half

Less common meanings

8. 8
   one shared parentadjective

   Related through only one shared parent, or one shared ancestor, rather than two.

   His half brother grew up in a different household.

   The two are half siblings, sharing only their mother.

   UsageNot the same as a stepbrother or stepsister, who shares no parent and is linked only by a parent's marriage.

   Oppositefull

   Note

   Kinship's middle term: a half brother or half sister shares one parent, a full sibling shares two, and a stepsibling shares none, being linked only by a parent's marriage. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • Half brothers and half sisters share one parent. en.wikipedia.org
   • Full siblings share both biological parents. en.wikipedia.org
   • Stepsiblings share no biological parent and are connected through their parents' marriage. en.wikipedia.org
9. 9
   running racenouncountable

   A road race covering half the distance of a marathon, about 13.1 miles.

   He set a personal best in last weekend's half.

   Hundreds of runners signed up for the spring half.

   Note

   A runner's clipping, at home in race talk. Someone runs a half or signs up for the spring half, and the setting of training and finishing times does the work that marathon would otherwise do. The distance, about 21.1 kilometers, is exactly half a marathon. Among sports words it should not be confused with a half of a match. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • Half is an abbreviation of half marathon. en.wiktionary.org
   • The exact distance is 21.0975 kilometers; 21.1 kilometers is rounded. en.wikipedia.org
   • A half marathon covers exactly half the marathon distance. en.wikipedia.org
10. 10
    adverb

    To an extent close to complete; almost or nearly.

    After the long hike in the desert, we were half dead from heat and thirst.

    The kitten was half starved when we found it under the porch, but it soon grew strong.

    UsageMostly in fixed phrases that often exaggerate: half dead, half starved, half asleep.

    Similaralmost, nearly, practically, virtually

    Note

    Close to complete rather than partial. When Christopher Marlowe writes in Tamburlaine the Great, "To be a King, is halfe to bee a God," the king falls just short of godhood, not halfway to it. Context separates this sense from the "partly" adverb: half asleep leans toward asleep, while half done leans toward unfinished. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Christopher Marlowe wrote Tamburlaine the Great. en.wikipedia.org
    • The quotation occurs in the play with the wording given. en.wiktionary.org
    • The quotation illustrates half meaning nearly, rather than literally halfway. en.wiktionary.org
11. 11
    telling timeprepositionIrelandUK

    Thirty minutes past the stated hour, used in telling the time.

    The shop opens at half nine on weekdays.

    He said he'd call back at half three.

    UsageHalf nine is short for half past nine (9:30). Use the full phrase to avoid confusion.

    Note

    British and Irish clock talk: half nine is 9:30, with past simply dropped. Speakers in Australia and North America say half past nine in full. The clipped form can mislead listeners who know the rarer "half before" reading, in which half seven means 6:30. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • In British and Irish usage, half nine means 9:30. en.wiktionary.org
    • The clipped time expression abbreviates half past followed by the hour. en.wikipedia.org
    • Half past is used in Australia and North America. en.wiktionary.org
    • There is a half-before reading under which half seven means 6:30, chiefly referring to other linguistic or cultural backgrounds. en.wiktionary.org
12. 12
    field sidenouncountable

    Either of the two opposite sides of a sports field, with each team starting in one.

    The defenders rarely left their own half during the match.

    He launched the ball deep into the opponents' half.

    UsageUsually with a possessive: our own half, the opponents' half. The ball is in or goes into a half.

    Similarend, side

    Note

    Territory rather than time: the halfway line splits the pitch, and each team defends one side at kickoff. Ben Dirs, reporting New Zealand against Japan at the 2011 Rugby World Cup for BBC Sport, has Williams careering out of his own half before setting up Nonu. Its counterpart is the opponents' half, the ground an attack is trying to reach. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • The halfway line divides the pitch into two halves. thefa.com
    • Teams occupy their respective halves at kickoff. thefa.com
    • Ben Dirs reported New Zealand against Japan at the 2011 Rugby World Cup for BBC Sport. en.wiktionary.org
    • The cited report describes Williams running from his own half before passing to Nonu. en.wiktionary.org
13. 13
    nounBritishcountable

    A measure of beer or cider equal to half a pint, often ordered instead of a full pint.

    I'll just have a half of lager, since I'm driving.

    He ordered a half of cider and sat down by the fire.

    UsageUsually a half of plus the drink: a half of lager. A swift half is a quick drink.

    Note

    James Herriot's All Things Bright and Beautiful (1974) has a half of bitter, and Bill Appleton's Wide Boy (2006) has a half of lager. The word can sound modest on purpose. Just a half turns down a full pint, and a swift half promises a short stop. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • James Herriot wrote All Things Bright and Beautiful, which contains the phrase “a half of bitter”. en.wiktionary.org
    • All Things Bright and Beautiful was first published in 1974. openlibrary.org
    • Bill Appleton wrote Wide Boy, which contains the phrase “a half of lager”. en.wiktionary.org
    • The phrase “a half of lager” occurs in Wide Boy. en.wiktionary.org
14. 14
    coinnounabbreviationclipping

    Short for half-dollar: a US coin worth fifty cents.

    The dealer offered me a half in mint condition.

    Collectors prize silver halves struck before 1965.

    Note

    Collectors' shorthand for the fifty-cent coin, heard most often in the plural and inside series names. Fred A. Murphy, offering coins on Usenet's rec.collecting.coins in 2002, advertised "the last of the Walking Liberty Halves," with the clipped word capitalized as part of the series title. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Half is collectors' shorthand for half-dollar. en.wiktionary.org
    • The US half-dollar is worth fifty cents. usmint.gov
    • Fred A. Murphy offered coins in rec.collecting.coins in 2002 and used the quoted wording and capitalization. Wiktionary dates the post August 15, 2002. en.wiktionary.org
15. 15
    child ticketnoundatedUKcountable

    A reduced-fare ticket for a child, as sold on trains and buses.

    He bought a half for his daughter and a full fare for himself.

    At the ticket office, Dad asked for one adult and two halves, one for me and one for my sister.

    Note

    An old ticket-window word, British and now dated. Fares were spoken as a count, so two and a half to Paddington asks for two adult tickets and one child's ticket, not two and a half fares of anything. Today's phrasing is child ticket, and the elliptical half belongs to an earlier era of travel. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

    • Half meaning a child's ticket is British and dated; the example requests two adult tickets and one child's ticket. Wiktionary supplies the identical example under that definition. en.wiktionary.org
16. 16
    verbobsoletetransitive

    To divide something into two equal parts.

    UsageToday the verb is halve: they halved the price, halve the recipe.

    Similarhalve, bisect, dichotomize

    Note

    An obsolete verb, replaced by halve, though its forms never really left. The inflections halves, halving and halved are shared with the modern verb, so only the bare form gives it away: to half a fortune now reads as a mistake for to halve. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Half is an obsolete verb equivalent to halve, with survival in nonstandard usage. en.wiktionary.org
    • Half has the inflections halves, halving and halved. en.wiktionary.org
    • Halve has the same inflections, leaving the uninflected spelling as the distinction. en.wiktionary.org
17. 17
    prepositionrare

    Thirty minutes before the named hour, as some other languages tell the time (German halb sieben is 6:30); in English it appears almost only when describing such usage.
18. 18
    interjection

    A call telling performers that thirty minutes remain before the show begins.
19. 19
    noun

    A barrel measure of twenty-seven gallons, equal to half a hogshead.

    Barrels came in firkins, nine gallons; kilderkins, eighteen gallons; halves, twenty-seven gallons; barrels, thirty-six gallons and hogsheads, fifty-four.

    1987, Keith Dunstan, The Amber Nectar
20. 20
    noun

    Any of the three terms making up the school year at Eton College: Michaelmas, Lent, and summer.