half pay
Americannoun
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half one's regular pay.
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a reduced amount paid to a British army or navy officer when not in actual service or after retirement.
Etymology
Origin of half pay
First recorded in 1655–65
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Just over half pay the full sticker price, which can be over $100,000 at elite four-year institutions.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
Teachers get four weeks at full pay, followed by two weeks at 90% of pay, followed by 12 weeks of half pay topped up with the statutory maternity pay.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2024
At the casino, she pushed for new mothers to get full salary for maternity leave instead of half pay.
From Reuters ● Jan. 6, 2022
They survived the pandemic — Bilal was on half pay for a while, but the government made up the other half.
From New York Times ● Dec. 21, 2021
I half pay attention as they make plans.
From "A Soft Place to Land" by Janae Marks
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
