What does “half” mean?
- 1
nounone of two equal parts of something
Cut the apple in half.
- 2
determineran amount equal to half of something
I’ll be there in half an hour.
- 3
adverbpartly; not completely
The glass was half empty.
Half at a glance
- Part of speech
- noun, determiner & adverb
- CEFR level
- A1 (beginner)
- Pronunciation
- /hæf/ · HAF
- Forms
- halves
How to use “half” correctly
The “l” is silent. Both “half an hour” and “a half hour” are used in US English. “Half past five” means 5:30.
Common phrases with “half”
- half an hour
- in half
- half price
- half past
Synonyms, opposites and related words
Word family
- halve
Idioms with “half”
- Six of one, half a dozen of the other: Two choices are basically the same, so it doesn't matter which you pick.
“half” is on these word lists
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- day nounA1a period of 24 hours
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