half
consisting of one of two equivalent parts in value or quantity
How often you will meet it
Rank 274 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 78,974 times across 175,112 chapters — 0.038% of every word in the library.
It belongs to the first 500 words, the band worth learning before any other.
What it means
adjective
- consisting of one of two equivalent parts in value or quantity a half chickenlasted a half hour
- partial gave me a half smilehe did only a half job
- (of siblings) related through one parent only a half brotherhalf sister
noun
- one of two equal parts of a divisible whole also: one-half half a loafhalf an hour
- one of two divisions into which some games or performances are divided: the two divisions are separated by an interval
adverb
- partially or to the extent of a half he was half hidden by the bushes
half in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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It gratified him, after a fashion, yet it more than half annoyed him.
The Courage of the Commonplace · Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews · Chapter 1
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After luncheon, the boys were dismissed, each with a hearty word of encouragement and half a sovereign.
The Hill: A Romance of Friendship · Horace Annesley Vachell · Chapter 1
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He seems to speak half a dozen languages in perfection; I believe he was born in Switzerland.
The Crown of Life · George Gissing · Chapter 1
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For half an hour I tried to pray as the beads of agony rolled down my forehead and bathed my face.
The Red Record Tabulated Statistics · Ida B. Wells-Barnett · Chapter 1
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And there was the mother wavering, half willing-by adroit and flawless diplomacy to be won over, now, or perhaps never at all.
Following the Equator — Part 1 · Mark Twain · Chapter 1