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  • half-holiday
    half-holiday
    noun
    a holiday limited to half a working day or half an academic day.
  • half holiday
    half holiday
    noun
    a day of which either the morning or the afternoon is a holiday

half-holiday

American  
[haf-hol-i-dey, hahf-] / ˈhæfˈhɒl ɪˌdeɪ, ˈhɑf- /

noun

  1. a holiday limited to half a working day or half an academic day.


half holiday British  

noun

  1. a day of which either the morning or the afternoon is a holiday

"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

Etymology

Origin of half-holiday

First recorded in 1545–55

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.

See Examples For:

Friday: Early hockey on a half-holiday Friday afternoon?

From Washington Post Nov. 23, 2016

Wednesday, the first day of Lent, is a half-holiday conceded to the slack-jawed weariness of the city.

From Time Magazine Archive

Each spring Peters declares a half-holiday in honor of old grads who have made Phi Beta Kappa and other scholastic honors at college.

From Time Magazine Archive

Some wanted to declare the half-holiday ended, argued that abnormal loans would cease just as withdrawals of cash from banks ended after the bank holiday.

From Time Magazine Archive

“Why, what’ll you do with a half-holiday, if you get it?” said Joe.

From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens

In Berlin one day last week all workers were given a half holiday with pay.

From Time Magazine Archive

Next day, the Giants played the Indians in another exhibition game in Hattiesburg, Miss, where they were greeted by a brass band, a half holiday.

From Time Magazine Archive

When he won it, the school celebrated with a half holiday.

From Time Magazine Archive

On another occasion, he strode out of his office at 5 p.m. and announced over his shoulder: "Today's a half holiday."

From Time Magazine Archive

One Saturday Swiftwater suggested a half holiday, and with the remaining boat pole up to the meadow where they had obtained the sod, and search for some wild vegetables of an edible character.

From The Boy Scouts on the Yukon by Rudolf Mencl

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