| Learning / English Dictionary |
HALF
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Irregular inflected form: halves
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
One of two equal parts of a divisible whole
Example:
a century and one half
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure
Hypernyms ("half" is a kind of...):
common fraction; simple fraction (the quotient of two integers)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "half"):
fifty percent (a half expressed as a percentage)
mediety; moiety (one of two (approximately) equal parts)
Sense 2
Meaning:
One of two divisions into which some games or performances are divided: the two divisions are separated by an interval
Classified under:
Nouns denoting time and temporal relations
Hypernyms ("half" is a kind of...):
division; part; section (one of the portions into which something is regarded as divided and which together constitute a whole)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "half"):
first half (the first of two halves of play)
last half; second half (the second of two halves of play)
Holonyms ("half" is a part of...):
football; football game (any of various games played with a ball (round or oval) in which two teams try to kick or carry or propel the ball into each other's goal)
basketball; basketball game; hoops (a game played on a court by two opposing teams of 5 players; points are scored by throwing the ball through an elevated horizontal hoop)
period of play; play; playing period ((in games or plays or other performances) the time during which play proceeds)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Consisting of one of two equivalent parts in value or quantity
Example:
lasted a half hour
Classified under:
Similar:
fractional (constituting or comprising a part or fraction of a possible whole or entirety)
Sense 2
Meaning:
(of siblings) related through one parent only
Example:
half sister
Classified under:
Antonym:
whole ((of siblings) having the same parents)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Partial
Example:
he did only a half job
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
incomplete; uncomplete (not complete or total; not completed)
III. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Partially or to the extent of a half
Example:
he was half hidden by the bushes
Classified under:
Pertainym:
half (consisting of one of two equivalent parts in value or quantity)
Context examples:
These were some of the thoughts which occupied Anne, while her fingers were mechanically at work, proceeding for half an hour together, equally without error, and without consciousness.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
Wax esters are also an important lipid in the oceans worldwide, at times storing at least half the carbon produced by plant-like marine organisms.
(Whales may owe their efficient digestion to millions of tiny microbes, National Science Foundation)
At the end of half an hour the pool was nearly dry.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
A group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about half way between Hawaii and New Zealand.
(American Samoa, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)
I had been at the window somewhat less than half an hour, when I saw something coming out of the Count's window.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
The sediment analyzed from locations along the lake shows that rainfall levels 35,000 to 100,000 years ago were about 28 inches, or almost half what they are today.
(Environmental change in Africa: Will it lead to a drying Lake Victoria?, National Science Foundation)
I half believed her; for I felt indeed only bad feelings surging in my breast.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Humans can distinguish several million different colors and almost half a million different tones.
(Humans Can Identify More Than 1 Trillion Smells, NIH, US)
In the cities of the northern half of the state, including Porto Alegre, smoke was not noticed due to the large number of clouds.
(Australian bushfire smoke drifts to South America, SciDev.Net)
The brighter star is about half as massive and large as the Sun, while its companion is about one-third the Sun's mass and size.
(Citizen Scientists Find New World with NASA Telescope, NASA)
