English▸ noun either of two equal or corresponding parts into which something is or can be divided:
two and a half years
the northern half of the island
divide the cake in half
spending was reduced by half.
▪ either of two equal periods of time into which a sports game or a performance is divided.
▪ Golf a score for an individual hole that is the same as one's opponent's:
she holed from six feet for a half at the seventeenth.
▪ short for halfback.
▸ predeterminer, pronoun, & adjective an amount equal to a half:
[as predeterminer] half an hour
almost half the children turned up
[as pronoun] half of the lectures are delivered by him
[as adjective] the last half century.
▪ an amount thought of as roughly a half:
[as pronoun] half of them are gatecrashers
[as predeterminer] half the letters were sent first class.
▸ adverb to the extent of half:
the glass was half full.
▪ [often in combination] to a certain extent; partly:
the chicken is half-cooked.
– PHRASES
a — and a half informal
used to indicate that one considers a particular person or thing to be an impressive example of their kind:
the slightest opportunity:
the most important part or aspect of something:
thirty minutes after (a specified hour):
do things thoroughly or extravagantly.not half too — by half British
used to emphasize something considered bad:
a — and a half informal
used to indicate that one considers a particular person or thing to be an impressive example of their kind:
Aunt Edie was a woman and a half.
half a chance informal the slightest opportunity:
given half a chance he can make anything work.
the half of it [usually with negative] informal the most important part or aspect of something:
you don't know the half of it.
half past — thirty minutes after (a specified hour):
they arrived at about half-past three.
not do things by halves do things thoroughly or extravagantly.not half too — by half British
used to emphasize something considered bad:
the idea seems too superstitious by half.
– ORIGIN Old English half, healf, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch half and German halb (adjectives). The earliest meaning of the Germanic base was ‘side’, also a noun sense in Old English .