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half dollar

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noun
  1. a silver or cupronickel coin of the U.S., equal to 50 cents.
  2. a silver or nickel coin of Canada, equal to 50 cents.

Origin of half dollar

First recorded in 1755–65
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for half-dollar

Historical Examples

  • Say, pard, how about giving me a half-dollar to get breakfast?

    Philo Gubb Correspondence-School Detective

    Ellis Parker Butler

  • But Charlie never got that half-dollar, and I do not think such a chatterbox deserved it.

  • They might have found a shilling or a half-dollar, but we didn't try them.

    A Jolly Fellowship

    Frank R. Stockton

  • He drew a half-dollar from his own pocket and flung it down on the table.

    A Son of the City

    Herman Gastrell Seely

  • I took a half-dollar from my pocket and gave it to the oldest.

    The Silent Bullet

    Arthur B. Reeve

British Dictionary definitions for half-dollar

half-dollar

noun
  1. (in the US) a 50-cent piece
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012