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• half sole
  half sole

  noun

  that part of the sole of a boot or shoe that extends from the shank to the end of the toe.
• half-sole
  half-sole

  verb (used with object)

  to repair or renew (a shoe) by putting on a new half sole.

half sole

¹ American  

noun

1. that part of the sole of a boot or shoe that extends from the shank to the end of the toe.

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half-sole ² American  

[haf-sohl, hahf-] / ˈhæfˌsoʊl, ˈhɑf- /

verb (used with object)

half-soled, half-soling

1. to repair or renew (a shoe) by putting on a new half sole.

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half-sole British  

noun

1. a sole from the shank of a shoe to the toe

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verb

1. (tr) to replace the half-sole of (a shoe)

Etymology

Origin of half sole¹

First recorded in 1860–65

Origin of half-sole²

First recorded in 1785–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

half-sole half-soled half-soling

A half-sole footprint with circles—two holes in the center like a pair of eyes.

From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote

She ought to have saved the twenty cents toward a new half-sole.

From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers

On the third evening they sat outside, Danny watching Jed put a new half-sole on a cast-off riding boot.

From I Conquered by Titus, Harold

"You can trim your toenails with it and half-sole your boots," he said.

From The Duke Of Chimney Butte by Ivory, P. V. E. (Percy Van Eman)

Another pair is of half-soles with sharp ridges of iron, set, one the length of the half-sole, the other across it.

From Two Centuries of Costume in America, Volume 1 (1620-1820) by Earle, Alice Morse

"We used to work several months to make enough for a pair of shoes," he says, "and had them half-soled so many times your foot was an inch off the ground."

From Time Magazine Archive

"I had my shoes half-soled oftener than any other student," he jokes today.

From Time Magazine Archive

I think about the shoes of my childhood, the brown Oxfords scuffed at the toes, half-soled, new-heeled, the falling-apart grubby white running shoes, the brown sandals with two buckles that you wore with socks.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

If they are patched or half-soled, no amount of diamond shirt studs or watch chain worn with them will save your respectability.

From The Other Fellow by Smith, Francis Hopkinson

All New Thought is revelation, and secondhand revelations are errors half-soled with stupidity and heeled with greed.

From Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great - Volume 10 Little Journeys To The Homes Of Great Teachers by Hubbard, Elbert

Sample: paving only the center lanes of streets to make his repair funds stretch twice as far, a practice Louisville refers to as "half-soling" the streets.

From Time Magazine Archive

Not one of us ever thought of the simple device of half-soling himself with a stove-lid.

From Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 4 (1886-1900) by Paine, Albert Bigelow

You blamed robber, what do you mean charging six hours for half-soling them shoes?

From West Wind Drift by McCutcheon, George Barr

Well, Henkel's a cobbler—been one since '65—and let me tell you he's a blamed good one, and if you're ever in Petersburg and want any half-soling done, let me tell you—Yea-a-a!

From Queed by Crosby, Raymond Moreau

If they was all on piece-work they couldn't earn enough to pay for half-soling the shoes which they wears out running about getting in one another's way.

From J. Poindexter, Colored by Cobb, Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury)