halve

[ hav, hahv ]
See synonyms for: halvehalves on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),halved, halv·ing.
  1. to divide into two equal parts.

  2. to share equally: to halve one's rations with a stranger.

  1. to reduce to half.

  2. Golf. to play (a hole, round, or match) in the same number of strokes as one's opponent.

Idioms about halve

  1. halve together, to join (two pieces of wood) by cutting from one, at the place of joining, a portion fitting to that left solid in the other.

Origin of halve

1
1250–1300; Middle English halven, derivative of half

Other words from halve

  • un·halved, adjective

Words that may be confused with halve

Words Nearby halve

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use halve in a sentence

  • The company is shedding 5,400 of its 63,500 employees and taking a number of charges that will halve its quarterly profits.

  • halve that again, just because the numbers seem so absurd, and vampires are worth $62.5 million each October.

    Gross Vampire Product | Duff McDonald | November 18, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • halve nice peaches, peel them, and put one half on a round of sponge cake for each person.

    Living on a Little | Caroline French Benton
  • In the ordinary way I was pretty certain to halve one of the nine holes with Henry, and so win the match.

    Happy Days | Alan Alexander Milne
  • You may not care to halve it, Mary, perhaps halving would be too much, but a hundred a year for Teresa.

    Lady Cassandra | Mrs George de Horne Vaizey
  • I became used to her in time, and knowing she would halve whatever I said, used to demand double the worth of the thing.

  • Beard the oysters and scallops; halve or quarter them; pack them in scallop-shells or small tins.

British Dictionary definitions for halve

halve

/ (hɑːv) /


verb(tr)
  1. to divide into two approximately equal parts

  2. to share equally

  1. to reduce by half, as by cutting

  2. golf to take the same number of strokes on (a hole or round) as one's opponent

Origin of halve

1
Old English hielfan; related to Middle High German helben; see half

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