 in F. G. Emmison Essex Wills (1993) (modernized text) VIII. 74 A bedsteadle with a half head.
1598 Inv. King's Coll. in R. Willis & J. W. Clark Archit. Hist. Univ. Cambr. (1886) III. 325 Item a halfe head bedsteade of walnuttree.
1602 in F. G. Emmison Essex Wills (1990) (modernized text) VII. 142 2 flock beds with half-heads.
1700 Case J. Haviland (single sheet) 2/1 One Half-head Bedstead, with the Cord and Mat.
1861 Sheffield & Rotherham Independent 12 Jan. 4/3 Sold by Auction..Half-head Bed, very handsome Tudor Iron Bedsteads, [etc.].
1899 B. W. Green Word-bk. Virginia Folk-speech 175 Halfhead bedstead, a bedstead with posts lower than the headboard, not as high as a teaster [sic].
1966 F. Hill Georgian Lincoln vi. 161 When Widow York went into the house she took with her one half-head bedstead.
half-header n. a half-brick used to close the work at the end of a course.
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1854 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 8) V. 731/2 This difficulty is obviated by cutting a brick longitudinally into two equal parts, which are called half headers.
1938 W. B. McKay Building Constr. I. 4/2 The King Closer..is formed by removing a corner and leaving half-header and half-stretcher faces.
2015 J. S. Curl Oxf. Dict. Archit. (ed. 3) 108/8 Closer, brick cut or moulded lengthways, exposing an uncut stretcher-face and a half-header, used to close the course at the return.
half-hit n. Cricket a shot that falls short of the intended distance owing to imperfect timing or inadequate power.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > batting > [noun] > types of stroke
long ball1744
nip1752
catch1816
no-hit1827
cut1833
short hit1833
draw1836
drive1836
square hit1837
skylarker1839
skyer1840
skyscraper1842
back-cut1845
bum1845
leg sweep1846
slog1846
square cut1850
driver1851
Harrow drive1851
leg slip1852
poke1853
snick1857
snorter1859
leg stroke1860
smite1861
on-drive1862
bump ball1864
rocketer1864
pull1865
grass trimmer1867
late cut1867
off-drive1867
spoon1871
push1873
push stroke1873
smack1875
Harrow drive1877
pull-stroke1880
leg glance1883
gallery-hit1884
boundary-stroke1887
glide1888
sweep1888
boundary1896
hook1896
leg glide1896
backstroke1897
flick1897
hook stroke1897
cover-drive1898
straight drive1898
square drive1900
edger1905
pull-drive1905
slash1906
placing stroke1907
push drive1912
block shot1915
if-shot1920
placing shot1921
cow-shot1922
mow1925
Chinese cut1937
haymaker1954
hoick1954
perhapser1954
air shot1956
steepler1959
mishook1961
swish1963
chop-
1884 Morning Post 19 May 2/5 The Oxford captain, after making one or two half-hits, settled down with great pluck and spirit.
1900 W. A. Bettesworth Walkers of Southgate 41 Mr. R. D. Walker, who was fielding in a nondescript sort of place for a half hit, brought off a brilliant catch.
2004 Irish Times 28 June (Sports Suppl.) 8/6 Battling his way through an indifferent hour or so of mistimings, half-hits and generally scratchy batting.
half-hoop adj. and n. [compare hoop n.1 7] (a) adj. designating a ring, headband, etc., set with precious stones around half of its circumference; (b) n. a ring of this kind.
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1775 Gazetteer & New Daily Advertiser 30 Aug. A half hoop ring with seven brilliants.
1902 Daily Chron. 14 June 10/4 The hair..is surmounted by a half-hoop diadem encrusted with precious stones.
1928 R. Hall Well of Loneliness xxi. 198 I made your mother's engagement ring for him; a large half-hoop of very fine diamonds.
2013 Weekend Austral. (Nexis) 29 June (Review section) 8 Holloway is seeing intricate half-hoop diamond rings coming back into fashion.
half-hose n. (originally) †short breeches (obsolete); (subsequently) short stockings or socks.
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1580 G. Harvey in E. Spenser & G. Harvey Three Proper & Wittie Lett. 36 Largebelled Kodpeasd Dublet, vnkodpeased halfe hose.
1674 S. Speed Fragmenta Carceris sig. F2 Some came with Shooes, that fear'd to touch the ground; Some with half-hose, to shew their shins were sound.
1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. III. 588 Lambs-wool and Cashmere hose and half-hose.
1927 T. Woodhouse Artificial Silk: Manuf. & Uses 83 Enormous lengths were machine-knitted into hose and half-hose.
2013 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 21 Sept. (Weekend section) 11 A fine example of the gentlemen's half-hose in subdued black, earth or grey.
half-house n. †(a) a shed open at the side, a hovel (Obsolete); (b) Scottish a semi-detached house; (c) North American (with reference to the colonial style of architecture) a house of a width roughly half that of a typical house.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > outhouse(s) > [noun] > types of
skilling1389
haghouse1400
hovel1435
back shed1535
cot-house1606
boorachc1660
linhay1695
spring house1755
woodshed1764
cookhouse1802
tool-house1817
shed1855
drive shed1869
1737 H. Bracken Farriery Improved xliv. 582 A Hovel or half-House for them to run into.
1889 Bon-accord 2 Mar. 11 To be sold or let, two half houses at Mannofield.
1970 D. Doane Bk. Cape Cod Houses 20 The half house consists of the keeping room, buttery, borning room, and parlor just described.
1992 D. Toulmin Coll. Short Stories 253 Badgie Summers lived in the nearest half-house.
2012 N.Y. Mag. 6 Aug. 58 The home had initially been constructed as a ‘half-house’: a Colonial-period layout that made future expansions relatively easy.
† half-hunt n. Campanology Obsolete a bell whose prescribed movement relative to the (whole) hunt bell enables a sequence of changes to be defined (see hunt n.2 3).
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1668 Tintinnalogia 21 Now the half Hunt is to be hunted down under one Bell.
1702 J. D. & C. M. Campanalogia Improved 19 The Half hunt having finished its Course by Hunting over all the Bells, an Extream is then made.
1881 J. J. Raven Church Bells Cambridgeshire (ed. 2) 82 The second is called the ‘half-hunt’, though it comes in for a very limited share of the sport.
half-iron shot adj. Golf designating an iron shot played with a half swing.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > golf > [noun] > types of shot or stroke
putta1754
like1790
drive1829
tee-shot1850
gobble1857
push shot1865
iron shot1870
push stroke1873
drive-off1884
slice1886
raker1888
foozle1890
hook1890
iron1890
top1890
sclaff1893
brassy shot1894
run1894
chip shot1899
chip1903
pull1903
skimmer1903
draw shot1904
brassy1906
pitch-and-run1908
windcheater1909
air shot1920
chip-in1921
explosion1924
downhiller1925
blast1927
driver1927
shank1927
socket1927
recovery1937
whiff1952
pinsplitter1961
comebacker1965
bump-and-run1981
1881 Dundee Courier & Argus 7 Nov. A dense mist spread from the river, and so enshrouded the Inch that the man at the hole was often invisible at the distance of a half iron shot.
1895 H. G. Hutchinson Golf (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) (ed. 5) iv. 143 The attitude..for the half-iron stroke.
2006 N.Y. Post (Nexis) 17 June 54 I didn't see him really try to play the little three-quarter, half-iron shots he always hits when he's winning.
† half-labour n. Scottish Obsolete a method of cultivating land in which the landlord supplied the seed and the tenant and landlord shared the crop; = half-foot n. 3.
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1805 R. Forsyth Beauties Scotl. II. 443 The rent was frequently paid in kind, or in what was called half-labour... One-half of the crop went to the landlord.
half-landing n. a small landing between two short flights in a staircase, esp. where the stairs turn and ascend in another direction; = half-pace landing.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > stairs > [noun] > landing
half-pace1611
landing-place1611
rest1611
resting place1645
plate1661
hearth-pacec1675
foot pace1679
stand1709
flat1730
quarter-pace1730
landing1789
landing floor1856
1800 J. Malton Young Painter's Maulstick 26 The half-landing, on which there is a window to light the staircase.
1910 Daily Chron. 1 Feb. 1/1 I saw the proprietor,..perched on the half-landing of the stairs.
2002 S. Perera Do Right Thing 38 Four steps down from the top floor was a half-landing with a bathroom.
half-lattice girder n. a girder consisting of a single system or row of triangles; a Warren girder (see Warren n.2).
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1858 W. J. M. Rankine Man. Appl. Mech. ii. ii. 160 In a lattice girder, as in a half-lattice girder, there are a horizontal upper and lower bar; but whereas a half-lattice girder contains but one zig-zag set of diagonal bars, a lattice girder contains two or more sets.
1920 D. A. Low Pocket-Bk. Mech. Engineers 288 The adjacent figure shows the stress diagram for a Warren girder or half-lattice girder carrying a single load AB concentrated at one of the joints in the top boom.
1993 J. S. Scott Dict. Civil Engin. (ed. 4) 208/2 Half-lattice girder, a Warren girder.
half-lichen n. any of various ascomycete fungi which live in association with an alga as a parasite.A lichen is formed when a fungus lives in association with an alga as a symbiont. [After German Halbflechte (H. Zukal 1891, in Flora 74 92, as cited in quot. 1892).]
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1892 Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 19 132 In Flora 1891, pp. 92-107, is an article by H. Zukal on ‘Halbflechten’ or half-lichens.
1902 D. H. Campbell Text-bk. Bot. 188 Sphæria lemaneæ and Thermutis velutina are examples of the Half-lichens.
1990 Bryologist 93 513/1 New records indicate that this ‘half-lichen’ may not be as rare as previously thought.
half-lift n. (in Old English verse) a medium-stressed lift (see lift n.2 5f).
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society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > versification > rhythm > [noun] > beat > half-stress
half-stress1877
half-lift1894
1894 H. Sweet Anglo-Saxon Reader (new ed.) p. xc To make up for the want of an accompanying dip, an extra medium-stressed half-lift is made obligatory.
2007 Jrnl. Eng. & Germanic Philol. 106 168 With middangeard creating a nonalliterating half-lift that rhymes across the caesura with weard.
half-line n. half of a line of text or (esp.) verse; used spec. in relation to the verse of Old English and other medieval Germanic languages.
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society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > part of poem > [noun] > line > subdivision of line > half-line
hemistich?1578
section1838
half1892
1609 J. Boys Expos. Princ. Script. 107 Let the Nouelists here blush, who calumniously censure our Church for omitting in the proeme of the Decalogue one halfe line: when as themselues in their owne Communion bookes haue left out all the whole law.
1612 T. Heywood Apol. for Actors sig. G3 Infinite faults..as misquotations, mistaking of sillables, misplacing half lines, coining of strange and neuer heard of words.
1730 L. Welsted & J. M. Smythe One Epist. to Pope 10 The Bard! that..plunder'd every Dunce that writ before, Catching half lines, till the tun'd Verse went round, Complete, in smooth dull Unity of Sound.
1864 H. Morley Eng. Writers I. 251 The most important is a heroic poem..extending..to 6357 of the short Anglo-Saxon lines, or half lines, as they are usually printed.
1927 E. V. Gordon Introd. Old Norse 293 In ON. tradition the unit verse was not the long line, but the half-line, which was called a vísa or line.
2011 M. McGillivray Gentle Introd. Old Eng. xii The half-lines were only occasionally, and then as a kind of extra fancy patterning, connected with rhyme.
† half-margin n. (and adv.) Obsolete a format for written material in which the page is divided into two vertical columns, one of which is typically used for headings or notes identifying matter in the other; (also) either of these columns, usually the main one; also (and earliest) as adv. (e.g. they are written half-margin).
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1796 W. Cobbett tr. M. L. E. Moreau de Saint-Méry Topogr. & Polit. Descr. Saint-Domingo II. 14 When the president writes to the king or to the Council of the Indies, he ought to do it in distinguishing the different subjects of the dispatches, which are written half-margin; notes in one column point out what is treated of in the other.
1829 H. Grant Pract. High Court Chancery (ed. 2) I. liv. 253 The copy is made by the solicitor, thus: the title of the cause is first copied, verbatim, in the inner or half margin of brief paper bookways; then, in the common or outer quarter margin.
1851 Orders & Regulations Royal Engineers (rev. ed.) iii. 13 All Official Letters for the Inspector-General are..to be written on half margin.
1928 C. G. Crump Hist. & Hist. Res. iv. 148 The plan..might take the form of a continuous statement of the proposed divisions of the subject written on half-margin, with the references to the notes to be used entered on the margin.
half-mask n. a mask covering part of the face (usually including the area round the eyes); formerly one worn with a domino (domino n. 1a).
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a1685 M. Evelyn Mundus Muliebris (1690) 18 Loo Maske, an half Mask.
1711 E. Ward Life Don Quixote iv. xvi. 301 Half Masks their Faces did disguise.
1839 W. H. Ainsworth Jack Sheppard I. i. ii. 55 Blueskin..turning..beheld a young female, whose features were partially concealed by a loo, or half mask, standing beside him.
1938 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 12 June 10 b/1 But the typical burglar of that era, with his black half-mask, swag bag and dark lantern, is as quaint a figure today as a town crier or a village blacksmith.
2015 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 3 Apr. c24 A bottle blonde, she also wore a black half-mask with a witch's beaked nose.
† half-member n. Obsolete a semicolon.
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1700 A. Lane Key to Art of Lett. 111 A Semi-Colon or half Member is put between a whole Member and a half Member, that is between a compound Sentence, and a single Sentence following it.
1762 R. Lowth Short Introd. Eng. Gram. (1838) 195 The Semicolon, or Half-member, is a less constructive part, or subdivision, of a sentence or member.
1859 G. Brown Gram. of Eng. Gram. (ed. 4) iv. i. 772 The semicolon, half member, or half limb, is the greatest division of a colon, and is properly a smaller constructive part.
half-merlon n. Fortification (now historical) the solid portion of a parapet which is at the right or left extremity of a battery.
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1809 L. de Tousard Amer. Artillerist's Compan. II. viii. 264 Neither would the shot, which destroyed part of one side of the battery, have stopped the fire; and, by increasing the half merlon, such effect would be no more apprehended in that part.
1982 Iran 20 108 This fortress is further distinctive in that the towers are crowned by half-merlons, the curtain walls by triangular battlements.
2001 B. Farwell Encycl. 19th-cent. Land Warfare 382/2 Half Merlon, the merlon at the end of a parapet.
† half-mounting n. Military Obsolete (originally) the underclothing and minor articles of clothing (e.g. shirt, stock, hose, and shoes) belonging to a soldier's outfit; (in later use, in the British Army in India and among certain army pensioners) uniform.
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1706 Ld. Cutts Let. 19 Nov. in Hist. MSS Comm.: 15th Rep.: App. Pt. IV: MSS Duke of Portland (1897) IV. 353 in Parl. Papers (C. 8497) XLIX. 1 I farther find, upon examining his clothier here, that in his halfmounting, he has not bespoke half his due complement.
1711 Mem. Visct. Dundee 62 The King of France allows his Soldiers Half-mounting, and every Captain fifty Pistoles to make his Campaign.
1800 War Office Order 9 Apr. in F. Grose Mil. Antiq. Hist. Eng. Army (1801) II. 186 In lieu of the former articles of cloathing, called half-mounting, two pair of good shoes of the value of five shillings and sixpence each pair.
1872 R. D. Lyons Treat. on Relapsing Fever xiii. 263 He [sc. the sepoy] has to provide himself out of his pay with many necessaries, such as his half-mounting or summer clothing, his boots, and various other articles.
1892 Times 4 Aug. 2/5 Tenders from such persons as may be willing to contract for the supply of clothing to the In-Pensioners of the Hospital for two years, viz:—Whole Mounting for the year 1893. Half-mounting for the year 1894.
1905 Financial Statem. 1905–6 (Government of India Finance Dept.) 98 The sepoy now receives from Government..an annual half-mounting allowance for the provision and up-keep of his khaki uniform and certain other articles classed as necessaries.
half-move n. Chess a single move by White or Black (as distinct from a full move, one by each side) during the course of a game, esp. as described in a chess puzzle or calculated by a computer program; cf. ply n. 5.
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society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > chess > [noun] > move > type of move
neck1557
stroke1735
key1845
forced move1847
key-move1847
fianchetto1848
queening1860
pinning1900
mutate1922
valve1930
zwischenzug1941
1860 M. J. Hazeltine Beadle's Dime Chess Instructor 25 The piece moved does not give the attack, but uncovers it from a piece behind. The next three half moves elicit nothing new.
1958 Sci. Amer. June 105/2 Even with much faster computers..it will be impracticable to consider more than about six half-moves ahead.
1984 Oxf. Compan. Chess 227/1 A move made by one player is called a single-move and not a half-move, a term used occasionally for trick problems better called puzzles.
2008 G. M. Danelishen Final Theory Chess 7 The vast majority of chess players do not feel White's initial half-move advantage is sufficient for a win.
† half-one n. Golf Obsolete a handicap of a stroke deducted every second hole.
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1867 Poems on Golf 30 Davie, oldest of the cads, Who gives half-one to unsuspicious lads, When he might give them two, or even more.
1881 R. Forgan Golfer's Handbk. 60 Half-one, a handicap of a stroke deducted every second hole.
half-pass n. Dressage a step by which the legs of the horse on one side pass and cross in front of the legs on the side to which the horse is moving.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > special movements performed by trained horse > [noun] > sideways movement
passaging1833
1929 Man. Horsemastership (War Office) ii. 115 The bending lesson includes..the ‘half passage’ or ‘half pass’... In all lateral movements the forehand must slightly precede the hind quarters.
2014 A. Kottas-Heldenberg & A. Fitzpatrick Dressage Solutions iii. 37 Lateral work will help improve suppleness... As he improves, half-passes and pirouettes can also be added.
half period n. (a) the interval taken to complete half a cycle of a periodic physical phenomenon or mathematical function; (b) (Nuclear Physics) the time taken for radioactivity to fall to half the initial level (cf. half-life n. 2a).
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the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > radioactive isotope > radioactive nuclide > [noun] > average duration > time of decrease
1749 R. Smith Harmonics 281 The several dislocations..at the ends of the subsequent short cycles of the octaves and unisons, are equal respectively..throughout their half periods, which are therefore equally harmonious.
1879 A. Cayley Coll. Math. Papers X. 468 The theta-functions have the quarter-periods (1, 1), the half-periods (2, 2), and the whole periods (4, 4).
1905 Nature 13 Apr. 574/1 Different samples gave for the half-period of decay from 52 to 55 seconds.
1942 J. D. Stranathan ‘Particles’ of Mod. Physics xi. 448 One product of the nuclear disruption was a Ba isotope having a half period of 86 minutes.
2017 Jrnl. Coastal Res. 33 1312/1 The tide-dominated regime studied herein prevails during spring tides in absence of wind and resembles, during each half period of the tide, a channel flow.
half piece n. an object which is half the size, weight, value, etc., of a full or usual piece (esp. of cloth); spec. (the value of) a coin worth half of a standard denomination.
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1448 Plea & Mem. Rolls London Guildhall No. A.74.8r (MED) An half of the seid troy weyght ffor ix bales ffustyans callid Osburghs, euery bale conteynyng xlv half pecis ffustyans.
c1503 R. Arnold Chron. f. lxxviijv/1 A balle bultell conteyneth xxxvi half pecis.
1668 F. Kirkman Eng. Rogue II. xxvii. 186 He gave me the sight likewise of pieces of eight, half pieces, and quarter pieces.
1822 Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 26 Oct. 3/5 40 bales Madras Goods, as follows:—Comboys, whole and half pieces, Niccanees, Succatoons, Mooreas, Salempores, entitled to debenture.
1913 L. F. Salzman Eng. Industries Middle Ages x. 188 The list of standard measures [for ale] kept at Beverley in 1423 shows a potell, quart, pint, and gill of pewter, panyers, hopir, modius, firthindal, piece, and half-piece of wood.
1986 J. E. Stambaugh & D. L. Balch New Test. in Social Environment iii. 80 The as [sc. a Roman coin] was broken down into a half piece (the semis) and quarter piece (the quadrans).
half-pin n. Chess a position in which two pieces of the same colour are positioned on a line between their own king and an opposing queen, rook, or bishop, so that moving either of the two from that line would leave the other one pinned against the king; a chess problem in which such a position features, esp. one in which a checkmate resulting from either piece moving depends on the fact that the remaining piece is pinned.Such positions can easily occur in games, but the term half-pin is used almost exclusively with reference to chess problems.Cf. slightly earlier half-pinned adj.
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society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > chess > [noun] > positions
stale1423
wardc1475
stalemate1765
Zugzwang1904
interference1913
1917 Good Compan. Chess Probl. Club 1 Jan. 73 A splendid and original example of the popular half-pin.
1926 G. Hume & A. C. White Weenink's Chess Probl. 71 By a Half-pin is understood an arrangement where two Black pieces stand in line in such a way that if either one moves the other becomes pinned by a White piece which has been standing behind both of them waiting to exert its pinning powers.
2015 Independent (Nexis) 5 Oct. 42 In addition to the half-pin there is another structure involving the b6-rook and the two pawns between it and the black king.
half-pinned adj. Chess (of a piece) subject to a half-pin.
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1915 Hampshire Tel. & Post 10 Dec. 8/8 Problem Notes. No. 422, by C. Mansfield, is a highly original work, containing a number of strategic and complex variations. The ‘half-pinned’ black pieces, to use a term suggested by the author, put up a lively defence, and the manner in which they pin each other and obstruct other B pieces is extraordinary.
2007 Independent (Nexis) 6 Aug. (Extra section) 23 The Black bishop and knight are ‘half-pinned’—when one moves the other is left in a pin that White can exploit.
half-pinner n. Chess a problem featuring one or more half-pins.
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1921 ‘Our Folder’: Good Compan. Chess Probl. Club Internat. Oct. 5 A fine half-pinner with a flight and a cross-check.
1984 Brit. Chess Mag. Oct. 538/1 (Barnes) 1Nxf4. Masterly reconstruction of this half-pinner plus dual avoidance (MM). Pointed dual-avoidance in half-pin variations (DAS).
half-plane n. Mathematics either of the two parts into which a plane is divided by a straight line; cf. plane n.3 1a.
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the world > relative properties > number > geometry > surface > [noun] > part of
zone1795
sheeta1831
1848 Mem. & Proc. Chem. Soc. London 1845–8 3 503 The vertical half plane and axis may be placed at any position upon the equatorial plane.
1927 H. G. Forder Found. Euclidean Geom. iii. 68 The regions into which a line a separates a plane ω in which it lies are the ‘half-planes from a in ω’.
1968 P. A. P. Moran Introd. Probability Theory x. 473 In the cases considered the domain is a rectangle, an infinite strip, a half-plane, or infinite quadrant.
2013 College Math. Jrnl. 44 194 The center of such a circle moves away from XY along the perpendicular bisector, its radius increases, and the circle approaches the half-plane determined by the line through XY.
half-point n. Nautical a direction halfway between two adjacent points of the compass; an angular interval equal to half the angle between adjacent points of the compass, corresponding to 5° 37' 30" or the 64th part of a circle; cf. quarter point n.
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1600 J. Davis in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (new ed.) III. 118 Course..E. halfe point north.
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. iv. iii. 149 (heading) A traverse-table for every point, half-point, and quarter-point of the compass.
1795 C. Hutton Math. & Philos. Dict. I. 314/1 Each point of the compass contains the 32d part of 360, that is 11¼ degrees, or 11° 15′; consequently the half point is 5° 37′ 30″, and the quarter point 2° 48′ 45″.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Half-point, a subdivision of the compass card, equal to 5° 37′ of the circle.
2016 J. Goldrick in G. Kennedy Britain's War at Sea 1914–18 vii. 135 The ‘target’ unit..was very likely steering a course which was either based on a point or half-point of the compass.
half-port n. Nautical (now historical) a type of shutter for a gun port (see quot. 1823).
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > other parts of body of vessel > [noun] > opening in side of vessel > for gun > partial cover for
half-port1704
1704 A. Boyer Hist. Reign Queen Anne: Year the Second App. 9 The Ship received at that time a Sea on her Starboard-side, which beat over all, broke and washed several half Ports, and forced in the entering Port.
1823 G. Crabb Universal Technol. Dict. at Ports Half-ports, a kind of shutters with circular holes in their centre large enough to go over the muzzles of the guns.
1976 D. Pope Ramage's Diamond v. 96 Make sure the guns are unshotted, Mr Johnson, get the half-ports off, and make ready for the salute.
half-press n. Printing (now historical) the working of a printing press by a single printer rather than the customary team of two.
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1808 C. Stower Printer's Gram. 526 Half-press, when but one man works at the press.
2007 M. Winship in S. E. Casper et al. Hist. of Bk. in Amer. III. i. 54 Typically, two pressmen operated the press, one of them responsible for handling the sheets of paper and making the impression, and the other for inking the type. Often, however, a single pressman worked at ‘half press’ to perform both operations.
half-principal n. Building (now rare) a rafter which does not extend to the crown of the roof and is supported by a purlin; cf. principal n. 6.
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1847 E. L. Blackburne Sketches Hist. Decorative Painting Eng. Archit. 88 In the same room is an oak panelled ceiling, on which much of the old painting remains. It is framed in four panels, rising slightly to a ridge, with a kind of half principal, with hanging brackets at each end, against the north and south walls... The half principals and brackets are curiously painted, and are crowned with a carved crest.
1917 Cassier's Engin. Monthly Aug. 89/2 The main structure is sufficiently extended upwards to support also the half principals of the roof.
1958 Chambers's Techn. Dict. (ed. 3) 399 Half-principal, a short rafter which does not reach the ridge of a roof.
half-pull n. Campanology a single stroke (handstroke or backstroke) used in a sequence of changes (now constituting the usual method of ringing, in contrast to the whole pull: see whole pull n. at whole adj., n., and adv. Compounds 1b).
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society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > playing instruments > bell-ringing > [noun] > going through all the changes > changes > specific
set peal16..
grandsire1668
whole pull1668
bob1671
peal1671
course1677
set changes1677
single1684
single change1688
Plain Bob1702
Stedman1731
Superlative Surprise1788
touch1788
triple1798
triple bob major1809
maximus1813
royal1813
call changes1837
slam1854
cater1872
cinques1872
triple change1872
plain hunt1874
plain hunting1874
quarter peal1888
method1901
short course1904
1668 Tintinnalogia 55 In Ringing Half-pulls, some Peals do cut Compass, that is—the whole hunt comes to lead at the Back-stroke.
1788 W. Jones et al. Key Art of Ringing 9 As the first half-pull sets the bell up at back-stroke..; so the next half-pull brings her at hand or fore-stroke, which is the position we suppose her to have set off from.
1962 G. E. Evans Ask Fellows who cut Hay (ed. 2) xviii. 142 The advantages of the full wheel or half-pull system is that the bell is better balanced and..that the ringer gets fore and back strokes, as they are called.
2009 L. Harry Springtime in Burracombe (e-book ed.) Changing every half-pull—stands to reason they can't give the same concentration to their striking.
half-relief n. a method of moulding, carving, or stamping in relief a design in which figures project from the plane surface to half their actual depth in the round; = demi-relief n. at demi- prefix 12a; (also) a sculpture or carving in half relief.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > [noun] > relief > half-relief
mezzo-relievo1598
semi-relief1703
demi-relief1874
1667 R. L'Estrange tr. F. de Quevedo Visions iv. 115 The Pedestals, Bases, Columns, Cornishes, Capitals, Architraves, Freezes (and in short the whole Front of the Fabrick) was Beautified with Imaginary Trophies, and Triumphs of Love, in Half Relief [Sp. in medio relieue].
1760 Mod. Part Universal Hist. XIX. xviii. vii. 12 Among the few artificial rarities..we may reckon the two marble heads in half-relief, much larger than the life.
1870 Baedeker's Handbk. Travellers Rhine (ed. 4) 124 The half-reliefs on the pedestal are emblematic of his literary activity.
1907 E. Ingersoll Handy Guide to New York City xi. 200 It contains some bad half-reliefs upon its interior faces.
1970 R. Barber Knight & Chivalry (1974) iv. xvii. 278 There stood a twenty-foot high golden mosaic in half-relief of her.
2016 Day (New London, Connecticut) (Nexis) 25 Dec. The sculpture is a half-relief with no base other than the posts of the grapevine rows, which creates negative space and a bit of a gravitational challenge.
half rest n. Music (now U.S.) a minim rest.
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1574 F. Kinwelmersh tr. A. Le Roy Briefe Instr. Musicke Lute sig. Bv After the marke of repetition, in the twelfth and eightenth distaunce, there be twoo markes..without any letter vnderneth in Tablature, whiche signifieth so many halfe restes..in the Musick.
c1851 H. W. Greatorex Coll. Psalm & Hymn Tunes p. v/2 Half rest,..quarter Rest,..eighth rest,..sixteenth rest.
2008 Music Perception 26 162/2 Melodies were in 4/4 meter, contained only quarter notes, half notes, quarter rests, and half rests.
half-rip n. a fine-toothed ripsaw (see ripsaw n. and cf. rip n.3 2); also more fully half-rip saw.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > saw > [noun] > for cutting wood > ripping
ripper1659
ripping saw1799
ripsaw1799
rip1986
1840 Mechanics' Mag. 15 Feb. 347/1 By this means from a dovetail saw to a half rip may be properly set.
1869 Cassell's Househ. Guide (1870) I. 43/1 The half-rip saw is of the same shape and form of teeth as the rip, but altogether smaller.
1905 J. Wright Home Mechanic v. 71 The half rip..has larger teeth with less set than the cross cut, and smaller teeth with more set than the rip saw.
2005 R. Laughton Success with Joints Introd. 16 A small ripsaw, sometimes called a half-rip, is the preferred tool for cutting along the grain.
† half-ripper n. Obsolete a fine-toothed ripsaw; = half-rip n.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > saw > [noun] > for cutting wood > ripping
ripper1659
ripping saw1799
ripsaw1799
rip1986
1819 P. Nicholson Archit. Dict. II. 682/2 The half-ripper is also used for dividing wood in the direction of the fibres.
1841 Penny Cycl. XX. 476/2 The ripping-saw, half-ripper, hand-saw..are saws for the use of one person.
half-roll n. Aeronautics a manoeuvre in which an aircraft turns through 180° about the longitudinal axis.
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society > travel > air or space travel > action of flying (in) aircraft > aerobatics > [noun] > stunt > specific
loop1900
looping1914
barrel roll1917
falling leaf1917
renversement1918
vrille1918
slow roll1923
slow-rolling1923
aileron roll1924
flick roll1928
wing-over1928
lazy eight1930
bunt1932
aileron turn1942
victory roll1942
rollover1945
twinkle roll1962
rollback1978
1914 N.Y. Times 19 Apr. 3/3 Niles sent the monoplane going with such force that after hanging for a moment upside down it made another half roll sidewise and brought up in its first position.
1934 V. M. Yeates Winged Victory i. iii. 29 The same with the half-roll. Nothing would half-roll like a Camel. A twitch of the stick and flick of the rudder and you were on your back.
2001 USA Today (Nexis) 20 Nov. 1 a Just as we reach the top of that climb, Webster spins the jet into a half-roll—turning the plane 180 degrees so we were upside down—and then spins it back.
half royal adj. and n. (designating) paper or stiff board of approximately half the size of royal paper (see royal adj. 11a).
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1829 G. Cowie Bookbinder's Man. (table) Small half royal... Large half royal.
1947 D. Hunter Papermaking (ed. 2) iv. 138 Royal, 19 by 24 writing paper; 20 by 25 printing paper. Also Double Royal, Half Royal, Super Royal, Extra Royal, etc. Formerly watermarked with an ornamental shield surmounted by a fleur-de-lis.
2010 J. Brooks Master Drawings Close-up 102/3 Half royal = 16 x 11 in.
† half sap n. Fortification Obsolete = demi-sap n.
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1710 London Gaz. No. 4721/1 We shall be obliged to finish it by the half Sap.
1800 tr. Officer's Man. in Field (ed. 2) 52 The Half Sap perfectly resembles the former in point of Form, but varies from it in this Respect, that the Gabions are first placed on the Line, which is to be followed, and are then to be filled by the Sappers one after another.
half-shade n. a shade intermediate between light and dark, esp. one halfway between the lightest and darkest shades represented in (part of) a painting; also in extended use.
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1725 J. C. Le Blon Coloritto iii. 16 (heading) To find out, or to compose your Mezzatinta, or Half Shade.
1874 R. St. J. Tyrwhitt Our Sketching Club 240 Paint the half-shades in first.
1904 in M. Marks Home Arts Self-Teacher 224/2 Blend these well together, and then paint in the half-shades with the green or Neutral Tint.
1990 Gramophone May 1982/3 Crucial half-shades are at a premium throughout, and a fiercely reverberant acoustic means that the many bass-drum-and-cymbal-punctuated tuttis coarsen horribly.
halfshaft n. a shaft of half the normal size or length; (in later use) spec. each of a pair of shafts connecting the differential to the driven wheels of a motor vehicle (cf. driveshaft n.).
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1708 J. C. Compl. Collier 6 in T. Nourse Mistery of Husbandry Discover'd (ed. 3) Water which rises at the Coal-Shaft, may run into this Water or half Shaft, to be drawn there by Horses or Water Wheels.
1835 R. Willis Remarks Archit. Middle Ages vii. 94 Sometimes the sub-pier-arch rests on a pilaster instead of a half shaft.
1918 Irish Examiner 30 Jan. 2/3 (advt.) Motors and cycles. Ford Crown wheels, crankshafts, driving pinions, half shafts, roller bearings, brake shoes and bushings for sale.
1958 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 13 Sept. 687/2 If you want to be really independent, a half shaft and a coil should see you through any emergency.
2004 Indianapolis Star 31 May (State ed.) r14/1 Lazier retired from the race after 88 laps because his car had a broken right halfshaft.
half-sheet n. and adj. (a) n. a half piece of paper, especially one written or printed on; (b) adj. Printing designating the work and turn method of imposition (so called because the result is cut in half to produce two copies of a single sheet).
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society > communication > printing > paper > [noun] > sizes of
royal paper1497
small paper1497
sheet1510
demy1546
imperial1572
pot1579
quarto1580
grape1611
crown paper1620
foolscap1660
bastard1711
copy1712
crown1712
vigesimo-quarto1864
columbier1875
society > communication > printing > manner or style of printing > [noun] > printing with whole signature in one forme
half-sheet1683
1573 in T. Cartwright Replye to Answere Whitgifte (new ed.) 213 Heere I will take in that, whych the byshop of Salesbury hath in the last page of hys halfe sheete touching thys matter.
1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 234 In Half-sheets, all the Pages belonging to the White Paper and Reteration are Imposed in one Chase, and are plac'd, as you see by the Drafts..of Half-sheet Forms.
1852 E. Ruskin Let. 17 Apr. in Effie in Venice (1965) ii. 296 I was very grateful for..Papa's half sheet about the Ruskins.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. II. 1050/1 Half-sheet, the off-cut portion of a duodecimo.
1888 C. T. Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 56 Book-work is sometimes printed in ‘half-sheet’ fashion. When thus printed there are two copies on one sheet.
1964 F. Bowers Bibliogr. & Textual Crit. iv. ii. 109 The work-and-turn method of printing by half-sheet imposition.
2005 B. Ryder Painting Watercolor Landscapes 14/2 A half sheet will give you four boards.., and will also provide just the right size to take a half-imperial sheet of watercolour paper.
half-shift n. Music a position of the hand in playing instruments of the violin family lying between the open position and the first shift.
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1771 C. Burney tr. G. Tartini Let. to Maddalena Lombardini 7 The taking a violin part..and playing it upon the half-shift, that is, with the first finger upon G on the first string, and constantly keeping upon this shift.
1995 Musical Times 136 221/2 The advanced string-techniques in vogue when Monteverdi lived were easily sophisticated enough to reach to the half-shift, or third position as it is now called.
half-shoe n. (a) a shoe with an upper that covers only part of a person's foot; (b) a horseshoe covering only one side of a horse's hoof. [Compare German Halbschuh shoe (covering the foot but not the ankle, as opposed to a boot) (1540 or earlier).]
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1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Halfe shoes beynge of suche fashion, that aboue they couer but the toes.
1566 T. Blundeville True Arte Paring & Shooyng xxiv. 9 in Fower Offices Horsemanshippe First pare his toe so short as maye be, and pare the sole somewhat thin, and open the heeles wel, and make him a halfe shoe like a halfe Mone, fashioning & pearcing it lyke vnto the fygure hereafter expressed.
1796 S. Freeman Observ. Mechanism Horse's Foot i. 24 A race horse is so much benefited by the unrestrained power he has of exerting his feet, when only shod with half shoes.
1867 Felton's Greece, Anc. & Mod. I. 385 The wedding-dress for the gentleman consisted of a chiton of Milesian wool, a white himation, half-shoes with crimson thongs and clasps of gold.
1973 R. F. Wiseman Compl. Horseshoeing Guide (ed. 2) xi. 232 Small nails, such as No. 4 race-track nails, should be used, with five in each half-shoe.
2001 G. Nix Lirael i. 10 She swung her feet out and felt around with her toes for her half-shoes.
half-sibling n. each of two or more individuals having one parent in common. [After half-brother n. and half-sister n.]
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society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > sibling > [noun] > having one parent in common
1900 Proc. Royal Soc. 1899–1900 66 159 The great reduction in the degree of fraternal correlation when we turn from whole to half siblings is very remarkable.
1938 Jrnl. Royal Anthropol. Inst. 213 The mother allows the children to invite their half-siblings.
2017 Express (Nexis) 17 May 25 After a search that has consumed most of his life, this month Robert finally met the half-siblings he never knew he had.
half-silk n. a fabric woven from silk and another material, usually one with a main warp of linen and a weft of silk. [Compare post-classical Latin semisericum (15th cent. or earlier), semisericus (16th cent. in a British source), German Halbseide (1482).]
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [noun] > made from specific types of yarn
mixed cloth1696
slub1958
bouclé1960
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iv. xli. 320 They make carpets and coverings, and other exquisite workes, which last long, and have a very faire lustre, like halfe silke [Sp. media seda].
1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 66 Ladies, you are mistaken in the Stuff; 'tis half Silk.
1913 Times 27 June 26/3 Ribbons of all kinds from heavy Faille to Grège and half-silk.
2002 P. Clabburn Shawls 14 The manufacture of shawls had been ancillary to the ordinary weaving industries of mainly linen damasks in Edinburgh, worsteds and half-silks in Norwich, and muslins and gauzes in Paisley.
half-slip n. the lower half of a slip (see slip n.3 4c); a petticoat.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > underwear > [noun] > underskirt
wyliecoat1544
petticoata1616
under-petticoat1625
undercoat1740
dicky1753
slip1825
under-skirt1861
skirt1862
foundation1893
blouse slip1907
petti1915
skirty1922
slip-dress1964
1928 Lake County Times (Hammond, Indiana) 29 June (advt.) 9 Chemises, Bloomers, Princess Slips, Panties, Half-Slips and Dancettes of heavy Silk Crepe de Chines.
1952 H. Waugh Last seen Wearing (1953) 31 ‘What about her..undergarments?’ ‘Half-slip, pants, and bra.’
2014 Times (Nexis) 6 Sept. (Mag.) 11 Anne Bancroft in The Graduate..never looked hotter than in her leopard-print half-slip and bra.
half-space n. (a) a small landing between flights of a staircase; = half-pace n. 2; (b) Geometry either of the two parts into which a plane divides three-dimensional Euclidean space. [In sense (b), after French demi-espace (1884 or earlier).]
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > stairs > [noun] > landing
half-pace1611
landing-place1611
rest1611
resting place1645
plate1661
hearth-pacec1675
foot pace1679
stand1709
flat1730
quarter-pace1730
landing1789
landing floor1856
1681 Tryal S. Bethel sig. A The Old Artillery-House in Southwark, which is Ascended out of the Artillery Ground, by six or eight large Stone steps, with two half Spaces, the uppermost at the entrance into the House, being Banistered about, is so Capacious, as will hold a hundred persons or more.
1741 Hist. Don Alphonso Blas xii. 212 I received him at the half Space of the Stairs, made him enter the Room first, placed him in a great-armed Chair.
1894 Bull. N.Y. Math. Soc. 1 60 Picard then shows very briefly how the notion of connecting the theory of the substitution..with the theory of quadratic forms can be extended to obtain the substitutions for a half-space; analogous to those found for the half-plane.
1990 Q. Jrnl. Mech. & Appl. Math. 43 427 An infinite medium consisting of two semi-infinite half-spaces in welded contact is considered.
2007 A. J. Charlett Fund. Building Technol. xviii. 284 The designer may need to turn the stairway through 90° by the provision of a quarter space landing or 180° by the provision of a half space landing or 270° or even 360° by the combination of quarter space or half space landings.
2012 J. Stillwell Numbers & Geom. vii. 241 Reflection in a sphere is defined analogously to reflection in a circle..and gives a geometry of the half space analogous to the non-Euclidean geometry of the half plane.
half spacing n. (in printing, writing, or typing) the separation of letters, words, etc., with a half space.
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1895 E. D. Mills Mills Bk. Typewriter Forms 4 In writing address in letter it makes it more distinctive to use half spacing on roller, as it stands alone and should not run into the body of letter, as it so often does when full space is used.
2006 D. Ellen Sci. Exam. of Documents (ed. 3) vi. 110 Other lines will fall into place, or, if half spacing is employed, only alternate lines will be accurately positioned.
half-speed shaft n. Engineering (in a four-stroke internal combustion engine) a camshaft which is driven at half the speed of the crankshaft so as to open valves once in each cycle; = half-time shaft n. at half-time n., adv., and adj. Compounds 2.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > internal-combustion engine > [noun] > parts of > cam-shafts
overhead camshaft1912
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > parts and equipment of motor vehicles > [noun] > transmission > shaft and joints transmitting drive > drive-shafts, etc.
driveshaft1860
half-time shaft1861
propshaft1929
1900 U.S. Patent 651,780 3/1 The commutator..will be seen at one end of the half-speed shaft.
2014 H. Wilson Hot Bikes (rev. Amer. ed.) 31/2 The overhead camshaft, magdyno, and double-gear oil pump were all driven via a half-speed shaft driven from the front crankshaft.
half sphere n. a hemisphere.
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1538 T. Elyot Dict. Horizon, tis, a cerkle dyuidynge the halfe sphere, or ouer part of the firmament, from the other halfe, where, to our syght, it seemeth that the heuen toucheth the erthe.
1611 B. Jonson Catiline i. sig. B1v Let..Day, At shewing but thy head forth, start away From this halfe-Spheare.
1770 W. Guthrie New Geogr. Gram. p. vii Another circle representing the bounds betwixt the two hemispheres, or half spheres.
1843 Commissioner 342 A ‘bull's-eye’..that is a thick, green, half sphere of ground glass.
2013 Press (Christchurch, N.Z.) (Nexis) 4 Dec. 19 The dome needs to be a perfect half sphere in order to reflect heat from all sides directly into the centre of your oven.
† half-square adj. Obsolete designating timber with a cross-section that is half a square.
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society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > [noun] > building wood > measure or quantity of
rood1391
sheaf1534
straik1542
fathom1577
standard1811
1855 Manch. Examiner & Times 16 June 8/2 (advt.) Expected to arrive..from Danzig... 26 [Pieces] half-square timber.
1883 J. Fraser Shanty, Forest, & River Life 281 The first business of the drive is to..confine them there by long half-square logs called ‘boom timber’, fastened at the ends by ‘boom chains’.
1911 A. M. Chisholm Boss of Wind River viii. 116 He hewed a straight line by judgment of eye alone, and the result was a stick of square or half-square timber, absolutely straight, and almost as smooth as if planed.
half-standard n. a plant, esp. a fruit tree, having a single main stem clear of branches to a lower height (now specifically up to 1.5 metres) from the ground than a plant grown as a standard (standard n. 13b).
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1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Compl. Gard'ner i. iii. xix. 179 A whole entire Plantation of Half Standards, as is often practised for Plum-Trees, Cherry-Trees, &c.
1779 J. Abercrombie Brit. Fruit-gardener 29 Half standards are trained with stems only three, four, or five feet high, then suffered to branch out at that height, and form the head.
1915 J. Wrightson & J. C. Newsham Agric. Theoret. & Pract. v. ii. 537 Standards, or, if need be, half-standards, are best adapted for orchards, where it is intended to graze cattle underneath.
2004 Sunday Tel. (Nexis) 10 Oct. (City section) 8 A bush or half-standard tree would be happy grown in a large pot or half-barrel provided that the soil is kept fertile by mulching with well-rotted manure or compost.
half-stitch n. (in embroidery and lacemaking) a stitch which omits one or more of the steps usually carried out to create a whole stitch.
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1842 C. Mee Man. Knitting, Netting, & Crochet Work 235 To make a pattern correct in crochet, a half stitch at each end is always required, and this not being attended to, makes the patterns look aside.
1870 Englishwoman's Domest. Mag. 1 May 298/1 I do not think that any one, however clever at needlework, could find out ‘whole’ stitch or ‘half stitch’..without a hint or two from a clever teacher.
1915 E. Appleton Diary 12 Sept. in R. Cowen Nurse at Front (2013) 52 I learnt another stitch in lace-making—a half-stitch—and made about six inches of lace in the night as the only means of keeping myself awake between spells working in the wards.
2002 M. Ferris Murderous Yarn vii. 99 There was a pond in the center, worked in irregular half-stitches of blue silk and silver metallic floss. A single orange stitch suggested a goldfish in its depths.
half stop n. Music an organ stop containing only a partial run of notes.
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1688 W. Carr Remarks Govt. Germanie 27 An Organ with sets of Pipes that counterfit a Corus of Voyces, it hath 52 whole stops besides halfe stops, & hath 2 rowes of Keyes for the feet, and three rowes of Keyes for the Hands.
1773 C. Burney Present State Music in Germany I. 75 It is a half stop, which goes no higher than the middle C.
1880 C. A. Edwards Organs ii. xx. 146 A stop is a set of pipes that run in order from the one end to the other of the clavier. If this set..discontinues at any portion of the keyboard, it is said to be a half stop.
2012 J. R. Shannon Evol. of Organ Music in 17th Cent. 120 The first [organ] is a small instrument of six full and two half stops built in Valladolid in north-central Spain in 1610.
half-storey n. (also half-story) an upper storey of which approximately half the height is in the walls and half in the roof.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > [noun] > floor or storey > upper floors
first floor1445
plancher1523
first storey1686
piano nobile1715
mezzaninec1720
entresol1726
attic storey1738
upstairs1781
attic1818
second floor1821
third floor1908
upper1968
1618 in R. Willis & J. W. Clark Archit. Hist. Univ. Cambr. (1886) I. 206 The halfe storie to be eight foote and a halfe.
c1720 N. Dubois & G. Leoni tr. A. Palladio Architecture II. iii. 5 The closets..have mezzanino's or half stories above them.
1924 Crisis Nov. 40 A store-room in the half story.
2016 Globe & Mail (Canada) (Nexis) 1 Apr. g3 The second house differs from the first in that it has an additional half-storey from a finished attic space.
half-stress n. Phonetics and Prosody a secondary stress.
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society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > versification > rhythm > [noun] > beat > half-stress
half-stress1877
half-lift1894
1877 H. Sweet Handbk. Phonetics p. xvii (table) Half stress.
1938 A. Campbell Battle of Brunanburh 24 Graz..regarding butu as having a half-stress on the second syllable.
1961 Rev. Eng. Stud. 12 345 Long and short syllables must be distinguished in scansion, when they bear either a strong stress or a half-stress.
2005 P. Howarth Brit. Poetry in Age of Modernism 83 The word ‘sing’ itself is suspended between full and a half-stress running over according to whether the line is hexameter or pentameter.
half-stroke n. Golf (a) a shot played with a half swing or reduced power; = half-shot n.; (b) a stroke every second hole, esp. given as a handicap to a weaker player; cf. half-one n.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > golf > [noun] > types of shot or stroke
putta1754
like1790
drive1829
tee-shot1850
gobble1857
push shot1865
iron shot1870
push stroke1873
drive-off1884
slice1886
raker1888
foozle1890
hook1890
iron1890
top1890
sclaff1893
brassy shot1894
run1894
chip shot1899
chip1903
pull1903
skimmer1903
draw shot1904
brassy1906
pitch-and-run1908
windcheater1909
air shot1920
chip-in1921
explosion1924
downhiller1925
blast1927
driver1927
shank1927
socket1927
recovery1937
whiff1952
pinsplitter1961
comebacker1965
bump-and-run1981
1857 H. B. Farnie Golfer's Man. 18 The short spoon..is used for those short and difficult half strokes on to the putting green over a hazard.
1896 W. Park Game of Golf v. 107 Three-quarter and half strokes are..much more difficult to play than full shots.
1897 Earl of Suffolk et al. Encycl. Sport I. 461 A half-stroke or over, both in singles and foursomes, shall count as one.
1956 Times 25 Sept. 15 Half-strokes will be counted as such, not as whole strokes as is usual.
2017 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 6 Apr. An improvement of a half-stroke per round increases a player's earning potential by 73 percent.
half-stuff n. Papermaking partly prepared pulp.
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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > material for making paper > [noun] > pulp
pulp1727
stuff1745
paper pulp1839
wood-pulp1876
ground wood1885
mechanical wood pulp1887
straw pulp1888
soda pulp1893
sulphate pulp1907
1739 C. Leadbetter Royal Gauger ii. ix. 42 In these Mortars the Rags are beaten into what is call'd half-stuff.
1912 Chambers's Jrnl. Oct. 671/2 The pulp—at this stage commonly called half-stuff—is fed into beating-engines.
2010 State Jrnl.-Reg. (Springfield, Illinois) (Nexis) 24 Sept. (Mag.) 17 Meda and Veda Rives create paper for their art through several steps, working with ‘half stuff’, partially broken or beaten abaca fibers for papermaking.
half swing n. Golf a swing employing half the full or normal backswing.
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1887 Glasgow Herald 21 July 3/7 The paling of the racecourse allowed him only a half swing, and when he had played the ball was knocked back by the same paling to the road.
1946 P. Boomer On Learning Golf (2008) xviii. 178 A half-shot with a mashie does not mean a half-swing with that club but a swing with half power.
2016 Korea Times (Nexis) 31 Aug. If you have difficulty hitting your ball solidly, make half-swings or three-quarter swings.
† half-swing plough n. Obsolete a plough with a fixed mouldboard.
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1836 Times 18 Aug. 8/4 Two half-swing ploughs, one strike ditto, six horse harrows, [etc.].
1875 W. D. Parish Dict. Sussex Dial. Half-swing Plough, a plough in which the mould-board is a fixture.
half-tester n. now historical a canopy over the head end of a bed (cf. tester n.1 1); (in later use also) a bed having such a canopy.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > bed > types of bed > [noun] > other types of bed
childbed1568
plank bed1584
table bed1633
earth-bed1637
pigeon-hole bed1685
box-bed1693
barbecue1697
plaid bedc1710
bed of state1713
pallet1839
high post1842
rocker1854
wire bed1882
lit bateau1895
string cot1895
sleigh bed1902
orthopaedic bed1943
high-low bed1956
futon1959
bateau lit1983
1645 in E. George et al. Bristol Probate Inventories 1542–1650 (2002) 149 In the Office..one halfe headed bedsteed with a halfe Tester matt and Cord.
1780 J. Nichols Coll. Wills Kings & Queens Eng. Gloss. 427/1 Whole tester, distinguished from half tester.
1803 T. Sheraton Cabinet Dict. 44 As to the particular management of beds, and the articles required in mounting them, together with their various classes; these..will most conveniently come under their respective names, as..Half-tester,..&c.
1859 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Aug. 229/1 We approached the bed and examined it—a half-tester, such as is commonly found in attics devoted to servants.
2003 J. Flanders Victorian House (2004) i. 7 Mrs Panton's bed was a brass half-tester.
† half-text n. Scottish Obsolete a size of handwriting half the size of ‘text’ or large hand (see text n.1 5).
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1789 Scots Mag. Oct. 499/1 lt consisted of three kinds of writing, text, half text, and small writ; each of them performed with the proper pen.
1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering III. xii. 235 He had..the strongest desire..to resume spelling-lessons and half-text.
1919 Sc. Hist. Rev. 16 94 Title page of MS. is—in the writer's best half-text—‘Journal to Arran’.
half-thickness n. Physics the thickness of a specified material which reduces the intensity of incident ionizing radiation by half; = half-value thickness n. at half-value n.
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the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > thickness > [noun] > thickness of material that halves radiation
half-value thickness1938
?c1946 G. T. Seaborg et al. Introd. Nucl. Chem. Lect. Series 1942 (U.S. Atomic Energy Comm.) vii. 41 (caption) Half-thickness values for γ rays and X rays.
1958 W. K. Mansfield Elem. Nucl. Physics v. 45 To compare the penetrating power of the γ-rays with that of α and β-rays, it is necessary to estimate the half-thickness.
2007 European Jrnl. Soil Sci. 58 344/1 The half thickness (i.e. the thickness of absorbing material that will reduce the radiation to half its value) of dry soil with a bulk density of 1.6 Mg m–3 is 10 cm.
half thirty n. Real Tennis and Tennis (now rare) a handicap of one stroke or point in every odd game and two points in every even game.
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1775 C. Jones Hoyle's Games Improved 218 Half-thirty, is Fifteen given the first Game, and Thirty the second; and so on to the whole Thirty, Forty, &c.
1875 Edinb. Rev. Jan. 40/2 Half thirty is alternately one stroke and two strokes.
1919 Amer. Lawn Tennis 15 Mar. 423/3 ‘Half-thirty’, similarly, is an alternation of two points and one.
1950 Times 7 Mar. 10/5 Your Correspondent has never seen Crawley play within half thirty of the form he showed and kept throughout.
half-throw n. half the full movement of a piston, valve, etc.; the placement of a control dial, lever, etc., at its halfway point; cf. half-travel n.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > mechanism > [noun] > action or movement of
whip1889
Geneva motion1897
1843 Naut. Mag. No. 1. 22 I may safely increase the cylinder capacity by ·62 of a foot, making it 254 cubic feet in the Great Britain's engines, and a foot for half throw.
1909 Iowa Engineer 9 221 Now, EG is equal to the half throw of the expansion eccentric, as was pointed out above in discussing Fig. 1.
2009 Vanity Fair Jan. 138/1 The Legacy was badly out of whack, insisting on rolling to the left, and requiring Lepore to hold the controls a half-throw to the right just to maintain wings-level flight.
half tint n. chiefly Painting a shade intermediate between light and dark; cf. mezzotint n. 1.
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the world > matter > colour > [noun] > half-tint or half-tone
mezzotintoa1650
semi-tint1728
mezzotint1738
middle tone1838
half-tone1867
1738 J. F. Fritsch tr. G. de Lairesse Art of Painting i. vi. 11 The half Tint [Du. de halve Tint], which is laid next to the Extremity on the light Side, and called Mezzo-tint.
1812 Examiner 25 May 328/1 The brilliant lights relieving from a large proportion of half tints.
2003 Yearbk. Trad. Music 35 177 When Tiwi paint, either themselves or objects, they generally start by using charcoal... In my experience, few Tiwi, if any, like fuzzy edges and half tints.
half-title n. the title of a book (or occasionally of a section of a book), printed on the right-hand page before the title page; a page on which a half-title is printed; frequently as a modifier in half-title page.
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society > communication > book > matter of book > [noun] > title > short-title or half-title
bastard title1756
short-title1869
text-title1881
subtitle1883
1728 Weekly Jrnl. 2 Nov. Cover of the Book... Half Title Page... Dedication.
1752 in B. Thornton Have at You All 12 Mar. 198 For a work of a shorter size the Half-Title, as it is called, comes in very opportunely to take up a leaf: and I have seen many a sixpenny pamphlet swelled out to the price of a shilling by its assistance.
1843 J. Holland Psalmists Brit. I. 171 The two other quinquagenes or sets of fifty psalms are indicated by half-titles.
1879 F. J. Furnivall New Shakspere Soc. Rep. 8 The notes on the back of the half-title of the Part.
2002 N. Basbanes Among Gently Mad ii. 16 I can swear on a stack of sacred texts that the signature of Arthur Miller on my copy of Death of a Salesman and the autograph of John Updike on my Rabbit Run are the real deal because they wrote their names on the half-title pages as I looked on.
half-tongue n. English Law (now historical) a jury of which one half were foreigners, formerly allowed to a foreigner tried on a criminal charge; in later use also as jury of the half-tongue. [Compare post-classical Latin medietas linguae, literally ‘half of the tongue’ (from 1554 (or earlier) in British sources).]
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1495 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VII (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1495 §61. m. 33 All atteyntes..upon any recorde wherin the triall and enquest was by half tonge.
1527 J. Rastell tr. Statutes (new ed.) f. xxiiijv And yf the furst inquest were of the halff tong the graunt iurry shalbe in the same maner wherof euer one shall haue goodis to the valew of .Cli. xi. H. vij. Capitulo vigesimo prymo.
1607 J. Cowell Interpreter sig. Vv4v Medietas linguae, signifieth an enquest empaneled vpon any cause, wereof the one halfe consisteth of Denizens, the other of straungers. It is called in English the halfe tongue, and is vsed in plees, wherein the one party is a straunger, the other a denizen.
2013 Calif. Hist. 90 15/1 Colton assembled a jury akin to that which ancient law called a jury de medietate linguae (jury of the half-tongue).
half-top n. Nautical (now historical) a wooden platform on one side of a mast of a sailing ship, acting as a small topcastle (sometimes as one of a pair); cf. top n.1 16a.
ΘΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > spar > [noun] > mast > platform at top of mast
topc1420
scuttle1597
bowl1627
round top1661
crow's nest1818
hurricane-house1818
bird's nest1851
1832 A. W. Schomberg Pract. Remarks & Observ. Building, Rigging, Arming & Equpping His Majesty's Ships of War 92 How do you turn in a stay or a shroud whether against or with the sun, and why? Send up a half top?
c1860 H. Stuart Novices or Young Seaman's Catech. (rev. ed.) 76 The half-tops are bolted to the cross trees, and the sleepers are bolted above the trussle trees.
1932 Mariner's Mirror 18 194/1 The half-top is in the typical Mediterranean position on the after-side of the mast.
half-topped adj. Golf designating a shot in which the ball is partly topped (see top v.1 22).
ΘΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > golf > [adjective] > types of stroke
heeled1887
lofted1887
sliced1890
sclaffy1896
foozled1899
lofting1905
duffed1906
holeable1909
socketed1911
explosive1912
chipped1916
fluffed1923
missable1924
bump-and-run1978
1890 H. S. C. Everard in H. G. Hutchinson et al. Golf (Badminton Libr. Sports & Pastimes) xiv. 387 This advantage was neutralised by a half-topped tee shot which only just cleared the burn.
2012 Evening Star (Nexis) 11 July Darwin told the story of nearly being killed by a half-topped hook off the club of Fernie while exiting a boarded-bunker known as Morley's Grave.
half trap n. (in a sewer or drainage pipe) a trap (trap n.1 8a) with a roughly J- or hook-shaped curve.
Π
1874 U.S. Patent 148,616 1/2 The half-traps thus made are set together and secured to each other by solder.
1922 H. P. Gillette Handbk. of Constr. Cost 736 A 9-in. half trap is set with the bottom 3 ft. 6 ins. above the planking.
2022 toolstation.com (accessed 2 Sept. 2022) Appliance Half Trap 40mm.
half-travel n. half the full movement of a piston, valve, etc.; the placement of a control dial, lever, etc., at its halfway point; cf. half-throw n.
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > mechanism > [noun] > action or movement of
whip1889
Geneva motion1897
1855 D. K. Clark Railway Machinery I. 57/1 Should there be neither lap nor clearance inside, the release takes place when the valve is at half travel.
1946 L. Toft & A. T. J. Kersey Theory of Machines (ed. 5) iii. 80 The distance between the centre of S and the centre of the circular piece C is called the throw, or half-travel, of the eccentric.
2005 T. Gilles Automotive Chassis ix. 191/2 A good rule of thumb is that the brake should be fully applied at half travel.
half turn n. a turn halfway round; the action of turning halfway round.
Π
1545 J. Bale Mysterye Inyquyte P. Pantolabus f. 5v They coniured, crossed, sensed, spatled, and breathed, with turne and halfe turne.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. ix. 189/1 A Wrench, is not a turn, but as it were, a half turn.
1859 F. A. Griffiths Artillerist's Man. (1862) 11 Right half turn. Front turn.
1909 Manch. Courier 8 Nov. 3/2 Holford scoring the second goal for Manchester City by the aid of a shot made on the half turn.
1925 J. Dos Passos Manhattan Transfer ii. v. 218 The taxi made a half turn and stopped in front of a roadhouse that oozed pink light and ragtime through every chink.
2010 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 25 Feb. e8/4 A waltz jump... To do it, a person takes off from one foot and lands on the other, doing a half turn in the air.
half-uncle n. an uncle to whom a person is related through a half-sibling, esp. the half-brother of one's mother or father.
Π
1531 tr. E. Fox et al. Determinations Moste Famous Vniuersities iii. f. 51v One Paterne..wold haue maryed his doughters doughter to his sonne, the maidens halfe vncle_ [L. diuersa matre edita].
1708 Brit. Apollo 23–25 June Each of them is at once both half Uncle and half Nephew to the other.
1887 N. B. E. Baillie Digest Moohummudan Law viii. 334 If a person dying should leave a paternal half-uncle and a maternal full aunt,..the former would inherit two-thirds of the property, and one-third thereof would descend to the latter.
2022 TVEyes (Nexis) (transcript of TV programme) 3 Mar. Waiting to greet Rowan is his half-uncle John and cousin Beezy, relatives from a side of the family he's never met.
half-verse n. Prosody half, or a section, of a verse or line of verse; spec. a hemistich, a half-line (see half-line n.).In quot. OE translating classical Latin hēmistichium hemistich n.
ΘΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > part of poem > [noun] > line > subdivision of line > half-line
hemistich?1578
section1838
half1892
OE Glosses to Bella Parisiacae Urbis of Abbo of St. Germain (Harl. 3271) in W. H. Stevenson Early Scholastic Colloquies 107 Apponas emistichium, cum sculpes distica : foresete ðu healffers ðænne þu writst twa fers.
?1531 J. Frith Disput. Purgatorye sig. fv The first parte of the halfe verse is thys.
1674 T. Rymer in tr. R. Rapin Refl. Aristotle's Treat. Poesie sig. b2 In the last Half-verse, we may see how far our Author has out-done Apollonius.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 39. ¶5 I do not dislike the Speeches in our English Tragedy that close with an Hemistick, or half Verse.
1876 H. Sweet Anglo-Saxon Reader p. xcviii There is often only one alliterative letter in the first half verse.
2000 C. Wright in M. E. Fassler & R. A. Baltzer Divine Office in Lat. Middle Ages 291 These closing stresses of the half-verses are emphasized by the musical setting.
half-virgin n. a person who, despite having engaged in sexual activity in some form, is, or regards himself or herself as, a virgin; cf. demi-vierge n.
Π
1738 tr. B. Le B. de Fontenelle Lettres de Chevalier d'Her—— in Bayle's Gen. Dict. Hist. & Crit. VII. 283/1 You may practise them [sc. your charms] on Mr. F—— himself; you will be a half-virgin [Fr. demy-Fille] to him; and, so long as you shall go by a different name from his, you will have a right to be a little coyer and more reserved in your carriage towards him.
1894 Athenæum 30 June 835/1 He [sc. Marcel Prévost, author of Les Demi-Vierges] suggests that half-virgins—a minority, he admits, among the young ladies of France, and even of Paris—are more numerous in other countries.
1946 A. Koestler Thieves in Night 165 As obscene and shocking to me as a petting party with a half-virgin.
1965 N. Freeling Criminal Conversat. ii. xv. 164 I imagined, being full of valuable premedical catch-phrases, that she was ‘half-virgin’ and therefore despicable.
2007 Associated Press Newswire (Nexis) 13 July Then came the ‘half-virgin’ as Terry Bedesi described himself. Explained the 23-year-old bookseller from Queens: ‘There's certain parts of me that's still a virgin.’
half watch tackle n. Nautical (now historical and rare) a purchase (purchase n. 16) composed of a double and a single pulley block; cf. luff-tackle n.
Π
1839 F. A. Griffiths Artillerist's Man. xiii. 260 A luff tackle or half watch tackle consists of one double and one single block.
1892 T. Potts Sunderland x. 179 The cables were of rope, and a boy had to hold on with the half watch tackle.
1966 Amer. Neptune 26 70 (table) 2 Half watch Tackle falls.
half-water n. rare = half tide n.
Π
1773 J. Adams Young Sea-officer's Assistant i. 20 When it is half-water, you have a tide to work in with.
1883 R. L. Stevenson Treasure Island iv. xix. 152 The low, sandy spit..is joined at half-water to Skeleton Island.
1952 G. Household Tales of Adventurers 150 We found that at half water Antigua could anchor within fifty feet of the shore, and that we didn't need a boat.
half-watt adj. now historical designating a gas-filled incandescent lamp consuming approximately half a watt of electrical power per candlepower of light produced.
ΘΠ
the world > matter > light > artificial light > an artificial light > artificial light defined by light-source > [adjective] > incandescent (of lamp) > of specific power
half-watt1913
1913 Lighting Jrnl. Aug. 207/1 (heading) A half watt lamp!.. The types which it is expected to first develop..operate at an efficiency of half a watt per candlepower.
1932 N. Royde-Smith Incredible Tale 57 The white glare of the half-watt lamp hanging from the studio roof.
1980 Technol. & Culture 21 466 Only after Auer von Welsbach had invented a superior incandescent light bulb, the Osram ‘half-watt lamp’.., did the electrical lighting system gain a decisive edge over gas.
half-wheel n. (a) a semicircular structure, usually one pivoting on an axis; †(b) a movement or turn through approximately 180 degrees (obsolete).
Π
1794 W. Felton Treat. Carriages I. 63 Extending to the out-circumference of the horizontal half wheel.
1832 Proposed Regulations Cavalry iii. 99 The Base Troop wheels more than a ‘half-wheel’.
1971 A. Burgess MF ii. 22 If you didn't wish to eat..at the huge half-wheel of the counter, you had to be nooked between wooden partitions.
1998 D. Hecht Skull Session i. i. 9 Linc lazily shoved the half-wheel and the plane dropped further.
half-wind n. Nautical (now historical) (a) a wind blowing from a direction halfway between two adjacent points of the compass; cf. half-point n.; (b) a side wind. [Compare Dutch halve wind (1651 or earlier), Middle Low German halve wind, German halber Wind (16th cent. or earlier), and also French †demivent (1611 or earlier).]
Π
1581 J. Frampton tr. P. de Medina Arte Nauigation iii. 14/2 Among these xvi. courses of winds & half windes [Sp. medios vientos], are marked other sixteene which are named quarters.
1598 W. Phillip tr. J. H. van Linschoten Disc. Voy. E. & W. Indies iii. iv. 311 If it chance that you sayle with a halfe winde and shoot full.
1700 S. L. tr. C. Frick Relation Voy. in tr. C. Frick & C. Schweitzer Relation Two Voy. E.-Indies 113 The next morning after I had boarded her, we weighed Anchor and sailed to Batavia, with a half wind [Ger. mit halbem Winde].
1878 Daily Evening Bull. (San Francisco) 3 Aug. For the most part they [sc. flying-fish] fall on ships..when they are sailing on the wind, or with half wind, and are making a good course.
1913 E. Adams-Ray tr. Fifth Olympiad (Swedish Olympic Comm.) 775 The first side of the triangle having to be passed with a half-wind on a starboard tack.
2000 J. N. Wilford Mapmakers (2002) iv. 64 For greater precision the card eventually had 32 points—8 primary winds, 8 ‘half-winds’, and 16 ‘quarter-winds’...Lines from the primary points, the half-winds, and the quarter-winds were usually drawn in distinguishing colors—often as not gold, green, and red.
half-world n. (a) a hemisphere; (b) a group of people on the fringes of mainstream or traditional society; the demimonde; (also occasionally) a sphere of activity or life considered to fall between, or partially outside, others.
ΘΠ
the world > the earth > region of the earth > hemisphere > [noun]
hemisphere1555
society > society and the community > social class > the common people > low rank or condition > the lowest class > [noun] > persons of the lowest class (collectively)
chenaille1340
offal?a1425
putaylea1425
ribaldail1489
abject1526
offscouring1526
dreg1531
outsweeping1535
braggery1548
ribaldry1550
raff1557
sink1574
cattle1579
offscum1579
rabble1579
baggagery1589
scum1590
waste1592
menialty1593
baggage1603
froth1603
refuse1603
tag-rag1609
retriment1615
trasha1616
recrement1622
silts1636
garbage1648
riffle-raffle1668
raffle1670
riff-raff1678
scurf1688
mob1693
scouring1721
ribble-rabble1771
sweeping1799
clamjamphrie1816
ragabash1823
scruff1836
residuum1851
talent1882
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) ii. i. l. 49 Now o're the one halfe World Nature seemes dead.
1866 W. D. Howells Venetian Life xvii. 260 The night's whole half-world.
1870 D. J. Kirwan Palace & Hovel xliii. 613 ‘Baby Hamilton’ is another celebrity of the Half-World. Many stories are told about the recklessness of this girl.
1874 Porcupine 21 Feb. 742/1 Those moral magistrates who have so distinctly set their faces against Cremorne and other outdoor haunts of the ‘half-world’.
1950 A. Lomax Mister Jelly Roll 185 Linking the folk-jazz half-world to the super-respectable and stuffy world of the music business.
1972 Times 6 Apr. 7/5 Away from his chosen half-world, Munby's social life was passed in the first literary and artistic circles of his day.
2013 Observer (Nexis) 2 June (Review section) 25 He's stuck in a murky half-world on the edge of civilisation.
half-worsted n. now historical a fabric woven partly from worsted and partly from another yarn.
ΘΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from wool > [noun] > made from specific types of wool > worsted > types of
stamin?c1225
worsted1348
monk's cloth1441
set cloth1467
vesse1483
St. Thomas worsted1518
St. Omer's worsted1530
caddis1558
cloth-rash1592
Philip and Cheyney1614
none-so-pretty1622
tammy1675
cheyneyc1680
crape1682
bunting1742
beaudoy1759
wildbore1784
Princetta?1790
Circassian1824
plain-back1830
Coburg1844
Tournai1858
Tricotine1914
1594 T. Blundeville Exercises v. iii. f. 250v Worsteds, and halfe Worsteds.
1791 Acc. of Duties 136 St. Omer's, narrow, or half Worsted, the Piece.
1872 W. Crookes tr. R. von Wagner Handbk. Chem. Technol. v. 500 There is a distinction between genuine combed wool or worsted, and half-worsted or sayette-yarn, which is the link, as it were, between combed and carded wool.
1917 Clothier & Furnisher Apr. 110 (advt.) A good half worsted blue serge is better than a cheap all wool.
1996 P. Sharpe Adapting to Capitalism ii. 30 There would seem to have been no single most important factor which led to the end of the Essex half-worsted trade.
† half-yarn n. Obsolete = slub n.2 2.
ΘΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > thread or yarn > [noun] > textured > specific
knopped yarn1911
loop yarn1940
slub1957
bouclé1964
1872 W. Crookes tr. R. von Wagner Handbk. Chem. Technol. v. 499 By means of machinery the wool is converted into what is technically termed slub or half-yarn.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2022).

halfv.

Obs. and dial. f. halve v. (q.v.); also colloq. in sense To ‘be half’, go halves.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > sharing > share [verb (intransitive)] > share by halves
to go halves1678
half1889
1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 27 June 5, I asked Sir G. C. if he would ‘half’. He consented. I paid for the horse, he repaying me afterwards, and also paying half the training expenses.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online June 2012).

halfadv.

Brit. /hɑːf/, U.S. /hæf/
Forms: see half adj.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: half adj.
Etymology: < half adj. Similar adverbial uses of the adjective are also attested in other early Germanic languages; with early use in compounds (see note) compare e.g. Old Frisian halfleden ‘half loaded’ and the cognates cited at half-dead adj.Use in compounds. In Old English typically attested as the first element of compounds. Compounds with adjectives as the second element (see sense 1a) should probably be interpreted as continuing an original formation type with half adj. or its Germanic base as the first element in an adverbial sense. Compare half-dead adj., half quick adj., half-white adj. In early use such combinations can be written either as one word or two words (although word division in Old English and Middle English examples frequently reflects editorial choices of modern editors of texts, rather than the practice of the manuscripts). In later use one-word forms become less common, and the combinations are now typically hyphenated when used attributively, and written as two words otherwise. In use with adjectives (and also past participles), Old English healf- coexisted with the inherited prefix sām- sam- prefix, leading to doublets such as sāmcwic and healfcwic (see half quick adj.); half adv. eventually superseded sam- prefix in this function in the Middle English period. Possible early simplex uses. Possible Old English examples of the adverb other than in compounds with adjectives and participles can often alternatively be interpreted as predicative or postposed uses of the uninflected adjective, or perhaps occasionally as noun use of the neuter singular of the adjective (with the latter compare discussion at half n.). Related Old English adverbial uses. Compare the following Old English adverbial uses of the adjective or noun (the precise part of speech is difficult to determine) in the sense ‘by half (the amount)’: healfe , which is formally probably the instrumental of the neuter singular of the strong adjective, and is attested only with comparatives and thy adv. 2a (compare quot. eOE at half n. Phrases 2b(a)) or than conj. 1a; and the phrase be healfum (compare by prep.). Compare also halfing adv., halfling adv.
1. To the extent or amount of half. Hence more generally: in part, partially; to a certain extent, in some degree.Very common in later use, esp. with past participles, to which half may be prefixed more or less without limit.
a. Modifying an adjective to form adjectives, e.g. half afraid, half asleep, half awake, half blind, half conscious, half empty, half full, half human, half mad, half raw, half true, half wild.See also half-dead adj., half-hardy adj., half-hearted adj., half-naked adj., half-thick adj., half-white adj. 1.
(a) In formations used predicatively.
ΘΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adverb] > somewhat
somedealc725
halfc1175
somewhatc1175
somethingc1275
little whatc1384
somedeallyc1400
measurablec1420
somewhatlyc1450
somewisec1450
somepartc1485
parta1500
something1548
rather1573
some1575
rathera1684
sunket1686
somethingisha1726
measurably1756
rather1770
rather1772
somec1780
sumthin1786
wee1816
sumfin1852
sumptin1852
measuredly1860
sumpin1889
part-way1954
ish1986
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > two > division into two > [adverb] > in half > half or by half
halfingc897
halfc1175
halfendeal1387
half-deal1399
half in half1583
half-and-half1818
OE Blickling Homilies 203 Hie..ofercomon ða hæþnan leode, þa þe lifdon heora burh healfcwice.
OE Antwerp-London Gloss. (2011) 102 Sępcanus uel semicanus, healfhar. Canus, ful har.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4318 Ær heo weoren hælf [c1300 Otho half] ȝaru, þer com Androgeus faren.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vi. l. 513 Of lust that ilke fyri funke Hath made hem, as who seith, halfwode.
c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 1697 They were half Idyl as hem thouȝten.
?a1450 Agnus Castus (Stockh.) (1950) 143 (MED) Caulus..makyth a wymmannys mylk to waxin quanne it is takyn half raw.
1600 E. Fairfax tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne xix. civ. 357 Thither she ranne with speed, Like one halfe mad.
1638 W. Rawley tr. F. Bacon Hist. Nat. & Exper. Life & Death 42 In the Day-light, they winke, and are but halfe-sighted.
1657 R. Ligon True Hist. Barbados 64 Fill it halfe full of water.
1723 B. Mandeville Ess. Charity in Fable Bees (ed. 2) i. 340 A Rascal Half-drunk.
1741 S. Richardson Pamela III. xxi. 124 Being -vex'd, and half-afraid of his Raillery.
1832 Ld. Tennyson Lady of Shalott ii, in Poems (new ed.) 12 ‘I am half-sick of shadows,’ said The Lady of Shalott.
1855 C. Kingsley Heroes (1868) ii. iv. 123 Stories of it, some false and some half-true.
1878 E. Thompson Hist. Eng. xix. 106 Half wild with rage and grief.
1893 ‘M. Twain’ Man that corrupted Hadleyburg (1900) 269 The station-master..became pleasant and even half-apologetic.
1904 W. de la Mare Henry Brocken 76 I glanced at the shock-haired creature, alert, half-human, beside me.
1923 D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers (N.Y. ed.) 32 The dim light of full, healthy life That is always half-dark.
1988 N. Bissoondath Casual Brutality vii. 128 She..sat with her glass of Coke, half empty, the ice cubes tinkling.
2008 M. Walker Parrot's Theorum ii. 34 I was still half asleep.
(b) In formations used attributively.
Π
eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) ii. xxxvii. 246 Pipiones, þæt beoð culfrena briddas, & healfeald swin, & gate flæsc.
OE Antwerp-London Gloss. (2011) 88 Grustumie [read Crustumia], healfreade peran.
1449 in J. Nichols Illustr. Antient Times Eng. (1797) 134 (MED) I ordeyne and bequethe to the chapel of our Lady in Seynt Mary chirch at Sandewich, an half long gown of purple velvett.
1556 J. Ponet Shorte Treat. Politike Power sig. Biijv All men, yea half wise women and babes can well iudge, that his power is worthy to be laught at.
1596 R. Linche Dom Diego in Diella sig. D5v Halfe-leg'd Buskins curiously ytide with loopes of burnisht gold.
1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 3 The men weare halfe-sleeued gownes.
a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1954) VII. 59 The halfe-present man, he, whose body is here, and minde away.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison IV. xxxii. 224 Her..half-saucy turns upon him.
1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Alice I. i. iii. 22 Her half-childish, half-womanly grief.
1843 J. S. Mill Syst. Logic II. v. ii. 345 It is in those steps of the reasoning which are made in this tacit and half-conscious, or even wholly unconscious manner, that the error oftenest lurks.
1848 A. H. Clough Bothie of Toper-na-Fuosich ix. 125 Half-awake servant-maids..letting-in the air by the doorway.
1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick xvii. 91 Their half crazy conceits on these subjects.
1904 W. H. Hudson Green Mansions xv. 208 Leaving her half-human child to play her malicious pranks in the wood.
1910 W. de la Mare Three Mulla-mulgars 120 Her half-blind whitening eyes.
1923 D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers (N.Y. ed.) 32 The half-secret gleam of a passion-flower hanging from the rock.
2004 Herald Express (Torquay) (Nexis) 18 Sept. 7 He was surrounded by half-empty bottles of vodka.
b. Modifying a past participle, e.g. half armed, half ashamed, half buried, half burnt, half concealed, half disposed, half done, half dressed, half drowned, half eaten, half educated, half filled, half forgotten, half finished, half frozen, half hidden, half shut, half thought-out.
(a) In formations used predicatively.
Π
OE Recipe (Vitell. C.iii) in T. O. Cockayne Leechdoms, Wortcunning, & Starcraft (1864) I. 374 Genim ænne sester fulne ealdas ealoð & seoð þa wyrtan oððet se sester ealoð sy healf gesoden.
a1350 (a1325) St. Cecilia (Ashm.) l. 238 in Yale Stud. in Eng. (1898) 3 90 He ne smot it [sc. the head] noȝt uolliche of..Half slawe hi bileuede hire so.
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 3569 Er þay wern oȝt helf y-dyȝt, þus barons come oppon hem ryȝt.
a1400 in T. Wright & J. O. Halliwell Reliquiæ Antiquæ (1845) I. 53 Tak fresch swynes grees molten, and hennes grees, and the white of egges half rosted.
1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) ix. 228 We ben halfe discomfyted.
1610 R. Tofte tr. N. de Montreux Honours Acad. ii. 63 As those who rise from the table (their bellies halfe filled) come to their dyet with better stomack, then such as are ouer-satisfied & glutted before.
1615 J. Stephens Ess. & Characters (new ed.) 432 I am halfe perswaded that if hee had but a balladmakers poetry, he would sooner make an Epitaph.
1673 J. Collins Let. Apr. in H. Oldenburg Corr. (1973) IX. 549 Mr. Kersy's Algebra is now half finished.
1704 J. Swift Tale of Tub i. 45 As if they were half ashamed to own Us.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 66. ¶5 A Man's Life is half spent before he is taken Notice of.
1725 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey I. iii. 144 Leave half-heard the melancholy tale.
1790 W. Bligh Narr. Mutiny on Bounty 56 I saw an old canoe..lying..half buried in the beach.
1826 W. Scott Jrnl. 29 Dec. (1939) 296 Either half educated or cock-brained by nature.
1849 H. D. Thoreau Week Concord & Merrimack Rivers 399 They are half forgotten ere we have learned the language.
1858 W. Bagehot Coll. Wks. (1965) II. 55 Half-crazed as she [sc. Meg Merrilies] is described to be.
1880 Contemp. Rev. Feb. 196 I am more than half-disposed to go along with you in what you say.
1897 H. Caine Christian i. x. 46 Half hidden behind a little forest of palms and ferns.
1931 ‘Grey Owl’ Men of Last Frontier 15 A man may be soaking wet, half-frozen, hungry, and tired, landed on some inhospitable neck of the woods.
1992 M. Roberts Daughters of House (1993) 4 A hallway set with doors half-concealed in grey panelling.
2013 Gold Coast Bull. (Austral.) (Nexis) 19 Jan. 32 He gave up, leaving the job half done.
(b) In formations used attributively.
Π
eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) v. xiii. 436 In midwintres tide, ymb hiene [flowendum] þæm sticcum halfbrocenra iisa [L. defluentibus circa eum semifractarum crustis glacierum].
OE tr. Medicina de Quadrupedibus (Vitell.) viii. 260 Þa wearras & ða swylas þe beoð on mannes handum..smyre mid þam wætan þe drype of ealfsodenre [OE Hatton healfsodenre, ?a1200 Harl. 6258B healfesodene] rammes lungenne.
J. Metham Amoryus & Cleopes (1916) l. 2194 Ion Lydgate..Hys bokys endytyd with termys off retoryk And halff chongyd Latyne.
1576 G. Baker tr. C. Gesner Newe Jewell of Health f. 9v The Coales also made of smothered and halfe burnt woode, yeelde a certaine yll sauour.
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) ii. ii. 54 The halfe-blowne Rose.
1687 J. Dryden Hind & Panther iii. 96 The clown unread, and half-read gentleman.
a1711 T. Ken Hymnotheo in Wks. (1721) III. 333 Half-form'd Words.
1726 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey V. xxii. 196 The half-shut door conceal'd his lurking foes.
1827 R. Southey Hist. Peninsular War II. 679 The half-armed, half-clothed, half-hungered Arragonese.
1858 W. Bagehot Coll. Wks. (1965) II. 72 The undefined, half-expressed..feelings.
1874 J. Sully Sensation & Intuition 95 Vague and half-thought out recollections.
1908 Westm. Gaz. 29 July 3/2 The forces of Free Trade may be confidently reckoned on to squash the half-believed-in promises of Tariff Reform.
1929 V. Woolf Room of one's Own 127 Those unsaid or half-said words.
2003 P. Kay et al. Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights: Scripts 1st Ser. Episode 3. 175/2 (stage direct.) Holy Mary enters carrying plates of half-eaten food.
c. Modifying a present participle, e.g. half-comprehending, half-dreaming, half-joking, half-laughing, half-sleeping, half-smiling, half-waking.Chiefly in formations used attributively.
ΚΠ
OE Old Eng. Martyrol. (Julius) 3 Aug. (2013) 152 Þa on þa þriddan tid ðære nihte ætywde him Gamalielus gast healfslæpendum ond him þriwa onhran.
OE Vision of Leofric in Rev. Eng. Stud. (2012) 63 548 Him þuhte to soðan on healfslapendon lichaman na eallinga swylce on swefne ac gyt gewisslicor þæt he sceolde nede ofer ane swiðe smale bricge.
c1500 (?a1437) Kingis Quair (1939) lxxiii (MED) To the cold stone my hede on wrye I laid..Half sleping and half suoun.
1585 R. Greene Planetomachia i. sig. G3 Halfe dreaming thoughts..so tormented him, that he colde take no rest.
1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie i. viii. 67 Certaine halfwaking men there are..who neither altogether asleepe in folly, nor yet throughly awake in the light of true vnderstanding, haue thought that there is not at all any thing iust and righteous in it selfe.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 863 The western point, where those half-rounding guards Just met.
1682 N. O. tr. N. Boileau-Despréaux Lutrin ii. 16 And clos'd her speech with an half-dying swoon.
1748 R. Hurd Let. 15 Nov. in Early Lett. (1995) 187 The half-approving glance & nod..might afford expression enough.
1762 W. Cole Let. 16 May in H. Walpole Corr. (1937) I. 7 The lady lies in an half-reclining posture, with her head on a cushion..as though she was asleep.
1817 S. T. Coleridge Biographia Literaria 223 In one of his half-earnest, half-joking moods.
1893 H. Frederic Copperhead v. 70 She went on,..in a nervous, half-laughing way.
1923 D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers (N.Y. ed.) 30 Wavering men of old Etruria..Going with insidious, half-smiling quietness.
2004 New Yorker 12 Apr. 90/1 The movie reveals the sordidness of adult behavior as it appears to half-comprehending but pure-hearted children.
d. Modifying a verb, e.g. half believe, half close, half do, half expect, half fill, half hear, half laugh, half murder, half suspect, half tell.In quot. eOE with past perfect (compare sense 1b); but could alternatively be interpreted as showing an adjective (modifying ðæt weorc); cf. discussion in etymology section.
Π
eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) iii. vi. 176 Þa ðæt weorc þære cirican huhugu healf wæs geworht [L. cum opus idem ad medium ferme esset perductum], þa wæs heo mid deaðe forgripen.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 377 (MED) Þer nis man on þis mold þat miȝt half telle þe wo & þe weping þat womman made.
?c1425 Recipe in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (Arun. 334) (1790) 459 Take..the ribbes of a boore..and half roste hom.
1582 R. Mulcaster 1st Pt. Elementarie iii. 14 Did not Thalestris the Amason Quene half contemn Alexander the great: when she saw his person to be of no great shew.
1608 Bp. J. Hall Characters Vertues & Vices ii. 136 Halfe reading euery title.
1650 J. Bulwer Anthropometamorphosis 162 I half suspect some concurrent affectations.
1674 A. Cremer tr. J. Scheffer Hist. Lapland 12 A bow which a Norwegian can scarce half bend.
1730 J. Thomson Summer in Seasons 112 Locks That half-embrac'd them in a humid veil.
1795 M. Wollstonecraft Let. 21 June (2003) 305 I half expected to find a letter from you here.
1797 A. Radcliffe Italian III. x. 360 On entering he half turned to look back.
1823 J. Badcock Domest. Amusem. 60 Half-filling a bottle with water.
1848 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair xlv. 405 He half-murdered a ferret.
1849 H. D. Thoreau Week Concord & Merrimack Rivers 192 I half believed that I should get above it.
1859 F. W. Farrar Julian Home xxiii. 293 He..half-wished he had not come.
1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar xxvii. 477 In Cicero Nature half-made a great man.
1910 W. de la Mare Three Mulla-mulgars 63 Half-hiding his face in his jacket.
1924 J. M. Murry Voy. viii. 152 ‘I can't help it,’ she said, half-laughing at her own confession.
1996 M. Cheek Sleeping Beauties xxii. 152 She put her head on one side, a hand on one hip, half closed her eyes Monroe-style and said ‘Mmm?’
2013 I. C. Esslemont Blood & Bone (Amer. ed. 1) v. 205 Half knowing the answer already, he'd asked:..is it a man or a god?
e. Modifying an adverb or adverbial phrase.
(a) With adverbs (e.g. as, so) modifying adjectives, e.g. in half as much, half so strong, and adverbial phrases, e.g. in half of the same mind, half in love.
Π
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) l. 2245 In þis middelerd nis no knith Half so strong, ne half so with.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. l. 1955 Ther mai no mannes privete Be heled half so wel as myn.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) v. l. 52 (MED) Al þe tresour..Ne hath nat bene departed halfe a-riȝt Amonges vs.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) xi. l. 128 Halff in wraith frawart him can he gang.
1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Surueyeng f. iiv It is worthe halfe as moche againe as the grasse was worthe.
1579–80 T. North tr. Plutarch Lives (1612) 740 A man halfe beside himself.
1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. 191 The three Spaniards were halfe of the same mind.
1674 S. Vincent Young Gallant's Acad. 18 Caudle will not go down half so sweetly as this will.
1706 J. Addison Rosamond in Wks. (1753) I. 132 The lily was not half so fair, Nor half so sweet the rose.
1794 H. L. Piozzi Diary 21 Mar. in Thraliana (1942) II. 872 They told me laughingly yet half in earnest..that there was room for no more.
1820 J. Keats Ode to Nightingale in Lamia & Other Poems 110 For many a time I have been half in love with easeful Death.
1904 London Jrnl. 13 Feb. 143/1 I am now half of the opinion that what is called remorse is only another name for cowardice, or rather fear.
2003 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 18 May v. 3/2 A swarm of smaller jets, with about half as many seats, has taken to the skies.
(b) With simple adverbs, e.g. half-angrily, half-apologetically, half-ashamedly, half-blindly, half-consciously, half-divinely, half-jokingly, half-learnedly, half-questioningly; half-left, half-right, half-round.Apparently rare before the 19th cent.
Π
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 45v Inscisionz in þe subacellez & in þe inguynez oweþ to be made halfe ouerthwertly [?c1425 Paris half ouerþwartly; L. semitransuersaliter].
c1700 I. Watts To Mitio in Horæ Lyricæ Pt. iii. ii, in Wks. (1813) IX. 200 Damon is half-divinely blest.
1720 W. R. Chetwood Voy. Capt. R. Falconer ii. 13 I row'd half round..the first Day.
1807 S. T. Coleridge Notebks. (1962) II. 2998 I still half-consciously expect to awake from the night-mair.
1832 Proposed Regulations Cavalry iii. 73 The..troops wheel half right.
1841 T. Carlyle On Heroes v. 304 Struggling half-blindly, as in bitterness of death, against that!
1863 A. D. T. Whitney Faith Gartney's Girlhood i. 10 Holding the bank-note half-ashamedly in her hand.
1883 Harper's Mag. June 141/2 The..little trot..lisped, half-coaxingly, half-questioningly.
1913 J. London Let. 17 Oct. (1966) 408 He..is..half-apologetically explaining that it is the first time.
1949 M. Mead Male & Female ii. 22 It is often said half-jokingly.
2011 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 27 Oct. 12/3 In the past the French would half-grudgingly, half-admiringly refer to ‘American-style biographies’, meaning these big all-inclusive lives that cover every significant detail in the life and work of a subject.
f. Combining with a past participle (cf. sense 1b) + -ness to form nouns with the sense ‘the state or quality of being half what is indicated by the past participle’, e.g. half-cookedness, half-dressedness.
Π
1657 R. Baxter Certain Disputations Rights to Sacraments v. 449 Holiness in the common Believer, is but a half Devotedness and Separation, and wanteth the essentials which the Regenerate have.
1887 Daily News 29 June 5/4 That delicious condition of half-dressedness.
1890 R. Kipling From Sea to Sea (1909) ii. xxxiv. 132 The place, in its half-inhabitedness, was more desolate than Amber.
2011 K. Iwi & C. Newman Picking up Pieces after Domest. Violence v. 63 This ‘half-cookedness’ goes beyond the physical development of the human baby and is also true in terms of our brain development.
2. With adjectives expressing shape: implying the form of half the figure, as in half-cordate, half-cylindrical, half-sagittate, half-spherical, half-terete.See also half-circular adj., half-round adj.
Π
OE Antwerp-London Gloss. (2011) 120 Semirotundum, healfsinewealt.
1643 R. Gentilis tr. G. Diodati Pious Annot. Holy Bible (1 Kings vii. 23) 6/2 It was of a halfe sphericall figure.
1775 J. Jenkinson Linnæus' Generic & Specific Descr. Brit. Plants Gloss. Semicordate, half cordate.
1800 J. Hull Elements Bot. II. 77 Segments half lanceolate, equal, spreading, the alternate ones narrower, persisting.
1827 Bot. Reg. 13 Pl. 1128 Leaves quite smooth, cuneate, obtuse, 3-lobed, serrated, sometimes almost spatulate, occasionally on the strong branches 5-lobed and acute; stipulæ half sagittate, dentate, without glands.
1834 G. Don Gen. Hist. Dichlamydeous Plants III. 127/2 First leaves joined into a spherical form; the following ones half-terete, subulate, very long, green, and somewhat recurved.
1893 K. Sanborn Truthful Woman S. Calif. 45 Half-cylindrical plates of hard-burnt clay.
1920 N. L. Britton & C. F. Millspaugh Bahama Flora 313 Carpels half-terete, dorsally flattened, prominently ribbed; oil-tubes solitary in the intervals.
1968 A. E. Radford et al. Man. Vascular Flora Carolinas 627 Vetch... Stipules usually half-sagittate.
1979 N. Pevsner & E. Williamson Nottinghamshire (ed. 2) 375 A half-conical lead roof carrying a low-relief urn.
3. Uses in which half is now adverbial, though probably originally the adjective or noun.
a. Nautical.
(a) Between the names of two points of the compass: half a point (i.e. 55/ 8°) from the first towards the second point mentioned. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > navigational aids > [adverb] > between two named compass points
half1757
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique iii. xx. 471 It [sc. the winde] is halfe north [Fr. participant..du Nort] which is verie sharpe.
1671 J. Seller Coasting Pilot 10/1 The East end of this Sand beareth from Marget-Church North, half West, four miles distance.
1735 London Evening-Post 23 Dec. 2/1 The Low Light..which bore North West and half West over End..is taken down.
1757 G. Shelvocke, Jr. Shelvocke's Voy. round World (ed. 2) i. 17 Bearing South East half East, distant six leagues.
1893 Earl of Dunmore Pamirs I. 252 We..altered our course from north to east half-south by the compass.
1947 Copeia No. 1. 63 It was captured by the fishing vessel New Dawn, 58 miles south-half-east of Block Island.
2011 W. C. Hammond Power & Glory viii. 104 Bring her southeast by east, a half east.
(b) In soundings, preceding a numeral: one half more than that quantity; e.g. half four = 4½ fathoms. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > navigational aids > [adverb] > plus half a fathom in sounding
half1809
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine sig. Mm3v If the mark of 5 fathoms is close to the surface of the water, he calls ‘By the mark five!’ and as there is no mark at 4, 6, 8 &c. he estimates those numbers, and calls, ‘By the dip four’, &c. If he judges it to be a quarter, or an half more than any particular number, he calls, ‘and a quarter five and a half four’, &c.
1809 H. P. Tremenheere in Naval Chron. 23 191 The ship..shoaled her water to a half three.
1840 F. Marryat Poor Jack xlvii. 340 We shall have half four directly, and after that the water will deepen.
1931 Boys' Life July 13/3 ‘And a half five.’ Thirty-three feet.
b. In stating the time of day.
(a) Scottish. Preceding a numeral: half an hour before the hour specified. Now rare. [Compare similar uses in other languages, e.g. Dutch halftwee (16th cent. as half twee), German halb zwei (17th cent. or earlier), both in the sense ‘half past one’, literally ‘half two’.]
ΘΠ
the world > time > particular time > [adjective] > of the time of day > minutes before or after the hour
half past one1750
ten1852
thirty1870
1637 R. Monro Exped. Scots Regim. ii. 65 By halfe three, our Cannon a little ceasing, the Horsemen on both wings charged furiously.
a1791 F. Grose Olio (1796) 107 C. Pray what's o' clock? W. It will be half ten.
1853 C. Reade Christie Johnstone 294 Flucker informed her that the nock said ‘half eleven’—Scotch for ‘half-past-ten’.
2005 A. Fenton Buchan Words & Ways iv. 97 This was teen at aboot half five (which everybody in the North-East knows is half-past four).
(b) Followed by after (now chiefly North American) or past, preceding a numeral: half an hour past the hour specified. Also elliptically, with the hour supplied by the context, as half after, half past.
Π
1643 in Trans. Shropshire Archæol. Soc. (1895) 7 327 Elsmr halfe past 2 in the afternoone.
1696 J. Taylor Ephemeris sig. B4 (table) 7 Stars rise 51 min past 11 at night, Scorpions heart South half past 8 night.
1750 G. B. Dodington Diary 13 May (1784) 49 Just at half past twelve, she was delivered of a Prince.
1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India II. v. v. 494 From half after seven..they remained exposed to the fire..till nine o'clock.
1819 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto I civ. 55 About the hour Of half-past six.
1891 Murray's Mag. Apr. 445 It was half after eight o'clock one evening.
1908 J. M. Patterson Little Brother of Rich xxi. 215 We shall have to hurry. It's half after now.
1950 Pittsburgh Courier 22 July 28 We will be hearing wedding bells on Sunday, August 6, at half after four.
1968 Times 22 Apr. (Beer in Brit. Suppl.) p. ix/3 Lunch was not served until half past.
2009 New Yorker 7 Dec. 32/2 It was half past eleven.
(c) colloquial (British and Irish English). Immediately followed by a numeral: half an hour past the hour specified; half past (= sense 3b(b)).
Π
1855 Hampshire Advertiser 22 Sept. 6/3 The meeting was called for at half-six in the evening, and at about seven o'clock the Revs...and some other gentlemen ascended the platform.
1931 Punch 3 June 598/1 At 9:30 p.m.,..he had been ringing for about an hour-and-a-half... At half-ten,..the bell was still ringing.
1976 ‘W. Trevor’ Children of Dynmouth v. 112 We'd easily get the half-five bus.
2013 A. Gibbons Raining Fire ii. 18 ‘What time did you get in?’.. ‘Half one. Two o'clock maybe.’

Phrases

P1. half…half…: used correlatively to couple two contrasting expressions.The components so coupled may be noun phrases, adjectives, adverbial phrases, or verbs.Sometimes hyphenated to the following word.See also half man, half beast at man n.1 1d.In quot. eOE2 probably still to be interpreted as postposed adjective; cf. discussion in etymology section.
ΚΠ
eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) i. ix. 28 Þonne heton hi hie Centauri—þæt sindon healf hors, healf men—for þon hie on horse hie feohtan ne gesawen ær þa.
eOE Bounds (Sawyer 495) in W. de G. Birch Cartularium Saxonicum (1887) II. 541 Ðonne is þæt land æt Snocescumbe healf þæs cinges, healf uncer Brentinges.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 211 Huo þet bit god wyþ-oute deuocion of herte: he spekþ to god patroyllart, ase þe ilke þet spekþ half englis and half urenss.
a1450 in T. Austin Two 15th-cent. Cookery-bks. (1888) 25 (MED) Take Elys or Gurnard, & parte hem half in Wyne, & half in watere, in-to a potte.
a1500 (?c1425) Speculum Sacerdotale (1936) 173 (MED) He..hadde fallen in-to a slomerynge, scilicet, half slepyng, half wakyng.
1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 86 The Sonne..halfe above the Horizont, and half under.
1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) i. 23 I ment not that they are halfe good, and halfe evill.
1614 Bp. J. Hall Recoll. Treat. ii. 60 An euill man is halfe a beast, and halfe a Diuell.
1708 P. A. Motteux Wks. F. Rabelais (1737) iv. lxvii. 274 With..one of his Stockins, half on half off, about his Heel.
1783 Amer. Wanderer viii. 97 The..swain..urges to the unhallowed bower, the half-willing, half-affrighted maid.
1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake i. 42 Half shewing, half concealing all The uncouth trophies of the hall.
1858 A. Lincoln Speech 16 June in J. G. Nicolay & J. Hay Life Lincoln (1890) II. viii. 137 I believe this Government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.
1910 J. A. Symonds in Bk. of Christmas 109 The shepherds kneel, rustically chanting a carol half in Latin, half in English.
2008 C. Calder Paper Alice vii. 157 I was half-laughing, half-annoyed.
P2. not half.
a.
(a) A long way from the proper or expected amount; to a very slight extent; hardly. Hence hyperbolically (colloquial): not at all, the reverse of, nothing like; e.g. I don't half like it ‘I don't like it much’, not half long enough ‘not nearly long enough’.In quot. 1481 not hawlfe insamyde = ‘not nearly cleansed of superfluous fat’ (cf. enseam v.1 1a).
ΘΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adverb] > to a small extent or slightly
lightlyeOE
liteOE
littleOE
a litec1290
smallc1300
softc1390
smally?a1425
slenderlya1513
hoverly1549
remissly1557
slender1581
not half1583
faintly1590
slightly1594
lankly1611
lowly1655
slight1671
nicely1698
weakly1775
sparingly1796
jimply1816
feebly1830
slightually1859
marginally1960
1481 R. Cely Let. 22 Nov. in Cely Lett. (1975) 125 I hawe sowlde hyr for vij nobullys, byt whone nobyll ys pwt on yowr wyll at yowr comyng. Sche whos not hawlfe insamyde.
?1530 Dialoges Creatures Moralysed xvii. sig. F.iiv He was Idell, and not half occupyed.
1583 T. Stocker tr. Tragicall Hist. Ciuile Warres Lowe Countries ii. f. 66v Thei were not halfe well prouided to goe awaie vpon the spurre.
1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue ii. i. iii. 30 He thought this was hard teaching, he did not halfe like it.
a1649 W. Drummond Wks. (1711) 225 Sir William Alexander was not half kinde unto him, and neglected him.
1678 T. D'Urfey Fool turn'd Critick iii. ii. 27 The Buttons are not half big enough neither.
1842 F. Marryat Percival Keene (1877) xiv. 9/3 Medea's wise in her own conceit, and you're a regular old fool... One too knowing, and the other not half knowing enough.
1859 T. Hughes Scouring of White Horse vi. 133 I didn't half like the way in which Miss Lucy was running on.
1955 E. Bowen World of Love ii. 19 He had no plans: he in fact would not be half sorry if someone said to him he was back for good.
2010 Irish Independent (Nexis) 11 Dec. The judge said the maximum sentence he could impose was not half long enough.
(b) not half bad: not at all bad, rather good.
ΘΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > quality of being satisfactory > [adjective]
wellOE
sufferablea1340
worthy1340
sufficient1489
paregala1500
competent1535
something like?1556
right1567
sweet1577
fairish1611
all right1652
fair1656
comfortable1658
decent1711
respectable1750
unrepulsive1787
decentisha1814
fair-to-middling1822
fine1828
christena1838
OK1839
tidy1844
not (or none) so dusty?1856
sweet1898
oke1928
okey-doke1934
okey-dokey1936
tickety-boo1939
cool1951
aight1993
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) (at cited word) ‘He's nut hauf a bad an’, i.e. he is a fair, respectable person.
1853 Bentley's Misc. Jan. 107 Rather jolly; the cathedral—not half bad, is it?
1886 J. K. Jerome Idle Thoughts Pref. One or two friends to whom I showed these papers in MS. observed that they were not half bad.
1919 V. Woolf Night & Day xv. 195 I could live on fifteen shillings a week... It wouldn't be half bad.
2006 M. Pollan Omnivore's Dilemma iv. 74 It wasn't half bad—not as crisp as a Kellogg's flake, but with a cornier flavor.
b. colloquial (chiefly British). Much more than half; completely, really; prodigiously, copiously; e.g. I don't half like her ‘I really like her’, he didn't half swear ‘he swore a lot’. Frequently as an exclamation, expressing enthusiastic agreement: ‘absolutely’, ‘you bet’.
Π
1901 Football Chat & Athletic World 1 Oct. 9/2 And what about Watford? Truly, I am proud of Pangbourne, Lyon, and Chalmers. This useful trio didn't half worry the Bristol Rovers' defenders.
1902 A. N. Lyons Hookey v. 33 Whotcher! 'Oo's got the perlice in their shop? 'Ookey Walker? Not 'arf!
1917 Londoner (1/25th Battalion, London Regiment) May 5/1 Led poor ole Pip a nell of a life he did, but my word, let anyone else try to come the acid on Pip and wasn't there a schemozzle, not half!
1940 N. Streatfeild Winter is Past (2018) i She won't half look sweet in it. Wouldn't half like to take her out walking when she's got it on.
1953 L. P. Hartley Go-between xiv. 165 And we didn't half enjoy your songs.
1998 A. Wood EastEnders (BBC TV script) (O.E.D. Archive) Episode 602. 20 Barry: I worked really hard to sell it to him, and he finally caves in. Then his wife says she'll have the Fiesta as a runaround. A double whammy. Can you believe it? Roy: Bit of luck eh? Barry: Not half.
2010 J. O'Connor Ghost Light (2011) ii. 31 ‘Good morning, Mr Ballantine’. ‘Lumme, Miss O'Neill. Didn't half give me a start’.
P3. Modifying full or empty in various phrases relating to a vessel or container and referring to a person's optimism or pessimism (an optimistic person being said to see the degree to which a container is full of liquid, while the pessimistic person sees the degree to which it is empty). Now chiefly in the glass is half full and the glass is half empty at glass n.1 Additions.
Π
1929 Belleville (Illinois) Daily News-Democrat 16 Apr. 4/3 If he says his gas tank is half-full he's an optimist. If he says it's half-empty he's a pessimist.
1941 Current Sauce (Natchitoches, Louisiana) 4 Dec. 5/2 An optimist sees a pitcher half full of milk, whereas a pessimist sees a pitcher half empty.
1994 L. Chawla In First Country of Places 135 I am in some very deep way optimistic. Every bottle is half full.
2003 Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City) (Nexis) 20 Sept. 1 d Sometimes, God shows us things through adversity, she said. Is your cup half empty or half full?

Compounds

half-equitant adj. Botany designating a form of vernation in which the margins of opposite leaves overlap each other alternately; characterized by this arrangement; = obvolute adj.Also called demi-equitant, semi-equitant.
Π
1836 A. Gray Elements Bot. ii. 71 The principal forms of vernation are:..4th. The half-equitant, (obvolute Lindl.); when one of the margins of each leaf is exterior and the other interior.
1880 Trans. Linn. Soc.: Bot. 1 180 In poppies, for example,..the calyx is half-equitant and the corolla equitant.
1991 A. D. Bell Plant Form i. 38/2 When the individual leaves are conduplicate then the vernation may be equitant or obvolute (half-equitant).
† half-high adj. Obsolete (of a dress) having the neckline midway between the neck and the bust.
Π
1815 La Belle Assemblée Jan. 33/1 Half high dress of white kerseymere.
1846 Lady Montefiore Jewish Man. ii. v. 216 Dresses made half high are..unbecoming; they should either be cut close up to the throat or low.
1923 Vogue 15 Feb. 86/2 One of those serviceable, half-high dresses, called demi-toilette.
half inferior adj. Botany designating an ovary which is embedded in or surrounded by the receptacle; (of a flower, etc.) that has such an ovary.
ΘΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > [adjective] > having or relating to parts > relating to or having ovule > of or having an ovary
gymnotetraspermous1736
ovarian1759
germinal1811
monocephalous1845
tetrathecal1849
basal1870
paragerminal1876
1800 J. E. Smith Eng. Bot. X. 703 Caps[ule] half inferior, of one cell, with 5 teeth.
1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 399/1 Half inferior, said of a flower in which the receptacle forms a cup which is adherent to the base of the ovary and partly up its side.
2009 Ann. Missouri Bot. Garden 96 191/2 Ovary inferior (half-inferior in Rachicallis).
† half-large adj. Obsolete designating a card of approximately 3 × 2¼ inches (approx. 7.6 × 5.7 cm), typically used for personal or business contact details, etc.
Π
1801 Prices of Printing 3 (heading) Small and half large cards.
1821 C. S. Dudley Anal. of Syst. Bible Soc. vii. 432 If..a card be deemed requisite..the customary size is that denominated ‘half-large’ by the stationers.
1888 C. T. Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 56 Half large cards.—A size of card, 3 x 2¼ inches.
1905 F. H. Collins Author & Printer 51/1 Cards (sizes of):..half large, 3 1/ 16 x 2¼.
† half-orbed adj. Obsolete having a semicircular appearance; (of the moon) having half of its orb illuminated (also figurative).
Π
1737 R. Glover Leonidas ix. 312 His phalanx soon Leonidas commands To circle backward..: Their order changes; now half-orb'd they stand.
1787 J. Barlow Vision of Columbus i. 3 The half-orb'd moon declining to the main.
1880 E. Poste tr. Aratus Skies & Weather-forecasts 38 Half-orbed, her [sc. the moon's] promise holds To full moon.
1901 Christian Advocate 12 Sept. 1456/1 A half-orbed faith busies itself forever with what it calls ‘the other world’.
half-roll v. intransitive to partially turn over while moving.
ΘΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > action of flying (in) aircraft > aerobatics > perform aerobatics [verb (intransitive)] > specific
to loop the loop1902
loop1913
barrel roll1917
flick roll1928
1741 London Mag. Jan. 45/1 Half-rolling gently up and down, From side to side the creaking cradle swings.
1926 J. M. Grider War Birds 206 I half rolled on top of him, he half rolled too.
2012 L. Bond Exit Plan 308 Jerry half-rolled into a hole right next to him.
half-secret dovetail n. rare a dovetail joint that is invisible from the front.
Π
1904 G. F. Goodchild & C. F. Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 277/2 Half secret dovetail, a dovetail of the form used in a drawer front; it is concealed in a front view, but visible in the side of the drawer when drawn out.
1956 U.S. Patent 2,747,627 5 I am able to produce four different types of dovetails, namely, round pin open dovetails, round pin half-secret dovetails, secret-mitred dovetails and box taper dovetails.
† half-turning bolt n. rare Obsolete a bolt with a thread only on one half of its circumference, designed to be fastened into and unlocked from a similarly threaded hole with a half-turn.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
Π
1868 Technologisches Wörterbuch III. 445/1 Pêne à demi-tour, der halbtourige Riegel. Half-turning-bolt.
1874 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. I. 322/1 A half-turning bolt is one having a half-screw thread on one side and engaging in a similarly threaded socket.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2022).

> see also

also refers to : half-comb. form
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n.eOEadj.eOEv.1889adv.eOE
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