2. Consisting of some indefinite portion resembling a half; approximately a half, whether more or less; partial; imperfect; as,
a half dream; half knowledge.
Assumed from thence a half consent.
Tennyson. Half ape (Zoöl.),
a lemur. — Half back. (Football) See under 2d Back. — Half bent, the first notch,
for the sear point to enter, in the tumbler of a gunlock; the halfcock notch. — Half binding, a style of
bookbinding in which only the back and corners are in leather. — Half boarder, one who boards in
part; specifically, a scholar at a boarding school who takes dinner only. — Half-breadth plan (Shipbuilding),
a horizontal plan of one half a vessel, divided lengthwise, showing the lines. — Half cadence
(Mus.), a cadence on the dominant. — Half cap, a slight salute with the cap. [Obs.] Shak. — At
half cock, the position of the cock of a gun when retained by the first notch. — Half hitch, a sailor's
knot in a rope; half of a clove hitch. — Half hose, short stockings; socks. — Half measure, an imperfect
or weak line of action. — Half note (Mus.), a minim, one half of a semibreve. — Half pay, half of
the wages or salary; reduced pay; as, an officer on half pay. — Half price, half the ordinary price; or
a price much reduced. — Half round. (a) (Arch.) A molding of semicircular section. (b) (Mech.)
Having one side flat and the other rounded; — said of a file. — Half shift (Mus.), a position of the
hand, between the open position and the first shift, in playing on the violin and kindred instruments.
See Shift. — Half step (Mus.), a semitone; the smallest difference of pitch or interval, used in music.
— Half tide, the time or state of the tide equally distant from ebb and flood. — Half time, half the
ordinary time for work or attendance; as, the half-time system. — Half tint (Fine Arts), a middle or
intermediate tint, as in drawing or painting. See Demitint. — Half truth, a statement only partially
true, or which gives only a part of the truth. Mrs. Browning. — Half year, the space of six months; one
term of a school when there are two terms in a year.
Half
(Half), adv. In an equal part or degree; in some part approximating a half; partially; imperfectly; as,
half-colored, half done, half-hearted, half persuaded, half conscious. "Half loth and half consenting."
Dryden.
Their children spoke halfin the speech of Ashdod.
Neh. xiii. 24. Half
(Half) n.; pl. Halves [AS. healf. See Half, a.]
1. Part; side; behalf. [Obs.] Wyclif.
The four halves of the house.
Chaucer. 2. One of two equal parts into which anything may be divided, or considered as divided; — sometimes
followed by of; as, a half of an apple.
Not half his riches known, and yet despised.
Milton.
A friendship so complete
Portioned in halves between us.
Tennyson. Better half.
See under Better. - - In half, in two; an expression sometimes used improperly instead
of in or into halves; as, to cut in half. [Colloq.] Dickens. — In, or On, one's half, in one's behalf; on
one's part. [Obs.] — To cry halves, to claim an equal share with another. — To go halves, to share
equally between two.
Half
(Half), v. t. To halve. [Obs.] See Halve. Sir H. Wotton.
Half-and-half
(Half`-and-half"), n. A mixture of two malt liquors, esp. porter and ale, in about equal parts.
Dickens.
Halfbeak
(Half"beak`) n. (Zoöl.) Any slender, marine fish of the genus Hemirhamphus, having the upper
jaw much shorter than the lower; — called also balahoo.