half-empty

adjective

(of a vessel, place, etc) holding or containing half its capacity

QUIZZES

DISCOVER THE INFLUENCE OF PORTUGUESE ON ENGLISH VIA THIS QUIZ!

We’ve gathered some interesting words donated to English from Portuguese … as well as some that just don’t translate at all. Do you know what they mean?

Question 1 of 11

Which of the following animal names traces its immediate origin to Portuguese?

owl

crow

piranha

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Words nearby half-empty

half-drunk, half-duplex, half eagle, half-eaten, half-educated, half-empty, half-English, half-filled, half-finished, half-forgotten, half-formed

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

Example sentences from the Web for half-empty

That makes everybody feel good and talk about how the system can work and so on, but I see the glass as half-empty.
The Senate's Immigration Vote|Michael Tomasky|June 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He also gave him stationary, shoelaces, a light for his bike, and a half-empty bottle of Grand Marnier.
Whitey Bulger's Wily Girl|Christine Pelisek|June 27, 2011|DAILY BEAST
When I arrived at the Church of Saint Vincent Ferrer, the pews were half-empty.
Mary Magdalene and Me|Tracy Quan|November 10, 2009|DAILY BEAST
In the course of his article, Dr. Barry lets slip a phrase about "half-empty churches."
Books and Persons|Arnold Bennett

Marcos went in, his spurred heels clanking loudly in the half-empty house.
The Velvet Glove|Henry Seton Merriman
He scrambled up from his knees with a half-empty syphon of sodawater.
The Return|Walter de la Mare
Both Evan and Rhys looked up from their half-empty bowls across the table at Ales, as if struck by her pertinent shrewdness.
The Making of William Edwards|Mrs. G. Linnaeus Banks
The sight of Nosey checking the times of arrival, and still more the gloomy aspect of a half-empty workroom, chilled her.
Coquette|Frank Swinnerton

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