half-hour

[ haf-ouuhr, -ou-er, hahf- ]

/ ˈhæfˈaʊər, -ˈaʊ ər, ˈhɑf- /

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noun

a period of 30 minutes.

the midpoint between the hours: The clock struck on the half-hour.

adjective

of, relating to, or consisting of a half-hour: half-hour programs.

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Origin of half-hour

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425

Words nearby half-hour

halfhearted, half hitch, half-holiday, half-hoping, half hose, half-hour, halfhourly, half-human, half-hunter, halfies, half-inch

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use half-hour in a sentence

So here I am in my requisite Lululemon pants, grunting along to an old hip-hop song at a most ungodly hour.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze|Lizzie Crocker|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Eric Garcetti succeeded Villaraigosa and has received high marks in his first year and a half on the job.
The Golden State Preps for the ‘Red Wedding’ of Senate Races|David Freedlander|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
My dad was a sailor, and all through my childhood he was away half of the time at sea, and to an extent I have a similar job.
Belle & Sebastian Aren’t So Shy Anymore|James Joiner|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
As a result, training squadrons—called Formal Training Units (FTU)—are being staffed with less than half the people they need.
Exclusive: U.S. Drone Fleet at ‘Breaking Point,’ Air Force Says|Dave Majumdar|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Travel Noire fellows earned about a half million travel miles in 2014.
‘We Out Here’: Inside the New Black Travel Movement|Charlise Ferguson|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The night wore on, and the clock downstairs was striking the hour of two when she suddenly awakened.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
It is the principal waste-product of metabolism, and constitutes about one-half of all the solids excreted—about 30 gm.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
A small book, bound in full purple calf, lay half hidden in a nest of fine tissue paper on the dressing-table.
Hilda Lessways|Arnold Bennett
Hilda, trembling at the door, more than half expected Mr. Orgreave to say: "You mean, she's invited herself."
Hilda Lessways|Arnold Bennett
All changes are to be Rang either by walking them (as the term is) or else Whole-pulls, or Half-pulls.
Tintinnalogia, or, the Art of Ringing|Richard Duckworth and Fabian Stedman

British Dictionary definitions for half-hour

half-hour

noun

a period of 30 minutes
(as modifier)a half-hour stint on the treadmill

the point of time 30 minutes after the beginning of an hour
(as modifier)a half-hour chime

Derived forms of half-hour

half-hourly, adverb, adjective

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